Counsellor on call

The Counselling Service Network is the foundation from which ACCESS grew. It was the need for supporting the 'mental well-being' of the English speaking expatriate community, living far from home, that resulted in the establishment of ACCESS. To read more about this history click here.

Today, the challenges this population faces continues. People change, come and go, and an increasing number of internationals find themselves living far from home and sometimes in need of support in dealing with some of the added challenges of living in a new country. Day-to-day differences, such as customs and language, can have more of a personal impact than you might expect. Additionally, ordinary and unexpected life situations may prove more challenging when faced in a different country away from personal support networks and resources familiar and available in home country. At times like these internationals can benefit from professional support which ACCESS can provide through a referral through its Counsellor Service Network.

The ACCESS Counselling Service Network (CSN) consists of licensed professionals with practices all over Holland, which regulates itself and is coordinated by an ACCESS Focal Point. Counsellors are men and women who are psychologists, mental health counsellors, and social workers from a variety of different cultural backgrounds. All counsellors have a minimum Masters level degree with at least two years supervised work experience. They offer a variety of expertise in different areas, including:

In addition to English, a number of ACCESS counsellors speak other languages including Dutch, German, Spanish, French and Italian. All are personally familiar with the expatriate experience in one way or another.

All referrals and counselling services are confidential. Fees are set by the individual counsellors.

Members of the CSN Ethics Committee adhere to the principles of the NAAP (National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis) in the consideration of any written complaints received about a member. In the case of a complaint against a CSN member this should be submitted to the CSN Focal Point via csn@access-nl.org.

Contacting a Counsellor: Every month, two of the ACCESS counsellors are on-call, they can provide a free referral to a member of the ACCESS Counselling Service Network who is best placed to assist you. Please contact the helpdesk for the actual number of the on-call Counsellor, or for more immediate attention out of office hours, click here for this month's on-call Counsellor.