How will I cope in a cultural different working environment? How can I create a stable environment for me and my family in a new country? How do I connect and reconnect with my loved-ones back home? And ‘Home’: where is that for me, anyway?
As you move around the world, you become an expert in adapting to new circumstances. You learn to juggle your career, marriage, family, and even your hobbies, according to which country you’re currently living in.
But where are YOU in this process?
Moving to a new place as an expatriat means that various life events, such as moving to a new house, learning a new language, and starting a new job (each in themselves potentially stressful), all take place at the same time. This can cause migration stress, at worst a health risk and at best a psychological challenge for you and your family.
Having lived in different countries as diverse as Germany, South Africa, Brazil, UK and the Netherlands, I can empathize with various factors of stress, psychological problems and adaptation issues. But I also recognize the joys and opportunities that come with living somewhere else. Through my work I’ve helped prepare Dutch expat managers who are moving to Germany, coached international professionals in Brazil, and counseled German NGO workers who are being send out to do developmental work around the world. These experiences all help me understand in my work with expats, offering coaching and psychotherapy to this particular group of people.
How to juggle your career, marriage, family and hobbies?
Where and how to create a good place for us all?