My Story
I left Brazil when I was 14. I didn't choose to go, and when I arrived in the UK, I felt completely alone. I didn't speak the language or understand the culture. Everyone around me kept telling me how lucky I was, but I didn't feel lucky. I felt lost. That first move was brutal, but it was also the beginning of a life lived across borders.
I spent 16 years in the UK, then seven and a half years in Paris, and the last 11 years in Florence. Each move meant starting again: new language, new culture, new friendships, new systems to figure out. Some moves I chose, some I didn't. All of them changed me. I grew to love the richness of a life lived across cultures, but I know how lonely and exhausting it is to rebuild from scratch, over and over again.
For the last six years, I've also worked as a relocation specialist, helping expats move to Italy. I've sat with families navigating schools in a language they don't yet speak, couples adjusting to a new country together, and people who arrived full of excitement only to feel completely lost weeks later. I've seen up close that the practical side of moving is just one part of it. The emotional side, the part nobody talks about, is often what people struggle with most.
I also know what it's like when the life you built abroad falls apart. I went through a divorce as an expat spouse, far from my family and the support systems most people take for granted. I understand the unique pain of untangling a life that was built in someone else's country — the practical overwhelm, the identity questions, the loneliness. It's an experience that shaped me deeply, and it's one of the reasons I'm passionate about supporting others going through it.
That's why I became a counsellor. Because I know this experience from the inside, personally and professionally. And I know how much it helps to have someone who truly understands.
