Living abroad: migratory grief and homesickness · worksheet 58
We often imagine that going home will be simple. Yet returning can be surprising: you have changed, so have others, and you no longer feel quite in your place. It is common, and you get through it.
Before you start
- What it is for: To understand and get through the shock of returning home, which is often harder than you imagine.
- About 15 minutes, in the first months after returning to your country.
- Going back is also a move: you have changed, the country has changed, and sometimes nobody understands why you are finding it hard.
- It is common to feel like a foreigner at home at first: it usually passes with time.
Prefer paper? Download the PDF to print (with a page for psychologists).
What to do with your results
What surprises you or what you miss is normal: it is grief too. The “what I want to keep” column helps you integrate your experience abroad into your life today.
If you find it hard
Your loved ones may not understand: look for people who have been through a return (other expatriates, associations).
For psychologists
The PDF also includes a page for the psychologist: how to run the exercise in session, points to watch and scientific references. You are free to use it with your clients.
For psychologists: aim, audience and duration
Help the person returning to their home country after a period abroad to understand and get through “reverse culture shock”: being out of step with loved ones, feeling they don’t fit in, losing what they lived abroad.
Returning from a period abroad, end of studies abroad, returning after long assignments. Duration: 20 min in session.
References
Gaw, K. F. (2000). Reverse culture shock in students returning from overseas. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24(1), 83-104.
Ward, C., Bochner, S. & Furnham, A. (2001). The Psychology of Culture Shock (2nd ed.). Routledge.
These worksheets do not replace therapy. If you are in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe; 3114 in France, free, 24/7).
Free worksheet for non-commercial use: you may share it with credit to the author, without modifying it (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence).
