Mindful Expat Episode 29: From Surviving to Thriving Abroad! (With Guest: Louise Wiles)

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Today’s Mindful Expat Guest is Louise Wiles!

Louise is an expat coach who works with international assignees, expat partners, and international organizations to help expats and their families not only survive but thrive in their lives abroad!

Louise is originally from the UK, but she has spent much of the last 18 years living in Spain and Portugal. Three years ago, she repatriated back to England with her husband and 2 daughters.

When Louise first moved abroad for her husband’s career, she left behind a corporate career of her own, so she is intimately familiar with the challenges that dual career couples face when deciding to move abroad and navigating their expat experience. Along with her (former) business partner, Evelyn Simpson, both trained coaches, she began a business called Thriving Abroad, to help expat partners and expat assignees navigate these challenges and create a life they love.

Louise also has her own podcast, also called Thriving Abroad, where she interviews guests and covers topics related to helping expats face personal and professional challenges in their lives abroad, and I highly encourage you to check it out.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• About Louise’s experience of navigating multiple overseas moves and her professional journey of creating her coaching business, supporting expats and expat partners.
• The importance of our expectations and really thinking through our decision to move abroad ahead of time.
• Some tips for people already living abroad who feel like they’re in survival mode to help make the shift from just surviving to actually thriving in their lives overseas!  Read More

Mindful Expat Episode 27: Creativity & Other Sources of Resilience for Latino Immigrants & Others Living Abroad (With Guest: Carmen Roman, Ph.D.)

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Today’s Mindful Expat Guest is Dr. Carmen Roman!

Dr. Roman is a licensed psychologist in the state of California. She is originally from Mexico and practiced as a psychologist there for a number of years before moving to the United States in 2007.

Dr. Roman is bilingual in English and Spanish and offers bilingual and bicultural psychotherapy to her clients in the San José region of California, where she lives. She also has a specialty in creative expression and art therapies.

Dr. Roman also has her own podcast, called Emotions in Harmony, which is a bilingual podcast (in English and in Spanish) and which focuses on topics related to emotional wellbeing – so very relevant to things we talk about here on this podcast too, and I highly recommend you check it out!

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• About Dr. Roman’s experience of moving to the United States from Mexico and her journey of becoming a licensed psychologist in the US, specializing in working with Latinos living abroad and navigating this intercultural space.
• Some of the particular stressors that Latino immigrants to the United States face as well as some of the factors and mindsets that may positively impact their immigration experience.
• About the importance of creativity in helping all people (but perhaps especially those living abroad) come back to their core sense of self, develop a new sense of identity, and find community abroad. Read More

Mindful Expat Episode 26: Bonne Rentrée! Turning Over a New Leaf This Fall

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What you’ll hear in this episode:

• I’ll introduce you to the concept of the “rentrée” in France (basically back-to-school but for adults and kids alike!).
• We’ll discuss how this time of year can be an opportunity to take stock of what we have accomplished and learned in the past year and set our intentions for the year to come.
• I will provide you with some tips for how to begin to build habits in the service of your goals so that you can continue to make progress throughout the year on the things that are most important to you.  Read More

Mindful Expat Episode 24: The Source of Your Joy

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What you’ll hear in this episode:

• I’ll share with you some updates about the podcast and invite you to take a short survey I’ve designed to help me know what you’d like to hear more about in Season 2 of the podcast.
• We’ll discuss a quote from Thich Nhat Hahn that says, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
• I’ll share with you some fascinating research that shows that this quote is literally true, and we’ll also discuss some ways you can work to subtly shift your perspective to feel more joy in your life. Read More

Mindful Expat Episode 22: Supporting Expat Kids Through Relocation

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Today’s Mindful Expat Guest is Kate Berger, MSc!

Kate is a child and adolescent psychologist based in Amsterdam. Her private practice is called the Expat Kids Club, and — as the name would suggest — she specializes in working with expat and Third Culture Kids and their families. She is originally from New York, completed her bachelors degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC, and then moved to the Netherlands to continue her studies at Leiden University, where she received her masters degree in child and adolescent psychology. Kate’s own experience of living abroad has shaped her interest in working with young people in this intercultural space. Kate not only works with expat kids and their families in Amsterdam, but she also does consulting and outreach worldwide on issues relevant to the community of expat families.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Some of the common struggles that Kate sees expat kids struggling with in her practice.
• How the stress of relocation impacts kids’ emotion regulation skills and ability to plan and make decisions (and a bit of brain science behind this).
• What parents can expect as their kids adapt to a new culture and how to know when it’s time to seek outside help.
• How parents can help prepare their kids for an overseas move by creating an emotional language and modeling their own ability to reflect on and articulate their emotions.
• Some of the real gifts that an expat life can offer kids and some of the strengths that expat kids tend to develop through their experiences. Read More

Mindful Expat Episode 20: Shedding Some Light on Expat Depression

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What you’ll hear in this episode:

• We’ll discuss what depression is, some factors that contribute to it, and why I think this is a particularly important issue for people living abroad.
• We’ll discuss some of the ways depression can be effectively treated and how you can connect with therapists in your area or online.
• We’ll discuss some alternatives to therapy and medication, such as exercise and mindfulness practice (surprise, surprise!), that can help with depression and be used alongside other treatment methods.
• We’ll talk about some of the common barriers to getting help while living overseas and how we can overcome these barriers.
• I’ll provide some additional resources for anyone struggling with depression or thoughts of self-harm or suicide (see below for links to these resources). Read More

Mindful Expat Episode 19: What Are You Waiting For?

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What you’ll hear in this episode:

• I ask you to reflect on whether you’re waiting on something to really start living and encourage you to think about how this may present a barrier to living in the present moment.
• We discuss how to allow yourself to start really living right now, even as you may also be working toward your goals or trying to overcome obstacles.
• We discuss how gratitude practice can play a central role in being more fully present in our daily lives. Read More

Mindful Expat Episode 18: Learning from Our Emotions (Part II): Learning to Listen to Yourself

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What you’ll hear in this episode:

• A continuation of our last discussion about how our emotions can actually give us useful messages about our needs — if only we can learn how to listen and decode the messages they’re sending us!
• Some of the reasons why many people have learned to distrust their emotional signals — and how we can begin to practice listening to them again.
• An exercise for you to practice listening to your own inner voice and begin to tune in to your own needs more effectively. Read More