320 338
HEALTH&FITNESS
320
June14
Shrimathi Swaminathan, Psynaptica
Body with Soul Total Healthcare Network
44 Rochester Park
6779 0660 | psynaptica.com
Rachael Walden and Kirstyn Mitchell
The Counsellors: Expat Psychological
Services
#01-01 The Science Hub
87 Science Park Drive
9385 0963 | theexpatcounsellors.com
Sanaa Hdidinou and Gisela Guttman
Alliance Professional Counselling
#04-03 Cluny Court
501 Bukit Timah Road
6466 8120 | alliancecounselling.com.sg
CHILDREN & TEENS
Expatriate children live the experience
of moving between cultures before they
have had the opportunity to fully develop
their personal and cultural identity,
say Brazilian clinical psychologist and
psychoanalyst
Gisela Guttman
and her
colleague, Belgian counsellor
Sanaa
Hdidinou
. “This exposure to a variety
of perceptions and lifestyles is generally
positive in that it allows them to expand
their worldview – yet challenges remain.”
The first and most obvious challenge
is to adjust to the new country. “This
holds true whether or not it is their
first time outside their home country,”
according to Gisela. And if they have
difficulty adapting to the new culture,
they may start to feel like perpetual
outsiders. The result is emotional or
behavioural symptoms that vary from
sadness and frequent crying, anxiety
or nervousness, headache and tummy-
ache complaints to refusing to go to
school.
It’s important to understand that
moving to another country involves
losses of some kind or another,
regardless of the advantages that this
new phase may hold for the child and
his or her family. Children feel grief at the
loss of their safe and predictable world –
their friends, their home, extended family
and community, even the food and the
climate that they are used to. All this can
negatively affect their basic need for
belonging, recognition and connection.
If and when you do relocate to your
country of origin, after many years, says
Sanaa, you may not be home and dry.
Repatriation can also be challenging
for kids who feel that they don’t belong
in their home country, or what they may
perceive as their parents’ country.
What about serial expat families,
those who spend many years, even
decades, in a series of expat postings?
There are those who seem to thrive on
this lifestyle, but for others, constant
mobility can lead to identity issues. In
Sanaa’s view: “Parents should provide
close support to their children and
if needed, should seek professional
help to assist them to cope with these
challenges.”
For children, just as for their parents,
social issues can arise. Many adult
expats find themselves having to relearn
the lost skill of making new friends,
but past experience arguably makes
us better equipped to deal with the
loss when either we or our new friends
move on.
“For children in the international school
arena,” says Sanaa, “making new friends
and then having to say goodbye to them
becomes routine. And the consequence
is some expatriate kids can find it
difficult tomaintain close friendships and
relationships. Some may even develop
the protective mechanism of not getting
too close to their peers, for fear of feeling
pain or abandonment when they or their
friends move on.”
If you believe your child is experiencing
adjustment issues, social problems or
anxiety about relocating, you should
consult a child psychologist or a
counsellor. Sanaa has wide experience
in areas such as adjustment, depression,
bullying, body issues, parenting and
more; while Gisela’s clinical work with
children, teenagers and families focuses
on changes in family dynamics and the
opening of new personal perspectives
via counselling and psychotherapy.