How not to suppress yourself and feel comfortable in family relationships

Mrs. A. (35 y.o.) is a Czech married to a Frenchman and they are raising a 5-year-old girl. They live together in France, but the family did not accept her and forbids her to speak Czech with her daughter. Therefore, we talked about setting boundaries and communicating them to her French family so that good relations are not disrupted, but so that she feels comfortable. We also worked on several self-esteem and self-image topics and on her relationship with the Czech Republic during several sessions.

How to raise bilingual children together

Mrs. C. (33 y.o.) is an Italian who lives in the USA with an American husband and a newborn. They do not know how to approach their child’s bilingual education in a sensible way. We discussed possible bilingual education strategies and considered which would be the most appropriate for their specific situation. We also discussed how to playfully motivate the kid to use both languages and which expectations can be addressed in the future.

Anxiety abroad

Mrs. J. (38 y.o.), a Spaniard living in Germany, suffers from sadness and lack of energy. She feels socially isolated, she wakes up at night with outbursts of anxiety and her thoughts revolve around going back to her home country. She is also very bothered by the fact that her German friends and family give her less attention than she needs. During the counseling we gradually changed the focus from the outside world to the inner one, recognizing the emotions and messages they carried. We focused on strengthening her identity in the new environment and finding a harmonious relationship with her past in Spain.

Managing communication with colleagues abroad

Mr. M. (45 y.o.) is a Dutchman who lives and works in Dubai. He came to us concerned that he could not communicate efficiently with his Dubai colleagues. Together we have identified what can be the reason behind mutual misunderstanding and worked on improving the style and comprehensibility of his communication in an intercultural situation. Then we analyzed his values and found a way to fulfill them meaningfully, and strengthened his self-confidence as a foreigner.

Feeling like a stranger with my husband

Mrs L. (39 y.o.) is an Australian who moved to Spain to be with her Spanish husband. However, gradually she goes through a disappointment, a lot of things are different than she imagined. Even her husband seems to be a different person in his environment, the roles have been reversed and she is now a foreigner in their relationship.What worries her the most is that she can’t find a job in her field, which is very important to her. We considered different scenarios: staying in Spain, alternating stays or returning permanently to Australia. In the end Mrs. L. evaluated the return to Australia as the healthiest solution for her.