A therapist for expats in Brazil — in your language.
Relocating to Brazil can be exciting and exhausting at the same time. New language, new rules, new routines — and often no one around who knew you before. I offer therapy in English for expats and internationals, in person in São Paulo or online, to help you find your footing here.
Everything takes twice the energy in a second language.
You have people around you, but no one who really knows you.
Some days you wonder whether moving was the right choice.
Culture shock
The first excitement fades and the differences start to weigh: bureaucracy, social codes, pace of life.
Loneliness
Building a new support network takes time — and until then, the disconnect can feel heavy.
Identity
Who am I here, without my job, my language or my people? Relocation can shake the sense of self.
Trailing partners
Following a partner's career often means pausing your own — and that loss deserves space too.
Support for every stage of life abroad
From the first months to deciding whether to stay or go.
Just moved to Brazil
Adapting to São Paulo, managing stress and building a routine that feels like yours.
Living here for years
Belonging, identity, relationships, and questions about the future and where to settle.
Relocated families
Couples and parents navigating schools, languages and family far away.
You don't have to figure it out alone
Adaptation isn't a straight line. There are good weeks and weeks when everything feels foreign. Therapy is a steady place to make sense of it, in English.
Together we look at what the move has stirred up — and what you need to build a life here that feels like your own.
- Culture shock and adaptation
- Loneliness and building connections
- Anxiety, stress and low mood
- Work pressure and burnout
- Relationships under the strain of relocation
- Deciding whether to stay or go
Depth to understand. Tools to change.
Many people have been to therapy and felt they were just repeating the same story, session after session. Listening matters — but listening alone doesn't change much. My work brings together two trainings:
Understanding the roots
My training in psychoanalysis helps us understand what's really going on beneath the surface — the why behind what you feel and repeat, beyond the symptom.
Practicing change
My training in psychodrama brings practical tools to experiment, in session, with new ways of coping and connecting — not just talking about change, but living it.
Depth to understand. Action to change.
No judgment. Just real listening.
Real reviews from clients. The phrase that comes up again and again is “free of judgment”.
“I do online therapy with Rafa and I truly love our sessions. She is wonderful and always helps me see what I can't notice on my own; it's incredible how she understands what sometimes even I can't quite explain.”
“Rafaela is an excellent professional, very ethical and attentive. I felt welcomed from the very first session. She conveys trust, empathy and safety, guiding the therapeutic process with great sensitivity and professionalism — and above all, free of judgment, which makes all the difference.”
“Rafaela has incredible sensitivity — I have never felt so welcomed. The calm way she guided the process helped me slow down in life; I've always been very anxious. Congratulations on such beautiful work!”
“Rafaela is an excellent professional; her care is simply wonderful, human and welcoming. I always feel respected and heard during our sessions. Extremely attentive to every detail. Top marks!”
“An excellent professional. We are making real progress on my life purpose — I recommend her to anyone looking for their purpose, whether in business or in family life.”
“My experience with Rafaela was very important in my life. She helped me learn to live again and showed me that I am, and can be, capable of having my life back. My word for her is GRATITUDE.”
Rafaela Goodman
I'm a psychotherapist trained in psychoanalysis and psychodrama. I work with adults, couples, families and groups, and with adolescents from 16. I was a collaborator at the Grief Support Program (PROALU) at Unifesp's psychiatry department, and today I see clients at my private practice in Higienópolis, São Paulo, and online, worldwide.
I'm Brazilian and married to an Englishman, so living between two languages and two cultures is part of my everyday life — not just something I studied.
I work in English and Portuguese, with particular attention to people who live between cultures. Adaptation, identity and belonging are themes I work with every day.
Starting is simple
Get in touch
Send a message on WhatsApp, a text or an email — whichever feels easiest.
First conversation
We talk about what brings you here and see whether working together feels right.
Choose the format
In person in Higienópolis or online by video — in English, Portuguese or both.
Regular sessions
Sessions last one hour, at a time we agree on together, in your time zone.
Frequently asked questions
Are the sessions fully in English?
Yes. Sessions can be held entirely in English, entirely in Portuguese, or moving between the two — whatever feels most natural to you. You don't need to speak any Portuguese.
Do I need to speak Portuguese?
No. Sessions can be entirely in English.
How long is a session?
Each session lasts one hour.
Do you see clients in person or online?
Both. In person at my practice in Higienópolis, São Paulo, or online by video call, wherever you are in the world.
Is culture shock a reason to start therapy?
It can be. Adapting to a new country affects sleep, mood, relationships and work. You don't need to be in crisis to look for support.
Is therapy confidential?
Yes. Everything shared in sessions is protected by professional confidentiality, in line with the Code of Ethics of the Brazilian Federal Council of Psychology. I'm registered with the São Paulo Regional Council of Psychology (CRP SP 06/184484).
How do I book a first conversation?
Send a message on WhatsApp, a text message or an email. I'll reply to find a time for a first conversation, so we can see whether working together feels right.
This practice does not provide emergency care. If you are in crisis in Brazil, call CVV on 188 (24h, free) or SAMU on 192. Outside Brazil, contact your local emergency number.
Book a first conversation
Reach out however you prefer — WhatsApp, text message or email. From there, we'll find the best time together, in person in São Paulo or online, wherever you are.
- Rua Doutor Albuquerque Lins, 537 — Higienópolis, São Paulo
- Online sessions worldwide
- +55 11 98180-6230 (WhatsApp & text)
- rafaelagrzywaczgoodman@gmail.com
