Counselling for Clients with Immigration and Refugee Backgrounds

The process of immigration and settlement is inherently stressful. Separation from family and home culture, language barriers, differences in social norms, career change/loss, discrimination and prejudice, lack of support, changes in family structure and relationships can put one’s socio-emotional wellbeing at increased risk. The impact on family members’ mental health is often profound and lasting across generations.

 New Tides recognizes diverse and complex cultural factors in the helping/healing processes and the necessity of a culturally sensitive, trauma informed approach, especially when working with clients of immigration and/or refugee backgrounds.  

With training and experience in cross-cultural counselling, our counsellors value each client’s unique lived experience and worldview and continuously reflect on their own cultural values and biases. In counselling, we can help clients navigate difficulties directly or indirectly related to their (or their family’s) immigration/refugee experience and cultural heritage, including: 

• Life transitions

• Identity and self-esteem issues

• Loss and grief

• Multi-layers of challenges in acculturation and integration as newcomers or descendants of immigrant/refugee families

• Racism, discrimination and microaggression

• Enmeshed family and lack of boundaries

• Parenting difficulties

• Intergenerational trauma and conflicts

• Childhood attachment wounds (e.g. separation from parents, neglect, and/or abuse) and developmental trauma

• Spiritual or existential distresses

• Interracial marriage/relationship and raising mixed-race children

• Conflict with traditional ideals of gender, marriage, and parenthood
  
  Our counsellor Yuan specializes in working with clients with experiences of immigration or those with refugee experiences. Yuan also provides counselling in English and Mandarin.

If you would like guidance in selecting a counsellor, please head to our Connect with a Counsellor form, or to learn more about how each of our counsellors work, connect with us to book a free consultation call.