Home Without Borders
A Therapeutic Group for Expats
Welcome to a 6-month online journey — 24 sessions of 90 minutes — created for those living far from home, who carry guilt, loneliness, and the quiet weight of starting over. This group offers support in navigating complex emotions and in finding a safe, meaningful sense of community.
If you're an expat who feels torn between two worlds...
If you carry guilt for being far from your family, even when you know this move was right for you...
If loneliness, shame, or quiet self-doubt creep in when you least expect it — in moments of silence, celebration, or video calls that leave you more empty than full...
You're not alone.
And you don’t have to carry it alone.
Maybe you’ve been trying to “stay strong,” to focus on gratitude, to make it work. But part of you feels stuck or numb. Or even like no one around you quite understands what you’ve given up just to be here.
This group was created for that part of you — the part that is tired of holding everything in, the part that wants space to reflect, to be seen, and to grow in ways that feel honest.
A place for expats to reconnect with themselves — and with others who understand the emotional complexity of leaving home to build a life somewhere new.
A space where your grief doesn’t need to be justified, and your strength isn’t measured by how positive you’ve been.
Where your story is welcomed — in all its contradictions.
And where healing begins, not by fixing, but by feeling seen.
About me
My name is Georgia Lepenioti, and I’m a licensed Psychologist and CBT Psychotherapist with a holistic focus — originally from Greece, now living and practicing in the Netherlands.
I know what it means to leave your home behind — not just geographically, but emotionally. To build a life in a new country while quietly carrying grief, guilt, or a sense of disconnection that doesn’t always have a name.
This group was born from that lived experience — and from my clinical work supporting people as they navigate the invisible emotional terrain of expat life.
I created this space to offer something deeper than advice or coping tools.
A space where you can be seen.
A bridge between people who long for connection — and a safe community in which that connection can grow. Where you don’t have to perform closeness or hide your struggles to belong. Where being human — messy, uncertain, in-between — is more than enough.
And where real connection begins with truth, not perfection.
A place where your story matters.
And where your healing doesn’t have to happen alone.
What This Group Offers
A professionally guided therapeutic group where:
1)You’ll share your story — and be truly seen.
In this space, there’s no pressure to have it all together. You’ll be invited to speak your truth at your own rhythm, in your own time, surrounded by others who understand the emotional complexity of living far from home.
Whether it’s guilt, grief, confusion, or quiet resilience — your experience matters here.
Even if you don’t speak much at first, simply listening to others share their vulnerability can be deeply therapeutic. Research shows that witnessing others’ honesty helps us feel less alone — and more able to face our own inner world with compassion.
This group holds space for all of that.
No fixing. No rushing. Just honest connection.
2)You’ll learn how to work with difficult emotions — not against them.
Guilt, loneliness, inner criticism, cultural disconnection... they don’t disappear when ignored. In this group, you’ll begin to meet those feelings with curiosity and compassion. Through guided techniques from Schema Therapy, CBT, and ACT, you’ll build new ways to understand your emotional patterns and soften the harsh voices inside.
3)You’ll reconnect with your values, your identity, and your sense of belonging.
Even when you’ve left your country, you haven’t lost yourself. Together, we’ll explore who you’re becoming — not just who you’ve been. You’ll clarify what truly matters to you now, and learn how to live more fully and freely — wherever you are in the world.
Practical Information
Start Date: October 2025
Language: English or Greek (separate groups available)
Group Size: Small & closed (4–10 people)
Investment: €140/month
Bonus:Free 30-minute intro call to see if it’s a good fit, plus an affordable monthly payment option that costs much less than individual sessions.
How to Join
Fill out the Intake Form in the end of the page
Book your free intro call
Get matched to the right group (Greek or International)
Start your journey in October 2025
What We’ll Explore over 24 Weekly Sessions
Phase 1: Setting the Ground — Connection, Safety & Intention
In the first few sessions, we lay the emotional foundation. This is where we slow down, connect, and build the kind of space where real presence and emotional safety can happen.
You’ll get to know the group, share what brought you here (in your own time), and begin to explore what you need from this experience.
We’ll co-create safety by:
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Setting shared intentions, boundaries, and group agreements
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Building a sense of trust and belonging
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Establishing a culture of non-judgment, choice, and care
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Getting familiar with the rhythm and tools of the group
Phase 2: Emotional Mapping — Sharing Stories & Making Meaning
Once the group feels grounded and safe, we begin to gently step into our emotional worlds — not by analyzing, but by sharing, witnessing, and learning together. This phase is about putting language to what we’ve been carrying — the patterns, beliefs, and emotional responses that shape how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world as expats.
