Online Immigration Counselling in British Columbia
Moving to a new country can be an experience of many emotions: excitement, grief, fear, hope, to name a few. Learning to adjust to a new environment while also striving to hold onto what is familiar is complicated, and understandably, can also be challenging. The reasons folks move can be varied, and at times, like following war or an environmental disaster, may not even be by choice. This results in the experience of immigration being as diverse as the places folks have come from. You deserve to have space to process your experience, and your feelings about it, to make sense of your story. Online counselling can offer a space where you can find support and a place to share your unique experience.
How Can Immigration Affect Your Well-Being?
Being a newcomer in a country involves more than just learning about a new environment. Often folks feel a sense of loss of place, or loss of belonging, which is a unique grief that comes from the process of being disconnected from your roots. The experience of immigration is often stressful, and complicated. Starting over in a new place can cause economic hardship, and folks may need to navigate career changes, or discover that their education or career skills do not transfer over smoothly to their new home. All of these experiences can cause a loss of identity, and change the way you are used to relating to your environment and others. The current news cycle, and the ways that politicians and other individuals, can target immigrants as a blanket source of problems can also contribute to bias, discrimination, and the spread of misinformation, adding to the mental and emotional stress a newcomer can face. Everyone’s experience is different, depending on their unique circumstances, where they are coming from, why they are relocating, and where they are landing. Immigration is understandably stressful, and it makes sense that it would have an impact on your mental and emotional wellness.
Common Challenges After Immigration
There are many reasons someone might seek counselling as a newcomer to a country. What’s most important is to find a counsellor who will really hear you, and take the time to learn about your experience, instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach. Some of the experiences that could be explored in counselling include:
Navigating grief, including a loss of familiarity, identity, place, or belonging
Adjusting to changes in relationship as you leave one community and join another
Exploring experiences of frustration with the process of immigration itself as it is common to encounter systemic barriers that can be rooted in bias and prejudice
Feeling stuck between two places, not totally connected to the home you left, but also not fully feeling immersed in your new home
Loneliness and isolation
Discrimination
Emotion around navigating communication challenges, especially if you are also learning a new language
Changes to your identity and sense of self that can come from having to start over in a new place
Adjusting to a new culture
Finding meaningful ways to stay connected to the culture you came from
Navigating Identity and Belonging
We are shaped, in part, by our environment, so it makes sense that moving to a completely new and different place will significantly impact you. As humans, we gravitate towards what is familiar, and comfortable. When navigating the experience of being a newcomer in a country, this can cause a sense of tension between what we know from the past and where we are now. Many folks describe this as being part of their experience. For children of folks who immigrated, the term ‘Third-culture kid’ describes the unique experience of growing up in between your parents' culture and the culture where you live, often feeling like you don’t fully fit into either.
Feeling a sense of belonging is a need we all have as humans, and often we find belonging with folks who have had experiences that are similar to ours. For third-culture kids, this can be challenging, causing a unique kind of stress. It is important to explore these feelings with someone who can understand how complex your experience is, providing a space to support you in recognizing ways you may be able to feel belonging through other parts of your identity or in other places. Making sense of this is a common part of many immigration journeys.
Schedule a Consultation with Our Counsellors in BC Today
Counsellors Who Can Support Exploring the Experience of Immigration
All of these folks have direct experience with immigration, either having navigated it themselves, or as children of immigrants.
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How Can Counselling Help
Therapy can provide a supportive space for you to process the emotional impact that comes from the immigration experience. We provide a space that is collaborative and culturally responsive, seeking to tailor our approach to each person's unique experiences and values. Much of mental health is biased towards a euro-centric, western perspective. We are committed to interrogating those biases as best we can, being open to learning new things from the cultural background you bring, while holding curiosity about your experience. Together, we can create a space that feels safe enough to explore your emotions.
Taking the Next Step
Adjusting to life in a new country can take time, and it is completely reasonable to seek support during periods of transition. Immigrating may be one of the biggest transitions a human can experience! If you are looking for a space to reflect, process, and feel heard and seen in what you’ve been through, we’d encourage you to connect with one of our highly trained counsellors. Not only are they skilled therapists, but each of them have personal experience with immigration and would love to hear your story!
