My name is Henriette Johnsen. I am a former expat and an experienced English-speaking psychotherapist, trained at Middlesex University in London and a member of Dansk Psykoterapeutforening (MPF). I am Danish by birth but have lived in England for more than 10 years of my adult life and have vast experience in conducting therapy in English.
With my extensive experience of expat life combined with my therapeutic counselling and coaching skills, I help expats gain greater self-awareness, enhance their sense of identity and deal with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress to make the most of their life whilst living the expat dream. I offer both bespoke psychotherapy and counselling to individuals as well as couples and families.
About me
Me personally
I inherited the need to travel and live abroad. My great grandfather was a founding member of a Danish traveller and explorer society. His daughter, my maternal grandmother, travelled around Europe all by herself shortly after the Second World War. She was and still is a great inspiration to me. Both my parents have travelled extensively, and from both sides of the family, we have had expat experiences before the concept was even invented.
When creating my own expat life, I trained and worked as a personal trainer specialising in back pain care whilst studying to become a therapist. I've been back in Denmark since 2015 and besides running my practice, I used to teach Danish at a private, combined international and Danish school in Odense. I now focus exclusively on my practice.
I have three adult children who have all left home to study. In my spare time, you'll find me in nature, in the gym or out and about with my camera. I love spending time with my children, my partner, friends, and family or tucked up with a good book when I'm not abroad exploring the world or catching up with friends from my expat days.
My expat life
A three-time expat myself, I have first-hand experience of many of the joys, benefits, and challenges of expat life.
I have felt the initial excitement, anticipation as well as the wondering if moving abroad was the right decision for my family and me.
I recall the profound loneliness and the identity crisis of being a trailing spouse. How supporting my children in settling into local schools and making friends were my main priority, in which process I totally ignored my own needs. I experienced the difficulty making meaningful friendships; in particular amongst the locals. I struggled with setting up a meaningful life for myself and spent a few years working on myself before I found my way.
Painfully, I recall going through a divorce; of not being able to support myself financially, but being stuck: I wasn’t able to move back to Denmark to create a safer and better life for my children and myself. The struggles I faced being a single mum still seem somewhat surreal to me, but I will never forget the sleepless, anxiety-ridden nights. With pride, I embrace how I took my therapeutic training and empowered myself to fight to relocate to a life nearer friends and family in Denmark, to a life with greater financial security and better educational opportunity for my children.
Me as a therapist
I qualified as a therapist with a First-Class Honours BA degree in Integrative-Relational Psychotherapeutic Counselling from Middlesex University in London.
I am bilingual in Danish and English and conduct counselling and psychotherapy in both languages. Being a former expat, I specialise in challenges of living abroad as well as relocation and repatriation issues.
How I work
As an experienced therapist, I aim to create a warm, compassionate and confidential relationship with my clients in which we can explore your issues and struggles in life. My qualifications and experience allow me to design a holistic, bespoke therapy in which I can draw on various schools of psychology to best meet your needs.
Having gone through the process of divorcing abroad and as a consequence of that not being able to support my children though working more than one job, I found myself stuck in the UK due to the restrictions of the Hague Convention meaning I risked being accused of kidnapping my own children if I moved them back to Denmark without their father’s consent. This is a matter close to my heart, and I volunteer for GlobalARRK, a UK based charity supporting stuck parents throughout the world.
In England, I practised under the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP. I am a member of Dansk Psykoterapeutforening and aim to adhere to their ethical framework, including ongoing clinical supervision, my own therapy and professional development.
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I am also a registered and verified member of:
My therapeutic CV
Educational Level 7: Applied Research Methods in Psychotherapy Practice. Faculty of the Danish Association of Psychotherapists.
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Emotionally Focused Therapy: Masterclass in working with infidelity. ISEFT trainer and supervisor, psychotherapist MPF Steen Rassing
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Shame. Professor in clinical psychology, Carsten René Jørgensen,
Dansk Psykoterapeutforening
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Attachment dynamics and patterns in psychotherapeutic work.
Aut. Psychologist, ph. d. Sarah Daniel, Dansk Psykoterapeutforening
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2024 - 2026
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2024
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2023
2022
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SmartBodySmartMind, trauma healing on nervous system level. Nervous System Expert Irene Lyon, online
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Emotionally Focused Therapy: Highly Escalated Couples Training. Georg Faller; DKCEFT
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Gaslighting. Psychotherapist Lene Bjergland, Dansk Psykoterapeutforening
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The Phenomenology of Shame.
Chief psych. Lars J. Sørensen,
Dansk Psykoterapeutforening
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Emotionally Focused Therapy:
The therapist's attachment style in relation to client work.
Psychologist Lone Algot,
Center for Familieudvikling
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Course in prevention of burnout and lack of empathy. Psychologist Jette Simon, Dansk Psykoterapeutforening
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Core Skills 1-4, Emotional Focused Therapy for Couples. Psychologist Jette Simon, Center for Familieudvikling
Toxic shame, guilt and self-sabotage.
Psychotherapist Inge Holm,
Dansk Psykoterapeutforening
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Somatic Experience (trauma), Intro.
Psychologist Ursula Fürstenwald, Coherence​​
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Externship, Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples.
Psychologist Jette Simon,
Center for Familieudvikling​
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Existential, Phenomenological Psychology, part of the Danish scheme of specialist education for psychologists.
Vibe Strøier, Vinther & Moesgaard
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Systemic therapy and family constellation, online training and
in-person-workship.
Liv Dhanyo Thommesen, ISFO
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Transactional Analysis. My Space, UK
Bodywork. My Space, UK
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FdA/BA Hons Integrative Relational Psychotherapeutic Counselling.
Middlesex University, UK
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AQA Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills.
Kingston College, UK
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In addition to all of this, I am also a qualified teacher holding a BA in education from University College Lillebælt, Denmark, as well as a trained accountant holding a HD in accountancy from University of Southern Denmark.
2021
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2019 -
2020
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2011-2014
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2010 -
2011
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