Who IS SUZANNE?
My name is Suzanne Brand-van der Werf, emigration counselor at EQCounseling. I support Dutch emigrants, Dutch prospective emigrants, Dutch expats and relatives who stay behind, who experience temporary emotional problems. Hereinafter, you read about my expertise on emigration and why I chose to specialise to support Dutch emigrants.
Who IS SUZANNE?
Hey, my name is Suzanne Brand-van der Werf, emigration counselor at EQCounseling. I support Dutch emigrants, Dutch prospective emigrants, Dutch expats and relatives who stay behind, who experience temporary emotional problems. Hereunder, you read about my expertise on emigration and why I chose to specialise to support Dutch emigrants.

I am Suzanne
Emigration brings unexpected twists to life. Emotionally it can be overwhelming at times. Every emigrant will get to a point in their live where they feel this way. How to deal with that and how to get past it, is something I know like no other, due to my personal experience as emigrant and in my profession a counselor.
Developing EQ is my passion! When expending your EQ the changes of being successful in life will expand with you. Especially, for the ones dealing with emigration. You go through this life changing event, to make your dream come through, why not make it into a success! By gaining emotional knowledge, it will stick with you for the rest of your life. Giving you great tools to work with at all times.
Once upon a time…
Together with my husband and our children, it seemed the best adventure ever to run our own business.
To realise this in a foreign country, away from Dutch rules and regulations, it would only make this adventure more fun and challenging. We wanted this and it happened. My husband sold his company in Holland and we flew off to Aussie with our little daughter.
It was magical but then it hit us. Â Eight months after arrival in hour new homeland, , my husband got diagnosed with uncurable cancer. I was 7 months pregnant at the time, of our second child. My husband died 2,5 months after our son was born.
He got buried exactly 1 year on the dot since the start of our magical adventure,
Counseling
Though……a few years later, I started studying Counseling in Melbourne. During the course, I finally experienced a feeling of homecoming. This profession was meant to be. I learned about the development of emotional wellbeing. Not academic intelligence (IQ) would be the only ingredient to success, also emotional intelligence (EQ) is a very important ingredient in life.
Counseling is a real craft to learn. The Fingerspitzengefuhl. The trade suits me and seems to be like a jacket that fits perfectly. Find solutions and answers, accept circumstances, use of potential possibilities, stimulating self-knowledge………..how great to be a part of that? Supporting someone to enrich themselves emotionally is an honourable thing to do. I wish success on everyone, cause we all deserve it!
Return
And then……..after 8 years of living in Australia, I decided to return to Holland. Not because my life would be better overthere but the main reason was for my children. I believed it would enrich their development by growing up around family. That would contibute to developing a healthy identity.
In Holland I worked full time and my family looked after them after school hours. It was a very busy life. My roles as mother, father, employee, social contact, etc. made it hard to stay emotionally balanced.
I made contiouse choices that fitted me. I would not lose my mind or get unhealthily stressed that way. I wanted my life to work, despite the challages in it.
It worked. Expanding and investing in my emotional intelligence paid off.
New beginning?
After 3,5 years, I met a Dutchie and fell in love. He had started a business, a few years ago, in Denmark together with a business partner. My adventure gene got activated again, so….
After 1,5, years of travelling back and forth, I decided, together with the children, to put on the emigration shoes again and move to Denmark.
My wish of running a company with a partner and children abroad, seem to get a second chance.
After 5 years we returned to Holland, again. The company got bankrupted. My partner had to leave his life-work behind. The company got in heavy weather during the economic crisis and down due to immoral financial policy. All in all, a sad and frustrating period in our lives.
 For now, we live in a townhouse. I can appreciate my little garden very much after all the disillusions.
My adventure has started once again. My aspirations are finding a new path. Running a company with my partner abroad is no longer a desire but running a successful family together, is like running a healthy business.
Every family member is using their experiences they gained over the last decades in their lives. In every daily event we still notice benefits of emigration.
Who knows what the future entails? This adventure gene might play up again, one day, in us or our children. At least, they are planning a future outside Holland already…..
EQ
Being aware of my emotional state all the time, I have increased my EQ. More knowledge about who I am.
This made life under the conditions and circumstances I had to go through, manageable. Especially, “don’t go for second best, put yourself to the test” was a phrase I live by and contributes  to my success, as hard as that can be at times.
Every circumstance, I used as a subject-matter of tuition to pass the test life had installed for me. I passed every time. Succes was the reward. Hard work and dedication. I gained knowledge and lots of beautiful experiences on the way.Â
Why only dutch emigrants?
After gaining a complementary counseling certificate here in The Netherlands, I decided to combine my professional life as a counsellor with my experiences as a Dutch emigrant. I have lots of knowledge to share and why not with the people like me who know how it is like to be a Dutch emigrant or are planning to become one.
Emigration is a life-changing event. For everyone involved. To make and keep it successful, you not only need to have practical things in place but also emotional issues. I welcome a great life for every (Dutch) emigrant. I know it can be! Also for you.
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COntact me
With this form you can contact me. I will respond your message as soon as possible.
Getting smarter with EQ is my passion.
By developing emotional intelligence (EQ), one will benefit and become more successful in life. Emigration will give an extra dimension to life. Getting smarter emotionally, will help implement success in your life as an emigrant. You will get better at life and stay that way.
Opening hours
EQCounseling doesn’t have standard opening hours for  clients. Due to the fact that they are in every timezone on the globe. Appointments will be made on times that suits both parties. To make an appointment please fill out the contact form on the website, give me a ring on 0031 (0) 6 57881144 or email me.Â
EQCounseling
Suzanne Brand-van der Werf
0031 (0)6 5788 1144
Zutphen (NL)
KVK 67938043
BTW NL002052932B51
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