Harriet Cannon is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Mental Health Counselor with 25 years experience in the US and internationally. She helps individuals, professional groups, and organizations create satisfying connections in their intercultural relationships, and success in their professional environments. I had a chance to interact with her recently about some of her exciting work. What follows is our brief interview…
Expanding Our Scope: ITD Forums
Since the inception of the International Therapist Directory, the resource has served the direct purpose of helping individuals who have lived or live an internationally mobile lifestyle to connect with mental health therapists who have a genuine understanding of those kinds of experiences. However, I have always had a strong secondary hope that this resource could also be a help to the listed therapists who are doing the work – that it might help us to recognize, connect with, and even support one another as we go about our work in this field.
To that end, we have launched a portion of the website that hosts both public and private forums to promote online interaction amongst the wider ITD community. This is new, so it is with much enthusiasm, curiosity, and a sense of joyful anticipation that we invite your participation. Welcome to the Forums!!
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Libby Stephens: Humanizing the Transition Experience
As the number of families and individuals who live outside of their passport culture(s) continues to grow, the arena of Cross-Cultural Transition Consulting is a needed and developing area of focus. Like with any subject matter, some professionals active in the work really stand out as champions in their field. Libby Stephens is one such consultant.
I’ve had the privilege of working alongside Libby for a number of Third Culture Kid Transition Seminars over the years, and we recently took the opportunity to swap interviews. You can follow this link to a short video with the two of us from this past Spring, and then keep reading what follows to listen in on a few additional questions I asked of Libby right here. Enjoy!
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Tina Quick: The Global Nomad’s Guide to University Transition
Tina Quick is a cross-cultural trainer and international speaker. Founder of International Family Transitions, she specializes in helping students who have been living outside their passport countries successfully manage their transition to university, whether they are returning to their home country or going on to another host country. Tina also works with individuals, families, schools, agencies, and organizations that support TCKs and international students through providing seminars and consulting services.
Accordingly, Tina has written an excellent book, published in the spring of 2010, called The Global Nomad’s Guide to University Transition. I highly recommend her book, as it is full of thoughtful anecdotes and sound practical advice, a fun and informative read. I recently had the honor of asking Tina a few questions about her work and her experience writing, and you can find her interview here after the break: Read More »
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Expat Therapist Networks: SIMHA
In my last post, I highlighted IMHPJ, a professional support network for expatriate mental health therapists living and working in Japan. Since I believe that quality support networks are important for mental health therapists, I wanted to highlight IMHPJ as a network that has established a good working model for others who may wish to develop something similar in their own part of the world.
A shining example, Shanghai International Mental Health Association (SIMHA), is one such group! Founded in 2008 by Dr. Lauren Muhlheim, SIMHA has directly modeled their association after IMHPJ, having adopted the same Constitution, Code of Ethics, and Mission Statement.
To my delight, SIMHA’s founder, Dr. Lauren Muhlheim, and current president, Barbara Shaya, agreed to answer a few questions, that we may all be enlightened by their experiences with leading SIMHA. Further, Lauren is listed here and Barbara is listed here in the ITD.
The interview follows the break: Read More »
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Expat Therapist Networks: IMHPJ
As practicing clinicians, we at the International Therapist Directory know firsthand the importance of having a supportive professional network of fellow practitioners available to grow alongside while engaging in clinical work. However, for therapists living the expatriate lifestyle themselves, finding such a network can be a real challenge.
In light of that reality, International Mental Health Professionals Japan (IMHPJ) have been pioneers in developing a professional support network for expatriate mental health therapists living and working in Japan.
Though the wonders of the Internet, I had the opportunity to interview Reggie Pawle, a past IMHPJ president and member since 1999. Reggie is also listed here in the ITD.
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Growth
The International Therapist Directory team is growing into… well, into a team!! For the past two years I’ve largely been pioneering this effort on my own, with lots of great support and encouragement along the way. However, I am thoroughly delighted to announce today that a local friend and colleague of mine, a Seattle-based therapist already listed in the ITD, has come on board behind the scenes to roll up her sleeves and help the ITD reach new potential. Read More »
International Educational Consultants
Since launching the International Therapist Directory, I have interacted with many professionals who have services to offer the internationally mobile community outside the scope of mental health therapy. One such service is the field of international educational consulting, and one such consultant is Rebecca Grappo (M.Ed., C.E.P.).
Rebecca has been an educator for over 20 years and has been an active supporter of the International Therapist Directory. In addition to her native United States, she has lived in Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Portugal, Jordan, Oman (twice) and the United Arab Emirates. She speaks English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
I had an opportunity to ask Rebecca a few questions via email recently to gain a broader understanding of how international educational consultants can be of support to both internationally mobile families and therapists alike. Here is how that conversation went…
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Gratitude
Thinking back over the past two years, I want to say thank you to some very key people who have offered tremendous support and encouragement as I went about the business of getting the ITD up and running. There have been many helpful emails, phone calls, and conversations along the way, but a handful of individuals have really made a significant contribution to the development of this resource. Reflecting now, I am full of gratitude… Read More »
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A Brief History
It is time for some narrative.
As the International Therapist Directory (ITD) continues to grow and expand, currently only in its 15th month of online existence, the addition of a blog component to the site feels like a natural and meaningful way to bring some narrative to what is otherwise a fairly straightforward and focused source of information. It is also loaded with possibility.
Over time, the ITD Blog could become a space for highlighting useful resources for therapists and the internationally mobile community, publishing interviews, offering words of introduction, explanation, and gratitude, or simply providing some written context for the directory itself. Today, however, my aim is to share a brief history of the ITD, a little bit about how this site began and why. Read More »