English 

More and more adds, books  emerge about Third Culture Kids (other similar related phrases: Cross-Cultural Kids, Cultural Nomads). With the emergence of multinational companies, for example, it has become common to move temporarily to other countries. Thus, a greater number of migrations between countries began, and expat communities are forming.

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Therefore, there is a rising need to deal with the psychological consequences of this.

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Who are the Third Culture Kids?

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Acccording to David Pollock, a Third Culture Kid (TCK) is someone who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture(s), is connected to several cultures, but none of them feels completely his/her own. He or she actually forms a culture with - and have a sense of belonging to - those who are also brought up this way. These kids are also known as cultural hybrids, cultural chameleons or world nomads.

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This concept also applies to adults who grew up as children of a third culture.

I deal with these adults, who are still haunted by the past, and with parents who raise such children.

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In case a person changes country and culture as an adult, he may encounter similar problems, may question many things that he did not before. Physical and mental symptoms can be a result of this.

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Factors affecting a person in case of a change of country include:

• acquired new skills: they live and absorb cultures, they are able to function in several cultures almost unconsciously, however, their acquired culture is not complete, culturally they don’t feel at home in either of them 100%-ly, which might cause them difficulties.

• due to their unique life experience, they have a unique way of thinking, their view of the world is significantly different from the peers' they left behind in the "home" county e.g. because of this, they experience difficulties reconnecting with them or even to certain extent to parents when going "home".

• they live an intense life: they are affected by wider experience than their peers who have been raised in the same country. While getting out of a well-known world, having to adapt to a new one, they have to deal with the general "growing up" problems. As a result, the general coping mechanism may be stronger than that of his peers' in some areas, but according to research, they may lag behind his peers in other areas of life. All this can cause difficulties in adulthood, therefore, emotional (mental) symptoms occur.

• as a result, they are accompanied by a "restlessness" syndrome: as adults they can be in a continuous kind of "search" in the world. Some of them go back to their country of origin in search of security, support, and stability. There are others, the "Looking for somewhere" and "Anything but here" groups who in the mean time struggle with serious psychological, psychosocial and psychosomatic symptoms. For example, there may be a feeling of "not belonging there" and loneliness due to this. They are obsessively looking for a place where they can belong, a satisfactory social environment. Finally, there are the ones who are in a state of "Forever Wandering". They are ones who do not settle down anywhere, because of the sense of freedom they previously enjoyed. However, this group often dissociates emotionally in order to survive the situation. 

• reintegration (i.e. in case of reintegration from abroad to back home) among other things: factors that cause stress can be such as identity-related fears, behavioral and connection difficulties, stress due to the essential difference in thinking (compared to the one of local's), because of the difference in experiences and many other factors that can result in anxiety and mood disorders.

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I will write about this in more detail in a blog.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​I am familiar with the above cases and mental burdens, I myself am a Third Culture Kid, a "survivor", so I turn to the world nomads who come to me with great expertise and compassion.​