To make an appointment with us, please see our Making an Appointment section. You can also meet our therapists here!
What exactly are ‘Teen Services’?
The Expat Kids Club is an English-speaking child and adolescent psychology practice providing individualized support to expatriate children.
Our multidisciplinary team provides access to comprehensive services and incorporates the latest evidence-based interventions to promote health and create custom made treatment programs for each individual child, depending on their unique needs.
Some of the methods we use include, but not limited to:
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Anxiety and depression can be rooted in our wish to avoid negative feelings. This avoidance however actually feeds into anxiety and depression. ACT focuses on accepting emotions – regardless of whether they are “good” or “bad” – and committing to our intentions.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Exposure Therapy): CBT is based on the principles of examining how our thoughts connect to our behaviors and evaluating this relationship. Exposure Therapy involves explicitly confronting what makes us afraid or uncomfortable in order to overcome this discomfort – see more information on our phobias and fears services.
- Mindfulness: Based on the ideas of bringing awareness to our bodies and minds, mindfulness-based interventions teach the importance of breathing, finding stillness, and acknowledging details we may have previously overlooked within ourselves and our environments.
- Humanistic Approaches: We will work with clients towards understanding what makes us human and then finding was to (self-) advocate for these unique needs
- Impact Therapy: This approach allows therapists to use concrete examples (i.e. visual and kinetic), rather than abstract (verbal) descriptions, to create thought-provoking conversations and prompt clients to come to new realizations. This type of therapy is also ideal for leaving a quick “impact” on clients to ensure they leave session with something new to reflect on
Do you offer group therapy services?
Yes! For our expat teens, we offer monthly group sessions. These sessions are excellent for providing the context of peers who are going through similar circumstances. Group sessions can include a variety of services, and also involve guest speakers and “field trips” to practice new skills learned in session. Your teen does not have to be receive individual services with our therapists to participate. If you are new to EKC, a brief phone call intake is necessary before the first group session. This is included in the price of the group session.
To learn more about our group therapy services, or to register your teen, please contact support@expatkidsclub.com
Where are you located? Where can my teen receive services?
Our office is located in Amsterdam (Amstelveen). In person/face-to-face sessions are possible at our office. However, we serve expat teens worldwide using video chat. So no matter where you are located (or where your family relocates!) we are able to keep making sure to help your teen reach their therapy goals.
What sort of challenges do you usually help teens with?
Typical challenges that are addressed at The Expat Kids Club include:
• adjustment to new circumstances (i.e. transitions within and between schools)
• sleep issues (too much sleep, not getting enough)
• recognizing and learning to express unresolved grief that is a result of relocation
• dealing with intercultural obstacles
• overcoming social anxiety and insecurities relating to identity
• social skills and making new friends
• “fitting in” in a new environment and finding a “sense-of-self”
• dealing with school anxiety/refusal
• addressing communication blockages within the family
How do Individual Teen Sessions work?
Teens have many pieces of their personality. In order to help teens understand and connect all these pieces, we believe it is vital that parents are involved. Therefore, the first few sessions are held only with parents as an opportunity to discuss the teen’s history, what the current issues/concerns are, and 
expectations while working with us. During these first sessions, we encourage parents to also ask us any questions they have about us or about our practices.
From there, we have the first session with your teen, which happens at our office, where we introduce them to us, as well as our working style. We also discuss with you and your teen about our confidentiality policy.* Then, the work really begins, with more sessions focusing on whatever your teen needs help with.
To give parents an idea of what may happen in the first few sessions with your teens, we can tell you that we almost always spend time in the first sessions talking about lifestyle aspects of being an expat – for teens, this usually means explaining the idea of being a “Third Culture Kid.” Goals during therapy are generally made concrete during the second or third session. Throughout the process, parents are kept in the loop through debriefing and in-person or video-chat meetings when necessary, including discussing next steps to continue making progress. When relevant, contact with schools and other medical professionals, such as psychiatrists and/or general practitioners, are made and maintained.
*Confidentiality is paramount to the therapeutic process. All parents are required to sign
The Expat Kids Club’s Terms & Conditions agreement with details our strict confidentiality policy.