Intercultural adaptation

Whenever we face a situation where the old cultural patterns do not work, we experience stress, deriving from mixed feelings (such as confusion, frustration, disappointment) because we do not understand why our behaviour in those situations is not working. This could depend on the new social and cultural contexts in which we find ourselves, where the ways of thinking and behaving are very different from those we are used to. This type of stress often activates defensive responses, which means we may try to keep our old habits and reject the new culture. My professional support in this area aims at facilitating the understanding and appliance of ‘cultural’ responses according to the new contexts, which can gradually lead to adaptation and growth.