A Research Paper By Marta Camacho Tejero, Expats Coach, NETHERLANDS
The Life Coaching for Expats as My Niche
Life coaching for expats has been my niche for the past few months and I believe it is here to stay. For the last 15 years of my life, I have lived as an expat in France, Georgia, and the Netherlands, and this experience led me to work with clients who are going through the same process of change in their lives. For this reason, this paper wants to focus on the experience of expatriates, like me, during a process of change, and how coaching is crucial to be able to learn, move forward, and achieve any goal. I have also decided to share my own experience as a client during a recent move and life change.
What Is Life Coaching for Expats?
Let’s start by talking about what coaching for expatriates is. It is a specialized form of coaching that is tailored to address the unique challenges and opportunities expatriates (expats) encounter while moving, living, and/or working in a foreign country. Expatriates are people who have chosen to live temporarily or permanently outside their home country for various reasons, such as work assignments, education, or personal activities. Life coaching for expats aims to support and guide us and our clients in navigating the complexities of your international experience and encourage personal and professional growth during your time abroad.
What Are the Benefits of Coaching for This Niche?
Here are some key areas where life coaching can be beneficial for expats:
- Cultural Adjustment: Moving to a new country often involves significant cultural differences and challenges. A life coach can help expats understand and adapt to the local culture, customs, and social norms, reducing the stress and anxiety that can arise from cultural adjustments. It is also relevant to have an open mind when returning to your own country, this is my case. The cultural change can be even more abrupt than when one goes to another country, therefore the levels of anxiety can easily increase, and therefore need to be covered during a coaching session.
- Building a Support Network: Expats may face feelings of isolation and loneliness in a new country, especially if they lack a strong support system. A life coach can assist them in building a social network and creating meaningful connections with locals or other expats. In my case, I am building a new network in my own country, which involves a lot of effort, time, and frustration. This means that it is important to always focus on the goal and not on what is not working, as well as to see the learnings during the process, so I can enjoy every single interaction and experience.
- Career and Professional Development: Life coaching for expats can focus on career-related challenges, such as finding suitable job opportunities, navigating the local job market, and enhancing cross-cultural communication skills to thrive in a multinational work environment. In this case, I have worked with different clients who were faced with this challenge: Stay in the same job, move jobs, or change careers. Once we analyzed what the client values, we got down to work with the option of staying in the same job or looking for new opportunities. I think it is very important to work with the client’s values so that he or she can live their career aligned with them which will lead to a more fulfilling life.
- Managing Stress and Transitions: Relocating to a foreign country can be overwhelming, with multiple changes happening simultaneously. A life coach can help expats manage stress, cope with transitions, and develop resilience to handle the uncertainties that come with expatriate life. I personally coached myself on that. The amount of tasks that I have to face in such a short time was overwhelming but by asking myself the right questions, I have realized that having a few stop-start-continue sessions and celebrating every step forward and all the lessons, were crucial for this relocation.
- Goal Setting and Personal Growth: Life coaching empowers expats to clarify their personal and professional goals and create actionable plans to achieve them. This process helps individuals maximize their expatriate experience and use it as an opportunity for personal growth and self-discovery.
- Balancing Personal and Professional Life: Achieving a work-life balance can be challenging for expats, particularly in environments with different work cultures and expectations. A life coach can provide guidance on setting boundaries and managing time effectively. This is a challenge I experienced and some of my clients have also faced. Some of my sessions with them were all around setting an agenda for success. Planning led to better time management and productivity and therefore work-life balance satisfaction.
- Language Acquisition: For expats moving to countries with a different language, learning the local language is essential for effective communication and integration, and as a life coach I could help create strategies to improve language skills. Once the client found out that she needed to join language classes and start communicating in the local language for small interactions, instead of speaking English and regretting not improving her language skills.
- Dealing with Homesickness: Feelings of homesickness and missing family and friends back home are common among expats. As a coach, I could definitely provide emotional support and strategies for coping with homesickness and maintaining connections with loved ones. Sometimes by sharing this issue, clients will understand that they need to start reconnecting with loved ones or creating new connections. The results of just one interaction were very visible and supported them to achieve new goals.
Life coaching for expats is a collaborative process, where I, as a coach, work closely with the individual to identify their specific needs and challenges. By providing guidance, encouragement, and practical strategies, life coaching can help expats make the most of their international experience and enhance their overall well-being and success abroad. Coaching supports the client in changing the story they have about themselves and about what is about to occur in their next challenge. By changing this story into a more hopeful one, they can visualize the next steps and achieve new goals.
Why Are Changes Challenging Us?
