One of the projects that I have developed, arising from the intersection of my own immigrant experience and the issues raised in my therapy office by clients who are also immigrants, has been the creation of culture-shock orientation programs for new immigrants.
Many of them are, like me, highly educated speakers of English who arrive only to find that the subtle nuances of life in the United States trip them up at the least expected of times. Their technical English does not give them a command of colloquialisms or jokes. Their childhoods did not entail watching the TV shows or listening to the bands that their American-born co-workers knew. They feel uncertain of how to connect with people without making a huge point of this lack of a shared cultural and experiential language.
Because I am myself a recent immigrant I became personally and directly familiar with these often- invisible challenges of adaptation for highly educated, English-speaking professionals. I had to develop skills in order to find my footing in the U.S., and navigate the invisible and unspoken shared experiences of long-standing U.S. residents so that I could, in turn, become the successful mental health professional I am today.
My personal experience, as well as that of the people who attended my orientation seminars, inspired me to conduct qualitative studies of other similar highly educated English-speaking immigrants and their partners in order to develop, in a more systematic manner, my most recent programming for this population.
Here's what I learned, and what I can offer to people who, like me and my group members, fall into this population:
These folks are assisted by having their struggles normalized.
Because of their high levels of education and accomplishment in their homelands they were unprepared for the culture shock that hit them at every turn when moving to the U.S.
Normalizing their experience, and being able to talk...
... about it with other who they could respect and feel mirrored by decreased their overall levels of anxiety, and in particular, their anxiety about how to fit into an American workplace, even one that already had many non-U.S. born workers.
This reduced anxiety improved...
...their productivity and work performance.
These people reported an increased comfort level...
... in communication about non-technical matters with their co-workers. "Water cooler" talk became something they could initiate, rather than avoid, which in turn led to closer and more productive relationships around technical concerns.
Spouses' experiences, also normalized and validated...
... became less of a source of stress, allowing these couples to team together more effectively to master the challenges of culture shock without adding to family stress levels.
If you recognize yourself or your family member in this story you, check my project dedicated to immigrants support www.zeroingout.com or schedule (here) initial free 20 minutes consultation, so we can discuss what form of support fits you the most.