In this short video, I explain how EFT, emotion-focused couples therapy, can help one person on their own when a relationship is shaking far from home.
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Acute EFT couples therapy alone abroad is quick, one-to-one help by video when your relationship has hit a crisis in a country that is not your own, and your partner is not joining. Perhaps you moved for love or work, or you are a Dane overseas. Sessions last one hour, in English.
Using EFT, emotion-focused couples therapy, we find solid ground first, then the feelings that drive your reactions, and then your next move. It sits under acute online couples therapy and links to couples therapy for couples living abroad.
Book a session, ask for a free 30-minute call or send me a message. The client policy has the terms.
Acute EFT couples therapy alone abroad is for one person living outside their home country whose relationship has just been shaken, and whose partner is not taking part.
One of these may fit you better:
You can also send me an email
These reviews describe clients’ experiences of working with me. They come from my wider practice and do not all relate to online sessions. Each person’s experience is their own, and a review does not promise a particular outcome.
“In my clinical experience, a relationship crisis abroad hits two places at once: the bond with your partner and your sense of where you belong. When the one person who made a foreign city feel like home starts to pull away, the fear underneath is often ‘Do I still have a place anywhere?’. That fear can make people cling, chase or run. EFT helps you find the feeling under the reaction and say it in a way that can be heard. Once you are standing on firmer ground, decisions about the relationship, and about the country, become much easier to make.”
Mark Colclough, MA, psychotherapist and EFT couples therapist
I am Mark Colclough, MA. I have practised since 2004 and offer online psychotherapy and couples therapy in English.
My training brings together your emotions, your thoughts and your relationships. My deep passion is the moment when what happens between you finally makes sense, to each of you and to each other. I have lived and worked in nine countries, so I know something of life across languages, cultures and borders.
Read about my background, or explore online psychotherapy and online couples therapy.
I meet regularly with experienced psychotherapists to reflect on my work, question my understanding and develop my skills. Supervision is part of the professional care I bring to individual and couples work, including online sessions.
My focus is thoughtful practice, integrity and responsibility.
You are welcome to ask about the kind of support you need.
Tell me where you are based and your time zone. We can then consider whether online sessions together are suitable.
Sara is Danish and has lived in Toronto for six years with her Canadian partner James. One evening he tells her he is not sure he wants to stay together. Sara’s family is in Aarhus, and her closest friends are scattered across three countries. She stops sleeping, follows James from room to room and starts looking at flights home.
In our first online sessions we focus on Sara: sleep, two people she can call and a short pause before she replies to James. Using EFT, we find the fear under her chasing. A week later she tells him, calmly, that she is frightened of losing both him and the life she has built. For the first time in weeks, he stays in the conversation.
I have presented this clinical example as a compound of 22 years of clinical practice.
The relationship is shaking, the people who know you best are an ocean away, and you are facing it alone.
A crisis abroad weighs differently. Your partner may be your closest support, your reason for living where you do and the one pulling away, all at the same moment.
Before anything else, you need somewhere steady to land, and help to understand the feelings that are steering your reactions.
‘I want to leave’ is hard to hear anywhere. With family, friends and your old life in another country, it can feel as if there is nothing beneath your feet.
We start with getting you through the coming days, and with finding people near you who can help.
Many people abroad have given up a job, a language or a home for the relationship. In a crisis, that sacrifice can turn into grief, anger or both.
We make space for those feelings, without letting them run every decision.
When your partner withdraws, you may text more, ask more and push harder for a talk. Usually it drives them further off.
We look at the fear under the chase and find a calmer way to reach.
If your partner goes quiet or walks away just when you need them, it can feel like being abandoned in a foreign place.
We explore what their silence may be guarding, and what you need while it lasts.
One minute you want to hold on with everything you have. The next, you want to book a one-way flight. Both can be true.
We slow the swings so you can hear what each one is saying.
For people abroad, a decision about the relationship can also be a decision about work, residency, home and country.
We pull apart what must be decided soon from what can wait until you are steadier.
Sound like you? Request a call or book a session, and we will begin with this week.
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Tell me briefly what kind of support you are looking for.
