Finding Mental Health Abroad

Like many internationals I grew up in different countries, with different languages and systems. I learned early to adapt, and understood the disorientation of finding care in a place that doesn’t quite know you, or vice versa.

Finding care was never simple, especially when it came to counselling. As a long-term patient, this was important to stay well and sustain myself in new places. Not just a therapist, I needed someone who understood my path—one of migration, identity shifts, increasing responsibility, the quiet pressure of proving myself in new environments. I wanted someone who could meet me not only clinically, but contextually. That kind of match is hard to find, even when you are surrounded by availability.

Work, responsibility, and discovering early support

At my former corporate company, I found myself in a fast-paced role that came with visibility and responsibility. I loved the challenge, but could feel my nervous system slowly tightening. I knew myself well enough to know I needed support early so that I could keep showing up in my work and my life.

That was when I learned about something called an Employee Assistance Program, or EAP – a corporate-level support programme that typically gives employees confidential access to counselling, coaching, or practical legal/financial support. Often fully or partially covered, it is designed to absorb pressure and help with stress, mental health, work/life balance before burnout and sick leave. How did such an invaluable asset remain invisible all this time?

In fact, EAPs are offered by the vast majority (96%) of large companies but are notably underutilized (less than 12% utilisation, UK EAPA 2023).

The value of guided care

Through a third-party provider contracted by my former employer, I was connected to a local psychotherapist within two weeks. I was entitled to eight sessions, fully covered and confidential. I saved an equivalent of €1,000 in out-of-pocket costs. The real value was in knowing that such care existed and that I was being guided without having to stress about organizing it myself. I felt warmly cared for.

Because I received support early, I didn’t have to disappear entirely from work. I had moments of downtime, yes, but I learned to recognise signals sooner, to manage my workload better, and to show up honestly and sustainably.

The following year, I used the programme again without guilt to stay proactive about my self care.

Around the same time, I began hearing more about growing waitlists in Dutch public mental health services (GGZ). Capacity shortages; stories of people waiting months, and sometimes over a year for help. Although these shortages are real, I couldn’t stay silent about my experience via EAP and one of the reasons I decided to put my story out here, thanks to ACCESS.

While healthcare systems are under strain, other resources like EAP on the employer side exist but are disconnected from our conversation. Although EAPs are not a replacement for public or specialised care, I find them an incredibly valuable and effective form of preventative community-level support.

Making the path to care visible

Many people don’t know they have access to EAP. Others fear retaliation from their management. Some assume it is only for ‘serious problems’.

So, if your employer offers such a programme, use it. Not because something needs fixing but because you want to care better for yourself. This way you can show up better for your family, colleagues, and community. There is something quietly powerful about us stepping into agency from passivity. And as internationals, many of us have learned to embody this level of self-empowerment with a proactive attitude: navigating systems, asking questions, finding paths where none are clearly marked.

Healthcare is under pressure. But we have allied professionals, employer-funded programmes, and community-based care. What we often lack is a clear path, one that helps people understand what is available, what is covered, and how to access it before things escalate.

This realisation had led me to leave the corporate world and start building a care navigation, connecting local care providers too. Through years of lived experience — as a patient across countries and as someone working alongside healthcare systems — it became clear that what we need most is clarity, not just more services.

When we know we are well guided across fragmented support, we feel cared for. That’s how we start to feel safe in what we build here, to continue with life with ease, and eventually call this place home. There are many paths to care, we just need to make it visible. One care at a time.

Hee Baek (South Korean)

International Student who has stayed as Start-up Founder

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