English-Speaking Therapy in Leiden
Individual and couples therapy for expats and internationals living in Leiden — in person at a quiet studio near the Maredijk, or online. No referral, no waiting list.
Book a Free 15-Minute Introductory Call Sessions in English or Slovene. Free parking on site.
A calm, unhurried environment
For those who prefer face-to-face contact, sessions are held at a private studio in Leiden. The space is quiet and deliberately separate from a medical or clinical setting — there is no reception desk and no waiting room, and arriving means a direct, personal encounter rather than a procedure.
That simplicity is part of the approach. Removing the medical frame makes it easier to talk about what is actually happening in your life, rather than presenting a case.
Leiden has a substantial international community, and many of the people I work with are connected to the university, the Bio Science Park, or have followed a partner here for work. The pressures of that environment — temporary contracts, a social circle that turns over every few years, a language you may only half speak — tend to show up in the room whether or not they are what brought you.
Finding the studio
The practice is at Groene Maredijk 100, 2334 CT Leiden, just north of the singel in the Maredijk area — close enough to the centre to be easy to reach, far enough out to be genuinely quiet.
By bike, it is roughly ten minutes from Leiden Centraal: north over the Marebrug and along the Maresingel, then onto the Groene Maredijk where the water opens up on your left. Most people I see arrive this way. There is covered bicycle space at the studio.
By car, the studio has free on-site parking, which is worth noting given how difficult and expensive parking becomes closer to the centre. No permit or paid zone to deal with.
By public transport, several bus lines from Leiden Centraal stop within a short walk. If you are coming from the Bio Science Park, Oegstgeest, or Leiderdorp, the journey is generally under twenty minutes door to door.
Detailed directions and entry instructions are sent once your first session is confirmed, so there is nothing to work out on the day.
Ways of working together in Leiden
Four ways of working are available here, in person or online. They overlap more than the labels suggest, and it is common to begin with one and find the work moves toward another.
- Individual therapy: one-to-one sessions for anxiety, burnout, grief, identity questions, and periods of transition.
- Couples therapy: longer sessions for partners navigating relationship strain, communication difficulties, and the pressure of building a life abroad together.
- Expat therapy: work focused specifically on relocation — culture shock, loneliness, and the slow erosion of a familiar sense of self.
- Online therapy: secure video sessions for weeks when getting to the studio is not realistic, or as the main format if you prefer.
Individual therapy in Leiden
Leiden is a comfortable city to live in and, for a lot of internationals, a surprisingly isolating one. Whether you came for the university, for research, or because someone else's job brought you here, the emotional reality of relocation is often heavier than the practical one — and harder to explain to people at home who can see only that things look fine.
Meeting in person gives that a consistent physical place to go. Sessions are 50 minutes. The first one is a conversation about what has brought you here and how the work might go; you do not need a clear problem or the right vocabulary to begin, and many people arrive with neither.
If you decide to continue, we usually meet weekly, and the work tends to move from the immediate difficulty toward the patterns underneath it — questions of identity, direction, and what you actually want from the life you are building here.
Read more about how individual therapy works.
Couples therapy in Leiden
For international couples, the relationship often carries a heavier load than it would at home. Without the usual scaffolding of family and long friendships, a partner becomes the primary emotional anchor — which works until it doesn't, and then the pressure has nowhere to go.
Relocation stress, mismatched career trajectories, and cultural differences tend to surface as something more ordinary-looking: the same argument on a loop, a growing distance, a sense of being unseen. Meeting in a neutral room slows those patterns down enough to look at them.
Couples sessions are 75 or 90 minutes — longer than individual sessions, because two people need room to speak and be heard properly. The focus is not on establishing who is right, but on understanding what keeps producing the same outcome.
Where partners have different first languages, we work in English and pay attention to how that itself shapes what gets misunderstood. Read more about how couples therapy works.
In person, online, or both
Both formats work. Some people find that travelling to a studio helps them step into the conversation and leave it behind afterwards; others prefer the privacy and convenience of their own home. It is largely a matter of temperament rather than effectiveness.