In this phase, we:
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Share our experiences in story form, allowing deeper truths to surface through memory, metaphor, and reflection
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Begin learning about schemas and core beliefs— core emotional themes developed in early life that can show up as guilt, shame, perfectionism, or emotional disconnection
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Explore modes — the parts of us that show up and take over in moments of stress, such as the Inner Critic, the Lonely Child, or the Detached Protector
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Learn from ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) what really causes suffering and how to find peace
Psychoeducation meets storytelling:
Each week, we’ll introduce simple, research-based insights into how the mind works — always grounded in real-life experience, not theory.
Together, we ask:
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“What part of me shows up when I feel far from home?”
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“What beliefs have I carried silently?”
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“What happens when I try to push pain away — and what happens when I make space for it?”
Why it matters:
When you hear someone else name a feeling you’ve buried, something inside you softens. When you understand why a certain reaction keeps showing up, shame begins to lose its grip. When you realize you don’t have to fight your inner experience — but relate to it differently — suffering starts to shift.
“The moment we recognize that our patterns were once protections, we begin to meet ourselves with compassion instead of blame.”
This phase blends storytelling, community, and psychoeducation, always at a pace that honors your rhythm. We’re not rushing into “fixing”, we’re uncovering, witnessing, and making space for what’s been hidden or pushed aside.
Phase 3: Emotional Healing & Expression — Meeting Yourself with Compassion
In this phase, we begin to gently turn toward the deeper emotional layers of your experience — not to fix or dissect them, but to create space for healing through presence, compassion, and connection. By now, the group has become a trusted space. You’ve started to recognize the beliefs and emotional patterns you carry. Now, we begin to explore what those parts of you truly need — and how you can relate to yourself with more care.
In this phase, we:
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Explore and give space to emotions like guilt, shame, anger, and loneliness, which are often pushed aside or internalized
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Notice the inner voices that show up in moments of stress — like the critic, the avoider, the over-helper — and ask: What are they protecting?
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Practice speaking to yourself in ways that are more nurturing, honest, and emotionally safe
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Begin to strengthen the part of you that can offer wise, grounded care — even in difficult moments
“The goal is not to silence your inner parts, but to change the way you respond to them.”
Why this matters:
For many people, this is the first time they allow themselves to feel certain emotions — not alone, but in a safe space, held by others who truly get it.
You begin to realize that:
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The guilt isn’t the full story
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The inner critic isn’t the truth
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You don’t have to fight or fix yourself — just meet yourself differently
This phase invites a quieter kind of transformation — the kind that doesn’t need performance, just presence.
“When we stop running from our emotions and start listening to them with kindness, something inside begins to soften and shift.”
Phase 4: Values, Belonging & Integration — Coming Home to Yourself
As we move into the final stage of the group, the focus shifts gently from the past to the present — and toward the future you want to build. This phase isn’t about tying everything up neatly.
It’s about reconnecting with what truly matters to you, and learning how to carry your insights forward — not perfectly, but intentionally and with self-compassion. You’ve shared your story. You’ve met the parts of yourself that longed to be heard.
Now, we begin asking:
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“What do I want to stand for?”
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“Who am I becoming — here, now?”
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“How do I live from my values, even when old emotions still visit me?”
In this phase, we:
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Reflect on what truly matters to you, using tools from Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)
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Learn how to take values-based action — not from guilt or pressure, but from purpose and clarity
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Deepen our understanding of acceptance, recognizing that emotions like grief, guilt, or longing don’t have to disappear in order for you to move forward.Not as resignation, but as a willingness to make space for all parts of your experien
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Explore what it means to belong — to yourself, to your values, and to your life now
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Integrate what’s emerged throughout the group into daily choices, relationships, and rhythms
“Acceptance doesn’t mean we like or approve of everything we feel. It means we stop fighting reality — and start relating to it differently.”
🤍 Why this matters:
Many expats carry an invisible emotional weight:guilt for not being “there". grief for what was lost or left behind, shame for feeling joy while others struggle. This phase helps you begin to relate to those feelings with more space and kindness — so they don’t block your ability to live meaningfully here and now.
We also take time to honor the group process:
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Celebrating growth, both spoken and quiet
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Naming what you’re carrying forward
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Offering closure and connection in a way that feels complete
“Belonging doesn’t always come from a place — it begins with accepting yourself, just as you are, right where you are.”