In this section, you can find information on phone & web counselling, counselling & mediation services, peer support groups, and mental health.

Finding support

Going through a divorce can be very difficult, especially when you are far away from your family and friends. You might find it difficult to talk about your feelings, or feel misunderstood and alone in your current situation. Maybe you also worry about your future or that of your children, or you feel overwhelmed with the new situation.  

It often helps to talk about your worries and thoughts with people who have gone through the same, or with professionals who can help you get back on track. Below, you can find a list of different support and counselling services.
 

Phone and web counselling

​Many associations offer counselling services and emotional support online or by phone. These services are very discrete and preserve your anonymity, and you can arrange them quite flexibly around your own time schedule.
  • The Finnish Association for Mental Health’s National Crisis Hotline offers free phone counselling in English and in Finnish on weekdays and weekends. Discuss your thoughts, feelings and situation in life with a crisis worker or a trained volunteer by calling to 01019 5202.
  • Yhden Vanhemman Perheiden Liitto’s Eroinfopäivystys is a phone service providing information about all matters concerning children in divorces, such as custody, child support and the child’s place of residence.
  • Perheaikaa.fi offers web chats on all kinds of family-related topics, for example for single parents. You can also find forum discussions on different aspect of parenthood (Finnish only).
  • Mannerheimin Lastensuojeluliitto operates the Vanhempainpuhelin, a free peer support hotline for parents. You can also contact them via their web service.
  • Tukinet is a web service offering discussion groups, live chats with peers and experts, and search engines to find information and support in all kinds of circumstances (website in Finnish only).
  • The Family Federation of Finland (Väestöliitto) provides counselling and therapy sessions concerning family matters, relationships, as well as sexual health, both in person and on the phone. You also have the possibility to book free online counselling sessions with a psychologist.
 

Counselling and family mediation services

​Counselling services are suitable for both individual people and couples or families. Other than professional therapy sessions, counselling is often free of charge. The social welfare services of your home municipality are, for example, required by law to provide free family mediation. You can also ask for counselling services at the public health centers (terveyskeskus). If you are worried about the mental well-being of your child, you can contact the school psychologist at their school or the child welfare supervisor of your municipality.
  • The Finnish Lutheran Church ​offers support and counselling for families and individual people, regardless of their confession. Family counselling is offered by most parishes, and by the Helsinki Deaconess Institute (Helsingin Diakonissalaitos). If your parish doesn't offer family counselling, they can refer you to one that does.
  • Kataja ry offers relationship counselling, support groups and other activities for couples (website in Finnish only).
  • Eläkeliitto offers peer support and divorce counselling specifically for people aged over 50 (Finnish only).  
 

Peer support groups

​Peer support groups (vertaistukiryhmät) provide the possibility to meet and talk with people who are in the same situation as you. You might find new perspectives, good advice, or just an open ear. 
  • Neuvokeskus offers Finnish-language peer support groups for divorcees, as well as a “Neuvokahvila” (Counsel Café) where you can meet other people sharing your situation. You are welcome to participate even if you're not fluent in Finnish.
  • Miessakit ry organizes peer support groups for men. You can contact their Erosta Elossa service to find out more about divorce groups, individual discussions and counselling in case of a divorce.
  • YVPL has collected a list of peer support groups for divorcees around the country (Finnish only).
  • Apuaeroon.fi website provides the most comprehensive list of peer groups and other divorce services all over Finland (in Finnish only).  
  • Päksy ry offers ”multicultural living room” meetings in cooperation with Familia ry and other associations, where multicultural parents and single parents can meet and chat once a month.
  • You can also find some privately organized divorce groups; however, they sometimes charge quite heavy fees. Check out for example: www.suomalaineneroseminaari.fi (Finnish only).
 

Mental health and psychological help

If you feel that you need professional help, it is good to contact an expert as early as possible. Psychological help is available both from public and private health care centers. Therapy sessions are usually charged.
  • Do you need professional psychological help? Find a therapist here (website in Finnish only).
  • The Finnish Central Association for Mental Health (Mielenterveyden keskusliitto) offers peer support and counselling as well as seminars for mental health problems.
  • Nyyti ry offers diverse online and offline mental health services for students (Finnish only). 
  • The Finnish Association for Mental Health (Suomen Mielenterveysseura) runs a crisis hotline for foreigners and offers crisis counselling in Finnish, Swedish, English and, if necessary, through an interpreter in the client’s mother tongue. Counselling is cost free and it’s possible to make the contact anonymous. For more information, call the crisis hotline: 09 4135 0501.
“Once you're a foreigner and you're getting out of your own home, and away from your spouse - for whom you probably came here - it's very tough. You see yourself alone.  It's not so easy to find all this information all of the sudden. Sometimes you just have a month, and that's it.”