Googling “expat coach” delivers approximately 6,5 million results in less than a second. There are lots of companies offering coaching for expats and for their family in all areas, and a lot of them are very professional and very good.
The main difference between the kind of support I give and a full coaching experience lies in the balance between coach and coachee, or supporter and supported.
A coach is a guide that will lead his/her clients every step of the way, and help them at every turn until they reach a place where they are comfortable with their life.
What I do is provide you with all information you need to negotiate your way into a new culture, in your own way. I will sort and arrange all documents and visas and paperwork if you want me to, so that you don’t have to worry about that. I will also provide you with all information you need and/or require about your new environment and the acculturation process, what to expect and how to cope. I will research the issues that matter most to you and analyse them and present them to you. I will teach you the language if you want. I will do my utmost to make the adjustment as easy as possible for you and your family. And then I will step back.
I believe that acculturation and adjustment are intensely personal, and everyone should be able to choose their own way and their own strategies. This helps ensure that the final outcome will be the best it can possibly be – and this means very different things for very different people.
This definition of the role of expat supporter is one that came to me after I completed my own acculturation process and I started studying acculturation and intercultural psychology. It is what I would have liked to have when I started out on my expat journey. And it is why I am not a coach.