Counselors: be curious about their upbringing...third culture kids

Once again I found an interesting article online: "Identity, mobility and marginality: counseling third culture kids in college" by Dana Leigh Downey, University of Texas at Austin. The article mentions that it is estimated that over 4 million Americans live abroad, with over 37,000 matriculating into U.S. universities each year. Our societies are becoming more and more global. Third culture kids "experience a collision of cultures and form hybrid identities in the course of their development".

I am really interested in getting to know how many Dutch third culture kids transition from abroad to Dutch universities. Can anyone help me out? Do you know the figures? Years ago I was a third culture kid moving from Zimbabwe to the Netherlands to study. I had not heard of the term "third culture kid", I had no idea what challenges I would face, I did not know that I was a "hidden immigrant". There was no extra help from the university, no extra language help, no extra support. I was not even identified as coming from abroad.

Gaw* (2007) says that re-entry is often more challenging and unsettling than initial culture shock, affecting academic, social and psychological functioning. As with other non majority groups TCKs are less likely to seek support services on campus. "The non-linear background of the TCK does not fit the mold of the average intake form." There's a good idea here: Downey suggests that counseling centres may consider adding questions to their surveys or intake forms: before the age of 18 I lived in more than one country/culture. A question like this would help identify third culture kids. It is only worth identifying TCKs if there are people who are equipped to help them. According to Downey counselors must extend:

• support
• validation
• encouragement
• along with cultural compentence
• and intercultural understanding

in order to assist third culture kids experiencing re-entry culture shock. That sounds too good to be true.

Gaw cautions mental health practitioners to be aware of possible misdiagnosis or incorrect clinical procedures that may result from:

1. misunderstanding this population
2. not accepting or validating this population
3. assuming the TCK experience is transitory and something to grow out of
4. assuming the assessment tools and constructs normed with the majority population will be applicable.

Nina Sichel co-editor of the collections Writing Out of Limbo: International Childhoods, Global Nomads and Third Culture Kids (2011) and Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing Up Global (2004) recently wrote an article called "The Trouble with Third Culture Kids"  on Children's Mental Health Network. "So when she(the TCK) comes to you, don’t ask her where she’s from, or what’s troubling her. Ask her where she’s lived. Ask her what she’s left behind. Open doors. And just listen. Give her the time and space and permission she needs to remember and to mourn. She has a story -- many stories. And she needs and deserves to be heard, and to be healed, and to be whole."

Soon colleges and universities will start their academic year and over 37,000 TCKs will return to America to further their education. An unknown number of TCKs will re-enter the Netherlands and many other countries. What will their experience be like? Will it be different to mine years ago? Will they be identified? Will they be helped by well-equipped counselors, and mental health practitioners that have experience working with third culture kids? What was your experience like when you went to college or university?

By the way there is a new useful book to help you prepare for your transition to university. It's the book "A Global Nomad's Guide to University Transition" by Tina Quick.

*Gaw, K.F. (2007) Mobility, Multiculturalism and Marginality: Counseling Third Culture Students. Special Populations in College Counseling: A Handbook for Mental Health Practitioners(63-76).

Related posts:

• Third Culture Kids and Going to University
• The Most Difficult Transition for Third Culture Kids
• Re-entry into your passport culture
• Third Culture Kids Learning to be themselves
• Cultural identity Confusion and third culture kids

The Most Difficult Transition For Third Culture Kids

Today I was reading a post on a new blog called La Vie Overseas. It's a nice blog about expat life as a foreign service wife. The post that attracted my attention is called Raising Third Culture Children: the other side. The post is an interview with an adult who grew up in a foreign service family. What struck me most was the answer to the question "I what place did you experience the biggest culture shock?" Now the Adult third culture kid had lived in several different countries: Jerusalem, Ankara, Falls Church (VA), Islamabad, Cairo, and Tel Aviv. The answer was that going to college in Virginia was by far the most difficult. It was actually pretty easy to adjust to all the other countries.

Home: where the tulips grow? By DrieCulturen

Wow! It sounds just like my story. When I was a child and later as a teenager our family moved several times, within cities, within countries and within the African continent. I cannot remember being really sad about leaving every time. It was a way of life, many families around us led the same kind of life. The big shock came when I went to university in the Netherlands. The rest of our family stayed in Africa so it was out on my own this time. I have written about it in an earlier post: Cultural identity confusion and the third culture kids. All my life in Africa I had felt Dutch and now being in the Netherlands all of a sudden I was not like the other Dutch university students. We did not think alike, we did not feel alike, I had completely different associations with certain things. The worst part was that no one had prepared me for this "culture shock". We can all have a "pity me" party now but that will not help. I just hope that there are people out there: parents, teachers, therapists, friends and family who are preparing teenagers for their return to their "home" country or for the transition to college or university. Let's raise the awareness about the challenges these youngsters face. From the comments on this blog I can see that there are many more like me who would have liked a little more help, a little more preparation, a little more support. It's such a lonely road to walk.

Luckily there is some information available on this subject:

1. A Third Culture Kid's Guide to college: it's at DenizenMag an online magazine
2. The book "The Global Nomad's Guide to University Transition" by Tina Quick. It's a useful book and I wish it had been written when I went to university.
3. My earlier post "Third Culture Kids going to university"
4. "The 10 Things every global nomad needs to know before leaving for university" found on the website International Family Transitions.

Please share your thoughts on this subject. Do you know of any useful resources for preparing teenagers to return to their "home"country?

Related posts:

• Third culture kids learning to be themselves
• Neither here nor there: where do I belong?
• The downside of growing up as a third culture kid
• I am all the places in which I've left my heart