Programs for Spouses, Couples, Families: Counseling
Program Overview | Coaching Programs for Expatriates | CounselingFamily members are often stressed before they ever leave on their assignment trying to decide whether to take an assignment, taking the extensive preparations necessary to making the relocation, leaving their familiar things and friends and families. While on expatriate assignments, family members are sometimes stressed beyond their ability to cope.
Research indicates stress related to loss of family and community relationships, of familiar ways of being, and of jobs and resources. In an effort to cope, some choose alcohol or drugs or some other way of coping that makes things worse. During repatriation family members report feeling alienated from friends and family in their own culture.
Having one or more member of the family stressed beyond their ability to cope stresses all family members. Because families are complex systems where each person's condition impacts the well being of all, one stressed out member impact the ability of all to function. In the expatriate family, this connectedness is even more profound because the family may be more isolated than in their own culture.
Our counseling program provides a space for the family member to be with a professional who is skilled in assessing their needs and treating them to help them back to health. They are also experts in helping families understand the problem and how to contribute to the healing process.Counseling is provided for the following:
- Spouses, children
- Spouse groups
- Couples
- Families
Organizational outcomes for all of the following programs include:
- Larger percentage of assignments completed
- Creation of good will between employee, family members, and the organization
- Less likely organizational leader will be distracted from organizational goals by family problems.
- Organization can rest assured that family matters are in good hands.
Assessment
The first part of the counseling process is the assessment of the client, couple or family system. This is done in an interview format and sometimes with professional assessments. The assessment is critical to the process because the treatment will follow based on the assessment. The client's assessment of their situation will play an important part in the total assessment and the client and therapist will agree on what the treatment will look like.Individual or Group Counseling for Spouses
There are many issues that bring expatriate spouses to counseling. Loneliness, estrangement, loss of self, loss of work and purpose, loss of independence are just a few.Individual counseling and group counseling are available. The relationship between the therapist and the spouse will support the healing and the growth of the spouse.
Outcomes may be:
- A renewed sense of self, of personal power
- More joy
- More assertiveness
- More self confidence
- Less anger
- Less sadness
- Better relationships with family and others
- More openness to new culture
Individual or Group Counseling for Adolescents
Adolescence can be a trying time under the best of circumstances. It is a time of identity formation. For some young people, their identity will still be too fragile to cope effectively with the challenges of living with people from other cultures who have a completely different values and expectations about how to behave so you belong.Counseling will help the adolescent and his/her parents support the adolescent in thinking his/her own thoughts, speaking clearly about those thoughts, and learning to be curious and respectful of the thoughts of others. The counselor will also help the parents and adolescent deal with conflict that may arise when the adolescent learns to speak about who they are and what they want.
Outcomes may be a:
- New placement for the adolescent
- New interest in others
- More open
- Less anger
- More pleasant to be with
Emergency Services:
In a worst case scenario, a family member or the family will get into a crisis. Perhaps they show a problem with alcohol or drugs, exhibit bizarre behavior, “go native”, and/or abandon their work and family. These are crisis and often embarrassments for sponsoring organizations.We have staff available to go onsite and in many cases defuse the situation, evaluate the person, couple, family and the situation and make treatment and in some cases business recommendations to the expatriate's host country manager.
Expected outcomes:
- Situation diffused
- Expatriate headed in direction of treatment
- Situation reported to appropriate organizational contact. Report includes assessment of current mental health of employee, assessment of the current situation, recommendations for the future with identified employee, situational stresses to consider in next placement, and reference to any pre departure work expatriates in general may need that may head off any similar derailment.
