- +41 789808380
- contact@ancuypers.com
A former human rights lawyer with the UN, now an English-speaking counsellor in Geneva offering trauma-informed support for humanitarian professionals, aid workers, and expats. Sessions in English, French, and Dutch — in person or online.
Most therapists know the humanitarian sector from the outside. They have read about burnout. They have heard about deployments. They may even have a few clients from the UN.
I know it from the inside.
Before I became a counsellor, I spent more than a decade as a human rights lawyer working within international organisations — including years of service at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). I sat in the meetings. I read the reports. I carried the weight of stories that most people would prefer not to know exist.
I understand what it is to work with intention and purpose in environments that demand more of you than any role should reasonably ask. I understand the missions that do not end when the plane lands back in Geneva. I understand the quiet loneliness of doing work that the people closest to you cannot fully see.
This is why, today, my entire practice is built around supporting the people who do this work.
The transition from law to therapy was not sudden. It was the result of watching, for years, what happens to people — including myself — who give everything to work that never quite lets them go.
I saw colleagues leave the sector unable to name what had changed in them. I saw brilliant, compassionate people reach a point where their bodies and minds began to refuse the work before they consciously did. I saw the way our sector talks about resilience, but rarely makes space for rest, repair, or honest reflection.
And I saw how rarely any of these professionals had access to support from someone who actually understood the specific weight of what they were carrying.
So I retrained.
I studied psychological counselling, trauma-informed care, somatic therapy, and nervous system regulation — bringing the same seriousness I once brought to legal work to a very different kind of practice. My aim is simple: to offer the kind of support I wish had been more available to the people I worked alongside for all those years.
My practice is open to anyone seeking thoughtful, trauma-informed counselling in Geneva. That said, I work most deeply with people navigating the specific emotional landscape of high-responsibility, high-exposure careers:
If you are not sure whether your situation fits — reach out. A free 20-minute intro call costs nothing, and I will tell you honestly whether I am the right support for you, or point you toward someone who is.
I take professional standards seriously. My training combines formal academic education with ongoing specialist training in trauma, somatic therapy, and nervous system work.
M.A. in Psychological Counselling — Webster University (Switzerland / USA)
Advanced LL.M. in Human Rights Law — University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Master of Laws & Bachelor of Laws — KU Leuven, Belgium
Swiss Counselling Association (SGfB) — Individual Professional Member Bound by the SGfB's Code of Ethics and Professional Standards, including strict confidentiality and ongoing continuing professional development requirements.
Trauma-informed and neuro-affirming practice
Somatic therapy and nervous system regulation
Existential and relational therapy
Evidence-based integrative counselling
I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all method. People are not problems to be solved, and therapy is not a protocol to be followed. My approach is integrative, which means I draw from several evidence-based traditions and bring the right tools to the work we are doing together.
It is not about pushing through. It is not about becoming more productive. It is not about fixing what is wrong with you — because the assumption that something is fundamentally wrong with you is, in most cases, incorrect.
It is a space to slow down, make sense of what you are carrying, and find your way back to yourself.
Whatever you bring — recent or long-held, dramatic or quiet — we will work with it at a pace that honours your nervous system, not one that overrides it. No forced disclosure, no pushing through, no re-traumatisation dressed up as breakthrough.
A great deal of what we carry lives in the body long before we find words for it. I incorporate somatic therapy and nervous system regulation techniques to help you notice, settle, and eventually befriend what your body has been holding.
For those questioning identity, meaning, purpose, or their place in a sector that is changing under their feet — there is room here for those conversations too. Grief, moral injury, and disillusionment deserve real attention, not repackaging.
Sessions are not only a place to process. They are also a place to build practical tools — for regulation, boundaries, decision-making, and sustainable ways of working and living.
Language matters in therapy. The words you use to describe your inner life are often the words of your earliest and deepest self — the ones that carry emotional weight that translations cannot always reach.
Sessions are available in:
for clients from anywhere in the world
for French-speaking clients across Geneva, Suisse Romande, and internationally
for Flemish and Dutch-speaking clients
You are welcome to switch between languages during sessions if that feels more natural — many of my clients do.
Everything you share is protected. The limits of confidentiality, which apply equally to any ethical therapist, will be explained clearly at the start of our work.
Session fees can be adjusted according to individual financial circumstances. I would rather find a way to work with you than have cost be the reason you don’t reach out.
If I am not the right therapist for you — because of approach, specialisation, or simply personal chemistry — I will say so, and do my best to help you find someone who is. Therapy works best when the fit is right.
Clients come from every background imaginable. I bring curiosity, not assumption, to every conversation about identity, culture, language, and lived experience.
In-person sessions take place in my counselling practice in Servette, Geneva — at Avenue Wendt 65, 1203 Geneva. The practice is centrally located, easily reached by public transport, and close to the UN and international sector hub of the city.
Online sessions are available to clients across Switzerland, Europe, and worldwide — particularly useful for humanitarian and UN staff in other duty stations, or for clients who prefer the privacy of working from home.
A safe space for reflection, healing, and growth. Offering personalised therapy and counselling in Geneva and online to help you navigate stress, trauma, and life’s challenges with clarity and care.
© 2026 An Cuypers. All Rights Reserved.
