Using Process-Experiential/Emotion-Focused Therapy Techniques for Identity Integration and Resolution of Grief Among Third Culture Kids

This article explores process-experiential/emotion-focused therapy (PE-EFT) as a technique for counseling third culture kids (TCKs) who experience identity conflict and unresolved grief. The authors suggest the PE-EFT tasks of empathic exploration, meaning protest, empty-chair technique, and 2-chair dialogue to facilitate TCKs' identity integration and resolution of grief. Keywords: emotion-focused therapy, identity conflict, process-experiential therapy, third culture kids, grief ********** The experience of growing up overseas, once considered unique, is becoming more common as advances in technology and the ease of international travel create increased opportunities for cross-cultural living (Hervey, 2009; Quick, 2010). Children who have spent a considerable portion of their formative years in a country other than their passport countries because of the careers of their parents are called third culture kids (TCKs; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). The term third culture is used because these children develop a sense of identity with elements from at least two distinct cultures: the host "foreign" culture of their childhood and the culture of the passport country their parents consider "home." TCKs subsequently create a unique third culture, feeling most at home among those who have been reared internationally and can relate to an international lifestyle (Davis, Suarez, Crawford, & Rehfuss, 2013; Hervey, 2009; Pollock, 1987). The typical profile of a TCK describes an individual with a global perspective who is adept in multicultural situations and intellectually flexible (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). However, TCKs often go through intense emotional experiences as children (Davis et al., 2013), engendered by frequent, often abrupt, relationship transitions; safety and security issues in their environments; and the task of developing an integrated and coherent sense of personal identity amidst so much transition (Davis et al., 2013; Hervey, 2009). Depending on their parents' occupations, TCKs come from one of four broad subgroups: business children, military children, diplomats' children, and children of missionaries (Gillies, 1998; Hervey, 2009; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). Although there are clear differences among these four subgroups, two realities seemingly universal among TCKs include growing up in a foreign culture and experiencing frequent moves and transitions (Hervey, 2009). Living cross-culturally can be a rich experience for children as well as their parents, allowing the development of a broad worldview and the opportunity for rewarding experiences involving other languages and cultures. However, these same experiences can also contribute to feelings of frustration and angst when transitioning between cultures (Adler, 1981; Davis et al., 2013; Jordan, 1992; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009; Stringham, 1993). The process of eventual reentry and reacculturation to the passport culture is widely considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of living abroad (Davis et al., 2013; Klemens & Bikos, 2009; Stringham, 1993; Van Reken, 1996; Ward, 1989). Adolescents may find repatriation even more challenging compared with their parents, because core parts of their identity have been formed during their developmental years overseas (Davis et al., 2013; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009; Storti, 1997). Cultural transitions common among expatriate families create experiences of multiple interpersonal and contextual losses for the children and adolescents (Davis et al., 2013; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). Two challenges TCKs may encounter well into adulthood include difficulty with identity integration and unresolved grief (Bikos et al., 2009; Choi, 2004; Davis et al., 2013; Gilbert, 2008; Gray, 1995; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009; Quick, 2010). Counselors who work with the TCK population need effective strategies to help TCK clients in these two important areas. …