Include your country and time zone so we can discuss whether online work together is possible and find a suitable time.
You do not need to explain your whole story in your first message.
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Ground yourself first. Understand the dance next. Decide after that.
Acute EFT couples therapy alone abroad follows that order. EFT helps you notice the emotion under your reactions, such as fear of losing your partner or shame at needing them so much. Once you can name it, your next move becomes a choice rather than a reflex.
We look past the latest row to what each of you is protecting: often a fear of being left on one side, and a fear of failing on the other. Seeing that clearly takes some of the panic out of the moment.
Yes. You learn to notice the first rush of fear or anger, pause and breathe before you act. It is a small step that changes a great deal.
We practise saying the softer feeling under the hard one, such as ‘I am scared of losing you’ instead of ‘You never talk to me’. That is far easier for a partner to hear.
We look at who you can lean on where you live, who you can call at home and how to look after your body when stress runs high.
Big decisions abroad touch many parts of life. We take them one piece at a time, so nothing is decided in panic.
Some people go on with EFT couples therapy alone for people living abroad at a calmer pace. Some invite their partner into joint sessions. Some prepare to separate, or to move. Whatever you choose, you choose it clearly.
You can also send me an email
You do not need a plan, or the right words, before we meet. You only need to log in.
In the first sessions I hear what has happened, check how you are coping so far from home and help you through the next few days.
If another kind of help would suit you better right now, I will tell you.
You join for one hour by video. We talk about what has happened, who you have around you and what feels most urgent, and we agree a short plan for the days ahead.
That is welcome. Joint acute online couples therapy or EFT couples therapy for couples living abroad can follow, and what you have learned alone carries over.
Usually within days, depending on my calendar. Book the earliest open slot or write me a few lines about what is happening.
In the first weeks, acute EFT couples therapy alone abroad usually runs at a quicker rhythm than ordinary therapy. As you steady, the sessions spread out.
A crisis like this often needs several sessions in a short time. A bundle gives you a plan and a lower price per session. See the cards below.
You are sleeping again, you can manage a working day and you can think about the relationship, and the country, without being flooded. Then we look further ahead.
Acute EFT couples therapy alone abroad next to its closest options:
| Option | Choose it when | Pace |
|---|---|---|
| Acute EFT couples therapy alone abroad (this page) | You live abroad and are facing a sudden crisis alone. | 1-hour sessions, frequent at first |
| Acute online couples therapy alone | Life abroad is not part of the strain. | 1-hour sessions, frequent at first |
| Acute online couples therapy | Your partner will take part. | 2-hour sessions, frequent at first |
| Couples therapy alone, living abroad | Nothing acute, but life abroad weighs on you. | 1-hour sessions every few weeks |
It is short-term, individual EFT, emotion-focused couples therapy, by video for one person whose relationship has just hit a crisis while living abroad, when the partner is not joining. We steady you, understand the emotional dance and plan your next step. It is in English, for people anywhere in the world.
Yes. EFT looks at the emotional cycle between two people, and one person changing their part of it can shift the whole pattern. Many people start alone.
Yes. Danes living overseas are very welcome here. Sessions are in English, and we can talk about what home means to you on both sides.
That is your decision, and it deserves time. I help you look at what pulls you each way, so you can choose rather than flee or freeze.
No. I help you see your feelings and options clearly. The decision is yours.
Yes. The booking calendar shows times in your own time zone, and we plan sessions around your working day.
That is fine. Our sessions are confidential, and we can think together about who, if anyone, you want to tell and when.
It varies. Some people feel steadier after a few sessions; others want close support for several weeks. We review together.
Sessions alone last one hour, online. Fees in US dollars are on the prices page, and a bundle saves 10 per cent.
Pick a time in the booking calendar, request a free 30-minute call or write to me.
You can also send me an email
I want therapy to help you understand your experience and make choices you can use in everyday life. We pay attention to feelings, needs and the responses that happen before you have time to think.
Our online room should offer enough trust and honesty to explore what is difficult. I bring attention and professional judgement. You bring your experience, questions and the right to say when something does not fit.
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P.S. I’ll call you in a bit!
