I think if we are all honest, adolescence was an awkward
time. Not necessarily bad or good, but definitely a bit awkward. Trying to
figure out life, whilst undergoing social, physical, and emotional changes, is complicated.
These bring challenges and difficulties which we would have either not
considered or not cared about beforehand. When I was eight, I didn’t care what
the girls in my class thought about me, but by the time I was fifteen things
had changed. There is an invisible, complex social structure that needs to be
understood at this time. Not only that, raging hormones and physical changes to
the body and brain mean there are a million things to contend with. Whilst
trying to navigate this time, most people’s mentors or guides are their equally
confused peers. The blind leading the blind.
To be fair to teenagers, most of them do a great job figuring life out during
this time. A lot of people admirably deal with the difficulties which life
throws at them at this age. Whilst it is difficult for others, I know I
navigated this difficult stage perfectly. I quickly figured out that the best
way to deal with girls was to insult them and that the best way to deal with
this confusing time was to pretend I had it all figured out. Despite the advice
of everyone who knows me, I still closely follow those tenets (much to the
chagrin of my fiancée).
Transition is one of the standout features of adolescence. The transitions that occur during these years (roughly 8-22 depending on who you ask and allowing for individual differences) is a critical reason why these years are so formative. Some of these transitions are normative, such as one’s body changing. Normative transitions occur naturally and are a normal part of life. Other transitions are not, such as moving school, city, or even country.
Crucially, for the purposes of this blog, adolescence is seen as a risk time for mental health because of these transitions. John Coleman, a British Psychologist, has a model where he describes these risks, which applies heavily to TCK’s. Most teenagers don’t develop mental health problems, so the transitions in themselves are not bad things. Also, some transitions are beneficial, like moving to a more suitable schooling environment. He says that the risk is greatest when these transitions overlap. For example, moving to a new school is tough, but is not a great risk to mental health alone. However, moving to a new school, a new city, at the same time as social transition is a concoction of risk factors.
How this applies to TCK’s is hopefully becoming clear. The word transition strikes fear into the heart of many TCK’s who have experienced countless. Examine the chart below for some ideas.
All the items in the right box are things that most people
experience normally. That means that whilst there are other transitions that
occur in everyone’s lives, these are the ones that are pretty much pervasive. Whilst
the list is not exhaustive, it does cover the more significant changes that one
experiences before the age of 18.
The box on the left is just a few of the many transitions that TCK’s face
growing up. Moving from one country to another is extremely difficult. It often
requires learning new languages, food, ways of building relationships, and
about a million other things. I included school on this list as well because
many TCK’s move a lot, far more than the average kid. What this means is that
there are usually multiple transitions from one school to another, not just
moving from one age group to the next. Seriously though, the list on the left
would fill a book if we were to list every transition that moving from one
culture to the next entails.
One of the most painful transitions of being a TCK is the cycle of broken relationships. For many it is a constant source of grief, often unresolved. This is extremely significant for mental health regardless of the other transitions. Added to the other change it is particularly hard to process and deal with.
The great challenge international living poses for TCK’sis that they must navigate the transitions on the left whilst navigating the transitions on the rights. Using Coleman’s model, we can now understand why there is such a great risk for TCK’s in developing mental health problems. There are numerous concurrent and impactful challenges that happen during the adolescent years for TCK’s which increase their risk of mental health problems.
When Polluck and Van Reken provided the standard definition for TCK’s it was describing those who had “spent a significant amount of their formative years” in a culture different than that of their parents. These formative years overlap greatly with the years of adolescence. This means that the risk for adolescents with Coleman’s model is high for TCK’s.
People in adolescence tend to be remarkably resilient and so are TCK’s. This is a great combination for trying to maintain psychological health. However, it could be the case that reducing the number of concurrent transitions may help TCK’s develop healthily psychologically. This is just a thought, but maybe someone can look into it into the future.
great article Nogs, if you wanted to explore this further our own company’s TCK consultants would know more, but for these reasons our company doesn’t encourage families to move into our company (initial move from home country) when they have adolesent children. This policy gets all sort of kickbacks. When the transitions are deemed necessary they work with the families to try to minimise the negative consequences …the latter is so hard because (as you have clearly shown) many of the consequences are not recognised till years later. One thing that struck me as I read your article is that we don’t necessarily look to minimise or support well transitions for families with adolescents from one location to another after they are part of the company or back and forth on “home” assignments.
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I would be very interested in any psychology research on TCK’s. so if you have contacts let me know!
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I just discovered your blog and website. I love it!! I am referring a couple of my TCK friends, who are artists, to check it out. I, too, am a TCK. Have you read my book, “Belonging Everywhere & Nowhere: Insights into counseling the Globally Mobile”? You may find yourself in it! This is the only book out there on how to work with the TCK when they show up in your office. There are plenty of books on their characteristics, but none on how to help them if they need some emotional help or trying to figure out their identity, sense of belonging or unresolved grief. I love your artwork as so many TCKs are so creative and would thrive finding others like them. Thank you for your work!
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Hi Lois,
Your book is wonderful! I was discussing in with a therapist I know in states a couple of weeks ago, saying how important it was as a resource. Thank you for that. I plan on rereading it once I have finished my masters in psychology of mental health. TCK mental health is something that I am extremely passionate about and your book adds greatly to the discourse. Thanks!
Please pass on information of the art gallery to as many TCKs as possible. I love that we can use art to help each other process, explore, and celebrate our culture.
Aneurin
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