Here's a bunch of recent articles that affect distance families.

• Bilingualism under threat: structured literacy will make it harder for children to hold on to their mother tongue
• Bridging Generations by Crossing the Intergenerational Digital Divide
• Travel can slow the aging process, new study says
• What makes a person seem wise? Global study finds that cultures do differ – but not as much as you’d think

​This month our granddaughter who resides in Edinburgh visited New Zealand. We’d seen her last Christmas in Edinburgh and Wiltshire in the U.K. Visits homes are all too brief as we all know. As I write this she’s about to board her homeward bound flight. It is disconcerting knowing we don’t have plans, right now, to visit the U.K. and neither does she have plans for a return New Zealand visit. But hopefully a trip will be planned in one or other direction, sooner than later.

​Last month I told you about my new office – a space all of my own. I had hoped to share framed pictures on the walls, however, I haven’t quite decided where everything is going. In the meantime here are a few pictures of some of my books and treasures.

​Take care until next time
Helen Ellis
 
*** Not registered to receive this monthly newsletter? You may register on the right of this page ***
 
*** Please forward this newsletter to others who may enjoy it. Thank you! ***

Many partners, players and professions contribute to the world’s understanding and support of those who live away from ‘home’. A key player are specialist expat/migrant psychologists, therapists, counsellors and coaches. The majority have been, or still are, expat/migrants themselves. They have ‘walked the walk’ and provide valuable in-person and remote online support. Expats and migrants find that clinicians who have never personally navigated global mobility aren’t as effective as those who have, because living a distance comes with unique challenges and emotions.

I have crossed paths with many expat/migrant support clinicians. My specialist research topic, distance families, is centre stage of expat/migrant challenges. My overall impression of the practitioners I have met is that they are caring and committed to their craft. So many explain that they started informally helping friends and colleagues by sharing their personal experiences. They soon realized they had a talent to help people. After formal education and training and a lot of pluck, they’d make a monumental leap of faith and transition to self-employment and a new career direction.
There are three interesting aspects to this industry.

First, there are no uniform, global regulatory boards or rules. For example, a therapist practicing in California can only help individuals living in California. Regular appointments need to be put on hold when a client vacations in another state. Likewise, standardised global qualifications exist in some quarters but not in all. For example, in certain countries, a therapist with a B.A. majoring in psychology may refer to themselves as a psychologist. In America, however, a psychologist must have achieved a Ph.D. Likewise, Organizational Psychologists are often found in large global corporations teaching cultural awareness to new arrivals. They can’t operate a clinic guiding employees on an individual basis. That this industry needs to and does self-monitor itself at the global level is a credit to its players.

The second interesting aspect is that this support industry is geared to those who have departed, rather than those ‘left behind’. Expats and migrants don’t need to go far to find a therapist or coach who understands their situation. However, when the ‘left behind’ seek support their local therapist may have little or no understanding of the nuances of families separated by geography.
​
Third, when estrangement or similar occurs within geographically separated intergenerational families therapy options are limited. As a general rule clinicians don’t offer simultaneous counselling with all parties across multiple time zones. 

​In 2021 in between COVID lockdowns I recorded the narration for the audio version of Being a Distance Grandparent – a Book for ALL Generations. It involved around nine visits to a small studio in a suburb half an hour away. As I drove along the motorway I would practice making weird sounds attempting to wake up my vocal chords and exercising my lips and tongue. Once there I set up camp in a cubicle that resembled a confessional. To avoid page turning noises I would read from an iPad. An audio technician was listening in studio next door. When I occasionally fluffed my words he’d interrupt me. I would hear his voice in my headphones and I’d need to start again. He would magically piece all the sections together and listeners would never know.
 
One of the lovely things about this project was that my son contributed. He is a broadcaster and works for the classical radio station, WFMT in Chicago. He kindly recorded the Foreword written by global mobility academic, Professor Loretta Baldassar. You may read the Foreword here.
For an audio introduction from myself please click here.
For a free eBook sample please click here.

Readers will know that a house move has dominated my last 12 months. Finally it is over. We moved into our new apartment and it is wonderful to no longer be in transition. Many a time I reflected that we only shifted five minutes down the road. Our family, who has settled overseas, have endured so much more.

I no longer share an office with my husband and adore my new space. By next month I will have decided where the picture frames are hung and will share a photo or two of my new office.
​
We’re getting used to all the extra keys, swipe cards and the like. You soon learn you never go up or down the elevator without carrying something. However, all those slightly annoying aspects of apartment life melt into oblivion when I look out the windows to the beautiful view we now enjoy.

​Take care until next time
Helen Ellis
 
*** Not registered to receive this monthly newsletter? You may register on the right of this page ***
 
*** Please forward this newsletter to others who may enjoy it. Thank you! ***