Contributed by Lois J. Bushong, MS, LMFT It is a fit! As a Third Culture Kid and in the light of my natural giftedness as a counselor, I selected a vocation that is a perfect fit. When I was in college in the 60’s, I only knew of one TCK who had become a therapist. […]
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Contributed by Anastasia Piatakhina Gire, Member of IIAP There are places I’ll remember all my life. —I was born in a small Russian town, a very cold and dirty place. This was one of the first things Anna shared about herself in a long introductory email reaching out to me for online psychotherapy. In this […]
Contributed by Judy Hansen, MA, LPCC Do you ever wonder how non-TCKs and TCKs get along much less have lasting relationships? Do you find yourself jealous or slightly cynical of those who seem to have close friendships and wonder how they got there? Do you question how TCKs in relationship with non-TCKs have managed to […]
Contributed by Anastasia Piatakhina Gire, Member of IIAP “You are so resilient!” – said with a shred of admiration and with some (more subtle) envy underneath. I have heard that so many times. And every time, even though I feel grateful that the person appreciates my striving, it irritates me slightly. But what may cause […]
Contributed by Kate S. Berger, MSc, Child & Adolescent Psychologist Expatriate children deal with a laundry-list of stress factors that are associated with the dynamic lifestyle they live – e.g., packing, unpacking, saying goodbye to loved ones, time differences, new schools, new friends. And after one has made it through those stressors there is the […]
Happy New Year!! As 2015 dawns, I want to take a brief moment to reflect on the substantive year of growth that was experienced over the course of 2014. Perhaps most notably, updates were made to each of the following sections: Albania, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, England, Germany, Greece, Kenya, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, […]
Contributed by Judy Hansen, MA, LPCC “Did you know there are flies that lay eggs under your skin?!” my friend exclaimed. I was horrified to learn this truth when I was a kid growing up in Brazil. I had seen tarantulas, spitting frogs, seen hairy multicolored caterpillars, tried to catch geckos by their tails and […]
Contributed by Kay Bruner, MA, LPC “I feel awful. Something inside me is squeezing me so bad I can hardly breathe.” With those first words of Letters Never Sent, Ruth Van Reken spoke straight to my TCK heart. It was 1988, I was a senior in college, the book was brand-new, and for the first […]
Contributed by Lois J. Bushong, MS, LMFT The recent suicide of Robin Williams, a much-loved comedian and actor, has brought about a great deal of discussion on severe depression. With all the focus on depression, I worry about TCKs who have repeatedly gone to a therapist’s office seeking help for depression. Will they feel, like […]
Contributed by Kim Roberts, MA Is it any wonder that anxiety and panic disorders are on the rise? Technology almost dictates that we live in a “need it yesterday” mindset, interrupted by instant messaging, late for our next appointment, struggling to clear out cluttered inboxes, figure out how to send our files, and generally keep […]
Contributed by Mari L’Esperance, MA, LMFT [Note: I interchangeably use the pronouns “she/her” and “he/his/him”.] I didn’t become aware of the term Third Culture Kid until a colleague who is also a TCK introduced me to it, along with Ruth Van Reken’s co-authored book Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, just a couple of […]
Contributed by Kate S. Berger, MSc, Child & Adolescent Psychologist “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “How do you spend your time?” “What are you passionate about?” “What’s important to you?” and my personal favorite – “Where do you see yourself in five years?” are questions that take some understanding of […]
Contributed by Judy Hansen, MA “Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong in my own family!” I recently said to a friend. This may sound strange to some, but to my friend, she got it immediately because she too had felt the same dissonance. What causes this? It’s when someone who grew up in many […]
Contributed by Lois J. Bushong, MS, LMFT March 21-23, 2014, I attended the Families in Global Transition (FIGT) conference in Washington DC. The conference is always a highlight for me as I learn about the latest studies on TCKs and the expat, pick up new books, interact with other professionals (i.e. counselors) on how to […]
Contributed by: Paula Vexlir, Registered Clinical Psychologist As expats we tend to understate grief. Maybe because there is so much to get done that you feel that there is no time for sadness, maybe because you need to show yourself strong in front of the children or your spouse, maybe because you have such a […]