In practice, most people in Leiden end up somewhere in the middle — in person when the week allows, online when it doesn't. Switching between the two does not interrupt the work, and the cost is identical either way.
If you live outside Leiden, online sessions are available across the Netherlands and Europe, and there is no waiting list for them.
The approach, and who you would be working with
My name is Eva Virc, and this is a one-person practice — you meet the same person for the introductory call and for every session afterwards.
The work is grounded in logotherapy, the meaning-centred approach developed by Viktor Frankl. It proceeds from the premise that the search for meaning is a fundamental human orientation rather than a luxury, and that when that search stalls it produces a specific kind of distress: often subtle, felt as flatness or a sense that something essential is missing even when everything is technically fine. Relocation has a particular way of disrupting the structures through which people make sense of themselves, which is why the framework suits expat experience well.
I hold a BA and MA in Philosophy and am a PhD candidate researching the phenomenology of therapeutic practice. My clinical training was completed at Sigmund Freud University Ljubljana, and my logotherapy training is accredited by the Viktor Frankl Institute. I have approximately 800 hours of supervised practice, including work in psychiatric settings.
This is a private practice operating outside the Dutch BIG and GGZ system. That is why there is no referral requirement, no diagnosis, and no waiting list — and also why sessions are not reimbursed by Dutch health insurance. If it becomes clear that a different kind of support would serve you better, I will say so.
More about my background and how I work.
Practical details
- Address: Groene Maredijk 100, 2334 CT Leiden
- Individual sessions: 50 minutes, €125
- Couples sessions: 75 minutes at €165, or 90 minutes at €195
- Introductory call: 15 minutes, free, no obligation
- Languages: English and Slovene
- Hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00–19:00
- Format: In person in Leiden or online
- Access: Free on-site parking, covered bicycle space, wheelchair-accessible entrance
- Referral: Not required. Sessions are private-pay and not reimbursed by Dutch health insurance
Also available in Amsterdam.
Common questions about therapy in Leiden
Where exactly is the studio?
At Groene Maredijk 100, 2334 CT Leiden, just north of the singel in the Maredijk area. It is roughly a ten-minute cycle from Leiden Centraal and a short ride from the Bio Science Park. Detailed directions and entry instructions are sent once your first session is confirmed.
Do I need a GP referral?
No. This is a private practice, so you can book directly without a referral, a diagnosis, or an intake through your huisarts. Sessions are not reimbursed by Dutch health insurance — which is precisely why there is no referral requirement and no waiting list.
Is there a waiting list?
There is no waiting list for online sessions. In-person availability in Leiden is more limited, so it helps to mention that you would prefer to meet in person when you book the introductory call.
Are sessions available in English?
Yes — sessions are held in English or Slovene. Most of the people I work with in Leiden are internationals who would rather not work in Dutch, particularly when the subject is identity and belonging. The vocabulary you think in tends to be the one you need.
Can I switch between in-person and online?
Yes. Many people meet in person most weeks and switch to secure video when they are travelling, unwell, or short on time. It does not interrupt the work, and the cost is the same either way.
Is there parking?
Yes — free on-site parking, which is unusual this close to the centre of Leiden. There is covered space for bicycles as well. Arrival instructions come with your booking confirmation.
What does it cost?
Individual sessions are 50 minutes at €125. Couples sessions are 75 minutes at €165 or 90 minutes at €195. In-person and online sessions cost the same, and every first step is a free 15-minute introductory call with no obligation to continue.
Do you work with university students and researchers?
Yes. A good number of the people I see are international students, PhD candidates, and researchers connected to Leiden University or the Bio Science Park — often navigating the pressures of academic life and relocation at the same time.
Book a session in Leiden
The first step is a free 15-minute introductory call — no preparation needed, and no obligation to continue. If you would like to meet in person, mention it when you book, as in-person availability is more limited than online.
Book a Free 15-Minute Introductory Call