I currently live and work in Fuzhou, China. Mental Health in China has as many stigmas, as it does in many other countries. Breaking mental health stigmas is important the world-over, and I am honored to be doing so in a country as amazing as China. My journey here wasn’t as exciting as you may assume; I studied hard and worked harder on getting my MSc, and then needed a holiday. I ended up on a working holiday for a year here in Fuzhou, and I fell in love with the city and surrounding area. The people are friendly, helpful, and as eager to teach about their culture as they are eager to learn about yours. I haven’t lived anywhere else in China yet, but I imagine that each city has it’s own beauty and charm.

I am also the founder of Gathering Thoughts. There isn’t a big expat community here in Fuzhou, and therefore there is a gap for a psychological counsellor in this area. I conduct sessions online, face-to-face, and over email in an attempt to fill this gap in psychological support. Moving to a new country is hard, not only because of the language barriers and the exciting new foods, but also because for most people this means leaving their support network behind and attempting to forge a new one. In most cases this is a challenging thing to do, and everyone will have a different experience of it.