The life of a Third Culture Kid therapist

"What's your favourite...?" This is not a fun question for me. For what occasion? In which country? In what language? Defining our preferences can be tough as TCKs, and this episode explores why and how we can approach this differently.

Here again, Kristi Steele of www.kc360.co is asking questions many of us do about how TCKs may experience transition but this one is especially for those caregivers who want to be active participants in this challenging chapter of life.

On May 19th I spoke to Melvyn Prior on BBC Radio Lincolnshire about TCKs and my book "Incredible Lives and the Courage to Live Them: Thoughts of a Third Culture Kid therapist".If you are an adult TCK, you probably sense that the multicultural, high mobility experiences of your childhood continue to impact your life in some way now. Making sense of the impact of these experiences, however, can feel overwhelming, especially if we have long experience of our stories being met with bafflement and incredulity.My hope is that this collection of my thoughts over the last seven years of working with Third Culture Kids will create space for you to explore and make sense of the incredible life you’ve lived.More information about ordering the book can be found here: https://www.explorelifestory.com/book/More of Melvyn's shows are available on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p001gr43

This episode comes to you thanks to Kristi Steele of www.kc360.co whose dedication to aiding college students transition well has extended to reaching out to me! Kristi asks me in this episode about what TCKs need to be considering (and what their parents should be aware of!) around the particular challenges they may face around romantic relationships as they start their college years.

Many TCKs struggle with a sense of a shortened timeline - leading to a sense of 'now or never'. Rachel ponders how this impacts us and how her garden is stretching her ability to 'wait and see'.

We often carry a sense of how a "good" TCK life should look - and the burden of this can be crushing. 

The "Fun" SelfDo we know who we are if we don't know what our personal preferences and pleasures are? How does "fun" get complicated when we are Third Culture Kids?

Trigger warning: pet loss This last week has been full of grief, transition, joy and (as always with me) reflections on how my story informs how I'm experiencing this current chapter of life.

Let's take a few minutes together - join me on my winter walk and let's talk about how you are doing, what Christmas can bring up for TCKs and how even a walk can bring up self-consciousness!