During my sessions with expats, one of the words that have been mentioned the most has been the word ‘change’. In most cases, my clients and I faced life changes which are challenging and difficult to deal with for different reasons. First of all, we as humans tend to be creatures of habit and find comfort in the familiar. Change often involves stepping into the unknown, which can trigger feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. People may fear the potential consequences of their actions or worry about the outcomes of the change, leading them to hesitate or resist taking the leap. Humans naturally seek comfort and stability, and familiar routines and situations have always provided a sense of security, even if they are not entirely fulfilling. Stepping out of these comfort zones can be intimidating, as it involves facing new challenges and experiences. Besides that, change often involves some level of risk, whether it be financial, emotional, or social.
One of the most common fears during these important changes is the fear of failure or negative outcomes, which may deter our clients from embracing life changes that could otherwise lead to growth and positive transformations. There is also an emotional attachment to our current circumstances, relationships, and lifestyles; therefore letting go of these attachments can be emotionally challenging, even if the change promises better opportunities or personal development.
One of the worst scenarios is when we lack confidence. Low self-esteem in one’s abilities can hinder individuals from pursuing life changes. The fear of not being capable of handling new challenges may prevent them from taking the necessary steps towards transformation. I personally doubted I could make the move to Barcelona successfully until I realized that there are structures that I need to put in place to ensure I can achieve my goals and ensure this move will be a successful one.
Significant life changes often involve multiple aspects to consider, such as career, relationships, and personal goals. The complexity of these changes can overwhelm individuals, making it difficult to know where to start or how to navigate the process. During some coaching sessions as a client, I struggled to choose a topic since I was overwhelmed by the complexity of the life change I was going through. I personally appreciate the following different ‘techniques’: one is about breaking the challenge into small bites and tackling them in different sessions, the second one is focusing on the emotions, and understanding what the client is telling themselves to feel that way, and the last one was going through all limiting beliefs and change the story. I knew I could handle all these challenges, and therefore looking at them with a different perspective helped me to see opportunities and solutions, instead of barriers and problems. I could also see how past experiences of failure or disappointment may create a fear of repeating those experiences with new changes. Negative memories can serve as barriers, discouraging us from taking risks, and therefore revising my ‘storytelling’ was crucial to move forward.
Besides that, some life changes, like moving to another country in my case, involved letting go of aspects of the past or saying goodbye to certain people or situations. The grieving process and the fear of loss made it difficult to move forward and embrace change. This is a process that can be also worked with therapy, as well as mindfulness by helping me stay with my emotions without being overwhelmed by them.
On top of our internal challenges, we do have external pressures also called societal expectations, family influences, or peer pressure that can create resistance to change. People, and therefore our clients may feel compelled to maintain the status quo to meet external expectations, even if it conflicts with their own desires for change. Some of my friends would not understand that move and they insisted that I stay in the Netherlands. Others suggested that I start new projects that have never passed by my mind and most of them could not handle the uncertainty of not having a detailed vision of the future.
Overcoming a life change often requires a combination of self-awareness, support from others, and a willingness to confront fears. Seeking guidance from trusted friends, family members, or professionals can provide valuable perspectives and encouragement. In my case, coaching was crucial to see the bright side of these challenges, as well as to focus on the present moment. Additionally, breaking down the change into smaller, manageable steps can make it less overwhelming and more achievable, and that’s what is currently helping me to enjoy and stay curious throughout the change. Embracing change is a gradual process, and being patient with oneself during this journey is essential, therefore here I am having a more mindful and healthy life that will lead me to success.
Coaching for a Life Change Benefits
Coaching for a life change can be incredibly beneficial, as it provides valuable support and guidance during the process of making significant changes in one’s life. Most importantly, you will gain clarity about what changes you want to make in your life and set specific, achievable goals, by defining your vision for the future and creating a roadmap to get there. I have mine on a wall and I look at them every day. I have also broken them into small goals that are in my agenda as ‘Tasks blocks’. Coaching also helped me identify potential obstacles and develop strategies to overcome them. One of the main ones has been the cross-cultural one and I am currently working towards it.
The best thing about coaching and joining ICA studies has been having someone to hold me accountable for taking action toward my goals. My peer coaches helped me stay focused and committed to the changes I wanted to make, making it less likely for me to give up on my aspirations.
Self-reflection, awareness, support, encouragement, and celebrating success have been some of the benefits I have experienced throughout my journey as a coach and client. I feel I have also improved my decision-making process by weighing the pros and cons and making informed choices aligned with my values and goals, and these have helped me reduce anxiety and manage stress.
A coaching relationship is not only short-term, as we often see in companies or even personal processes, but I definitely see it as long-term. One that creates lasting changes and builds a foundation for continued growth and improvement in various areas of the life of my clients, as well as in my life.