Adult “Third Culture Kids”
So you grew up overseas and were known as a “Third Culture Kid” or TCK. You know a second language, perhaps even a third. You are incredibly intelligent and unusually independent. And here you are, as an adult (perhaps just barely) trying to make your way in the United States among friends who are mostly monolingual, went to public school, and in general can’t fully relate to many of your most profound, treasured, or traumatic life experiences.
It can be lonely. In addition, most third culture kids have loads of unprocessed grief. You’ve had so many micro-losses, so many transitions, that it can be tough finding genuine community and figuring out who you are and where you want to go. Building long-term relationships can be tricky because you’ve had to say goodbye so many times, it can be exhausting starting over again…and again. In addition, research has shown that missionaries have about 2-3x as much daily stress as the average American—which can lead to chronic mental and physical illness down the line.
Your life is no accident.
It can be easy to feel like your life story is disjointed and doesn’t make sense. Your narrative can feel disconnected and chaotic. There are loose ends that maybe were never processed, grieved, and integrated into the rest of you.
That’s okay. We can work with that.
I know what it’s like to go through the difficult process of adjusting to another culture, learning another language, and then the sometimes painful, lonely, and confusing reentry to the United States. It’s not, and perhaps never will be, entirely “home” to you in the same way that it is to others. Your heart is split between homes. And they say that to speak another language is to have another soul.
I will walk beside you as you put the pieces together to make sense of your past, figure out who you are now, and discover where you’re going and who you want to become.