In short Online therapy in English in Zurich: 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.

The arrangement

I am a US-trained psychodynamic therapist working online and privately: no Swiss license, no insurance billing, no prescription needed, no entry in any Swiss record. Given the deductible math, my fee frequently lands near what insured clients effectively pay out of pocket anyway, minus the gateway and the diagnosis. Zurich evening sessions are easy to schedule across time zones. When what you need is prescribing, assessment, or covered care, Switzerland's system does that well, and I will name that outright on the call.

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 internationals in Zurich and the wider Zurichsee corridor. Private. Prescription-free. Outside the Swiss system.

What I see from Zurich

The Zurich caseload is the most orderly unhappiness I see anywhere. Lives optimized on paper. The Kreis 7 apartment. The lake in summer. The salary that ended the money conversation. And inside them, the recurring setups. The expat couple who moved for one career and are three years into a politeness that has replaced their marriage. The executive whose drinking is precise, scheduled, and increasing. The trailing partner who learned German, joined the clubs, did everything right, and is still outside the glass. Swiss social life rewards decades, not effort. The Sunday quiet the relocation guide called charming. Your nervous system reads it as sensory deprivation. Zug's tax migrants and the crypto crowd add their own variant. Arrived for the structure. Unsettled by how little of them it requires.

Swiss coverage, and what it actually costs you

Switzerland reorganized therapy funding in 2022: under the prescription model, psychological psychotherapists bill basic insurance when a physician prescribes the sessions, typically in blocks with review. That fixed the old delegation bottleneck and created a new arithmetic. Swiss cost-sharing means you pay everything until your annual franchise is met and ten percent after, so anyone carrying the popular high-deductible plans is substantially self-funding a year of weekly therapy anyway, while also needing the doctor's gateway and a diagnosis on file. Private rates in Zurich run 150 to 250 francs. The fuller picture, titles, supplementary insurance, the lot, is on my Switzerland page.

English-speaking therapists exist in Zurich, the banking, pharma, and Google corridors guarantee that, but the well-regarded ones carry the city's signature feature: no openings. The practical Zurich question is rarely whether good therapy exists. It is whether you can start before next quarter, in English, without routing the whole thing through a physician and an insurer.

Questions people ask from Zurich

Does Swiss basic insurance cover psychotherapy?
Yes, when a physician prescribes it under the 2022 prescription model, in supervised blocks. But the franchise and ten percent coinsurance mean high-deductible clients largely self-fund regardless, with a diagnosis on file. Private work with me involves no prescription and no Swiss records, at a fee of similar practical size.
What does therapy cost in Zurich?
Typically 150 to 250 francs a session privately. My fee is below the Zurich midpoint, paid directly, no Swiss insurer involved.
I live in Zug or commute cross-border. Does that matter?
Not at all. Online sessions are jurisdiction-light by design: I am outside the Swiss system regardless of which canton or country you sleep in, which several of my cross-border clients count as a feature.

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