General Life Guidance
Therapist for expats and internationals
You don’t need a diagnosis, or a crisis, to benefit from therapy. Sometimes life simply asks a lot of you: a move to a new country, a career crossroads, a relationship ending, or the quiet feeling that you are living on autopilot and not quite sure where you are heading.
At Bloomwave, I provide a space to slow down, sort through what’s going on, and figure out what you actually want. Book a first session to get to know each other. It’s free of charge, with no waiting list or referral required.
Location
🏠 Leiden
💻 Online
Languages
🇬🇧 English
🇪🇪 Estonian
Useful Info
⏱️ No waiting list
🧍Adults 18+
Who is Life Guidance for?
Life guidance is for anyone who wants to understand themselves better or improve their quality of life. Many of my clients are expats and international students dealing with transitions that look exciting on paper but feel disorienting in practice. Others simply feel stuck and want a thinking partner who is entirely on their side.
You might recognize yourself in some of the experiences below:
- Feeling stuck or directionless
- A big life transition, like moving abroad or changing careers
- Living far from your support system
- Running on autopilot and losing touch with what you enjoy
- Difficulty making an important decision
- Wanting to understand yourself and your patterns better
When feeling stuck starts to weigh on your mood or energy, it can also be worth looking at (signs of) depression or burn-out.
How Life Guidance can help you
Guidance sessions look like regular therapy: a conversation tailored entirely to your own experiences, patterns, and needs. The difference is mostly in the starting point. Instead of a specific complaint, we start from your questions about your life and where it is going.
Together we’ll clarify what matters to you, look at the patterns that keep you circling the same spot, and turn vague unease into concrete steps. My aim is to help you make choices that feel like your own, at a pace that fits your life.
Some of my approaches to Life Guidance
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT offers practical tools for the thinking traps that keep you stuck, like overthinking every option or talking yourself out of change. Together, we work on turning rumination into decisions and intentions into action.
Schema
Therapy
Schema Therapy helps when the same themes keep returning across jobs, relationships, or countries. By understanding the long-standing patterns behind them, you can start responding to life from choice rather than habit.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
ACT is built around values: figuring out what genuinely matters to you, and learning to move toward it even when doubt and discomfort come along. It’s a natural fit for questions about direction and meaning.
Hi, I’m Laura!
Laura Ruusalu (She/Her)
As a licensed therapist and an expat myself, I know how disorienting it can be to build a life between cultures and far from your support system. I’m originally from Estonia and grew up moving between Finland and Norway before finally settling in the Netherlands.
Now I offer life guidance in English and Estonian, in Leiden and online. I mainly work with expats, international students, and LGBTQIA+ individuals navigating transitions, decisions, and questions of direction. My approach is evidence-based and focused on creating a safe space where you can hear yourself think again.
What you can expect when working with me
Free 30-minute session
Your journey begins with a free 30-minute online contact session, where we’ll explore how I can best support you.
Sliding scale pricing
I offer a sliding scale to keep therapy accessible, with rates based on your financial situation. €80 – €140 / hour
Personalised treatment
I use an integrative approach tailored to your individual needs and desires, always in collaboration.
Client testimonials
“Laura is amazing, as someone who intellectualises their feelings and experiences, finding a good psychologist is sometimes very difficult. However, Laura was heaven sent and has really helped me actually feel my feelings and process my traumas while also working on my triggers and coping mechanisms. Cannot recommend her enough. Thank you, Laura!”
– TK
“I had a very good experience with Laura. She is professional but also makes you feel very comfortable and made me realise things about myself that I still think about/use to this day (which is the first time this has happened for me in therapy). To me, this shows that Laura really listens to her clients.”
– ND
“Having tried various therapists in the past, I came in with feeling a little uneasy and curious to see how Laura from Bloomwave would address my issues and working together through therapy. I am a 22 year old female and I am extremely satisfied with my experience. In the past i often felt like I was not able to be fully understood. But with Laura I felt not only understood but also pulled out of my perceptions to think more critically and understand myself even better. Very professional and very good with helping one find comfort in the session environment. I hope to continue working with her for many sessions to come for my foreseeable future.”
– IW
Why choose Bloomwave practice?
- Personalised, integrative approach
- Accessible rates based on your financial situation
- No waiting list, no referral needed
- Safe space, LGBTQIA+ affirmative
Ready to take the next step?
If you are feeling stuck, restless, or unsure of your direction, therapy is a solid place to start changing that. I offer a free 30-minute online consultation so we can chat about what’s been going on and see if working together feels like the right next step for you. There’s no pressure and no obligation. The contact session gives us a chance to see if my approach matches what you need to get moving again.