22 Dec 2024
mental health
Health Mental health

Winter cocooning at 60 degrees north

My Christmas school reports were always the worst. I was slow to start up again after the summer break, and by the end of October my synapses would fire more slowly while I gently dozed off as the nights drew in and the light faded from the horizon. Then I moved to Sweden in my […]

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Health Mental health

What if things don’t happen for a reason?

The expression, ‘everything happens for a reason’ makes my toes curl. Especially when it is uttered with a helpless shrug of the shoulder and the underlying subtext of ‘moving on’. What if things don’t happen for a reason and there is no deeper meaning? Endless analyses and reflections will often present reasons why something has […]

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Health Mental health

Adressing Cultural Shadows

‘Sharing the Dove’ is a Dutch initiative by four young people with Jewish and Muslim backgrounds. Their aim is to keep the dialogue open and transcend differences. They give workshops in schools and last week they brought together two rabbis, two imams, a Dutch priest and a Syrian Orthodox bishop for an open dialogue about […]

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Expat Support Health Mental health

No one tells the truth in therapy

Summary: psychology has helped us to see that everyone holds a personal, subjective version of the truth. While this is better than the authoritarian believe what I tell you paradigm, there are more steps to take. Otherwise, many will continue to confuse ‘my’ truth with ‘the’ truth, leading to self-victimisation and splitting. Two children get […]

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Health Mental health

Befriending the green-eyed monster

A former colleague has just been awarded a really influential role in a government advisory committee. I am happy for her, but also feel that familiar pang of envy. It reminds me of how I felt about a close schoolfriend. She worked hard for high grades and in the weeks before our exams she would […]

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Moving truck
Expat Support Health Mental health

Taking ownership of your relocation

At this time of the year, we play musical chairs in the world of international relocation. For families with children, the summer holidays are the perfect time to relocate. And the many love-refugees just don’t want the summer to end. We live in a place of transience and most of us see our current abode […]

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Cats on a porch
Expat Support Health Mental health

The shadow as a guide to new inner frontiers

International nomads have much in common; a sense of adventure, courage, adaptability and even a touch of the romantic. We flock together because we find a sense of belonging in ‘otherness’. Having attempted to woe our new neighbours with muffins and homemade lasagna, we may give up and settle for the easy intimacy of the […]

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Expat Support Health Mental health

The art of landing gently

If you have the misfortune of landing on the Polderbaan at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, it will take at least another 20 minutes of taxiing before you truly arrive at the terminal. If you’re not prepared, those twenty minutes can feel incredibly frustrating; landed but not yet arrived. And in the same way, I may […]

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Expat Support General Counselling Health Mental health

Finding the right wavelength

Almost twenty-five years ago I found myself in the emergency room at Södersjukhuset with a suspected ectopic pregnancy. It was my third ectopic and fifth miscarriage, and so you could say I was battle hardened. I had brought an exciting novel for the inevitable wait and settled down. I was feeling calm and knew what […]

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Expat Support General Counselling Health Mental health

Playing life like it’s a game of chess

My hotel room in wonderful Saltsjöbaden looks out on an open-air chessboard. The pieces are randomly placed on the board, some alongside it, painting the scene of a game in mid play. Right now it looks a bit sorry for itself, given the average temperature of -10 in the past weeks. It inspires me to […]

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