In short Online therapy in English in Mexico: individual and couples sessions over secure video, scheduled across time zones. Psychodynamic depth work with a US-trained therapist. You pay directly, so nothing runs through local insurance or health records. Fees and fit are covered in a free 15-minute call.

The work

The work I do is relational and focused on pattern. I don't run intake checklists. I don't assign homework. I pay attention to what happens in the session. The moments when something shifts or goes flat. The pattern that keeps showing up underneath the problem. Most people already know their own story. They still keep landing in the same place. What's missing is someone watching in real time, someone who can name what you cannot see from inside it. More on how I work, and how I work with couples.

Why people in Mexico work with me

Three reasons. Continuity, first. Expats and nomads lose their therapist with every move. Online depth work follows you anywhere with a connection. Fit, second. My whole practice is people living outside their home country. The texture of a move to Mexico needs no explaining. The work is depth work, not a short course. Candor, third. I work fully outside the Mexican system, with nothing on any local file. Local private therapy can cost less, and I say so. What I offer is depth and fluent English, not the lowest price.

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.

In shortOnline psychodynamic therapy in English for people in Mexico. Fully private, paid directly. No waitlist, and the work moves with you if you move again.

The patterns

People who move between countries come to Mexico in numbers. The American or Canadian who moved for cost, weather, or a lighter life. The isolation turned out heavier than they planned for. The corporate transfer in banking, factories, or a regional head office. The remote worker or founder building a life across borders. The expat couple re-working who they are after a big move. The bicultural person holding two worlds at once. Local therapy is cheap and often excellent in Spanish. What is scarce is sustained depth work in fluent English that travels with you. The work meets that, directly.

IMSS, ISSSTE, and the arithmetic of going private

Mexico's public numbers explain the private reality. The public sector employed about 1,500 psychiatrists as of 2023, roughly 1.1 per hundred thousand people, the country puts about two percent of its health budget into mental health, and there are 39 psychiatric hospitals for a nation of 129 million. Inside IMSS you cannot self-refer to a psychologist or psychiatrist: referrals flow through your assigned clinic doctor, specialist waits commonly run six to twelve weeks, and English is unreliable at every step. The voluntary IMSS enrollment that many foreign residents buy excludes mental illness outright.

So mental healthcare for internationals in Mexico is private almost by definition. Sessions commonly run 40 to 80 US dollars in Mexico City and less elsewhere, every legitimate psychologist and psychiatrist carries a Cédula Profesional you can verify in the public SEP registry, and the English-speaking supply concentrates where you would guess: Mexico City's Condesa, Roma and Polanco, then Guadalajara, Mérida, and the coastal expat towns. There is a dedicated page for the capital at therapy in Mexico City.

Outside those neighborhoods, the practical English-language option is online, which is where I come in: US-trained, direct-pay, no Mexican paperwork, and the same therapist whether you are in CDMX, San Miguel, or moving between them.

Therapy in English in Mexico: a country-sized expat population, a small English supply

Mexico hosts one of the largest American and Canadian populations abroad, spread across wildly different lives: the capital's professionals, the beach towns' remote workers, the retirees of San Miguel de Allende and the Lake Chapala villages, the industrial postings of Monterrey and Guadalajara. The mental health picture is the same everywhere: IMSS and ISSSTE are overstretched and run in Spanish, private local therapy is abundant and affordable but overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking, and the English-language depth-work pool is tiny relative to the population it serves. This is private depth work in English, paid directly, outside all of it, from anywhere in the country.

Questions people ask from Mexico

Will IMSS, ISSSTE, or my insurance cover therapy with you?
No. Public care through IMSS or ISSSTE is overstretched and works in Spanish, and I work privately and directly, in English, outside it. Local private therapy in Mexico can be found much cheaper than my rate, so what I offer is depth, fluent English, and continuity if you move again, not the lowest price.
Do I need a referral to start?
No. Private work needs no referral and has no waitlist beyond my own availability, so we can usually begin within days.
Are you a licensed psicólogo in Mexico?
No. Practicing as a psicólogo in Mexico requires a cédula profesional, which I do not hold. I am US-trained (MA, Counseling) and work privately online, outside the Mexican registers. For a licensed local clinician, public IMSS or ISSSTE care, or medication, I will point you toward it.
Can I verify a Mexican therapist's credentials?
Yes, and you should: every licensed psychologist and psychiatrist in Mexico holds a Cédula Profesional, checkable in the public SEP registry. I am not in that registry, because I am not a Mexican practitioner: I am a US-trained therapist working privately online, and my training and registrations are documented on the professional information page instead.
Does IMSS cover therapy at all?
For enrolled members it technically covers psychology and psychiatry through referral from your assigned clinic doctor, with waits of six to twelve weeks and little English. The voluntary enrollment scheme that foreign residents can buy excludes mental illness as a condition. In practice, expats use IMSS for physical medicine and pay privately for mental health, which is the arithmetic this whole page sits inside.

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

The full reading list is on the approach page.

Related Reading

Therapy for trailing spouses
Therapy for expats
Therapy in English in other countries