English-Speaking Therapist in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai is a hub built for moving on, and that has a cost. Therapy is the room that stays. Online, in English, with no connection to any clinic or Thai record.

Aaron Platt

What is bringing you here?

Depression Anxiety Burnout Impostor
Syndrome Overthinking Self-Sabotage Perfectionism People-Pleasing Expat Issues Loneliness Something else

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In shortOnline psychodynamic therapy in English for people living in Chiang Mai: private, paid directly, and built for a population the local system was never designed to serve.

The work

The work I do is relational and pattern-focused. I don't run intake checklists or assign homework between sessions; I pay attention to what happens in the session, the moments when something shifts or goes flat, and the recurring pattern underneath the presenting problem. Most people already know the story of their situation and keep landing in the same place. What's missing is someone watching in real time who can name what's invisible from inside it. More on how I work, and how I work with couples.

Therapy in Chiang Mai: a real market with real friction

Chiang Mai has a large nomad and retiree population and almost no local sources of sustained English-language depth work. Thailand's universal-coverage system provides psychiatry at public hospitals, real and inexpensive but queued and Thai-language, and never designed for ongoing English talk therapy. International-standard private care runs roughly 2,500 to 4,500 baht a session at the private hospitals and expat-oriented clinics, concentrated in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, and thins to nearly nothing elsewhere. The fuller picture of the Thai system and its healing-arts licensing is on my Thailand page.

The Chiang Mai patterns

The people who come are Chiang Mai's long-stay internationals. The digital nomads for whom the city is a hub and whose autonomy can slide into isolation, the retirees building a later chapter far from family and old support, and the long-term expats running quiet lives on rolling visas. The nomad and retiree populations here have effectively no local depth-work options, which is exactly where online work earns its keep.

Why people in Chiang Mai pick online work with me

Three reasons recur. Privacy: I hold no Thai license, bill no Thai insurer, and write nothing into a Thai record. Fit: my whole practice is people living outside their home country. Logistics: a Thai evening is mid-morning for me, and location inside Thailand makes no difference to the work. If you need medication or local in-person care, I will point you toward it on the free call.

Questions people ask from Chiang Mai

What does private therapy cost in Chiang Mai?

International-standard private care runs roughly 2,500 to 4,500 baht a session at the private hospitals and expat-oriented clinics. Outside Bangkok and Chiang Mai the options thin to nearly nothing. My fee is private-pay, billed directly, with nothing entering a Thai health record.

Does Thai public healthcare cover ongoing therapy?

It provides universal-coverage psychiatry at public hospitals: real, inexpensive, queued, and Thai-language. For ongoing English talk therapy it was never the design. I work privately, in English.

Can I do therapy online from Chiang Mai?

Yes, that is exactly where online work earns its keep, since the nomad and retiree populations have effectively no local depth-work options. A Thai evening is mid-morning for me. I am US-trained and work privately, outside the Thai system.

What people bring to online therapy

The people I work with in English come for a wide range of reasons: anxiety, depression, stress and burnout, anger management, grief and loss, relationship difficulties, loneliness, self-esteem issues, procrastination, sleep problems, attachment patterns, self-sabotage, perfectionism, identity questions, and existential concerns. Online counseling makes this work possible from wherever you are, whether you need an English-speaking therapist, a virtual counselor, or simply someone who can work in your language at a depth that matters.

How it works

Sessions are online via secure video call. I work with individuals and couples (60 minutes). Before your first session, we have a free 15-minute call to see if this feels like the right fit for you.

Selected research on this approach

My work is psychodynamic and depth-oriented. These are some of the studies on the effectiveness of that kind of therapy. They describe research on the method in general, and are not claims about any individual outcome.

Shedler, J. (2010). The efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 65(2), 98-109. doi:10.1037/a0018378
Steinert, C., Munder, T., Rabung, S., Hoyer, J., & Leichsenring, F. (2017). Psychodynamic therapy: as efficacious as other empirically supported treatments? A meta-analysis testing equivalence of outcomes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 174(10), 943-953. PMID 28541091
Leichsenring, F., Abbass, A., Heim, N., Keefe, J. R., Kisely, S., Luyten, P., Rabung, S., & Steinert, C. (2023). The status of psychodynamic psychotherapy as an empirically supported treatment for common mental disorders: an umbrella review based on updated criteria. World Psychiatry, 22(2), 286-304. PMC10168167

What Clients Say

“I came in thinking I knew what my issues were. I’d been over them a hundred times. But those were just the things I could already see. Aaron helped me notice what I couldn’t, and that’s where everything actually started to change.”

— M.J.

“I didn’t think online therapy could really work. How do you feel a connection through a screen? But I’ve done in-person therapy before, and honestly, I’ve felt more understood by Aaron than by any therapist I’ve sat across from. He listens in a way that’s hard to describe until you experience it.”

— T.L.

“A few years ago I suddenly developed prolonged panic attacks but couldn’t begin to understand what had caused them. Having been in therapy in the past, and being a counseling intern student, I felt I had exhausted my resources trying to figure out “What is wrong with me?” I can honestly say Aaron provides a form of counseling that is difficult to find anywhere else regarding efficacy. Not only has his approach been effective, but he also has provided me a safe space to explore aspects about myself I may not otherwise have felt able to. I cannot recommend him enough as he has helped me feel more myself than ever before.”

— K.R.

“I’d been in and out of therapy for years. Different therapists, different approaches, none of it really stuck. Aaron helped me understand more in a few months than all of them combined. And he talked to me like a normal person, not like all this weird therapy-speak.”

— S.A.

Completely private. No insurance, no diagnosis codes, no health registry, no GP notification, no employer visibility. You pay directly. Your therapy is between us and stays that way. More

Also serving Thailand. Thailand, Bangkok.

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You do not have to be ready. You do not have to know what to say. A few sentences is enough.