Living between several cultures

Moving to another country means changing language, social codes and network, sometimes career and social status. Even when chosen and wanted, expatriation brings losses: the loved ones left behind, the landmarks of daily life, the sense of things going without saying that we feel in our own culture. For people in exile, these losses often come on top of serious hardship experienced before and during the migration journey.

Intercultural psychology looks at what these experiences do to identity, emotions and relationships. It also recognises that the way suffering is expressed, and the way family, care or mental health are understood, varies from culture to culture, and that these differences should be taken into account in therapy rather than ignored.

Situations I work with

Expatriation and settling in Lyon

Loneliness in the first months, difficulty making friends, the fatigue of functioning in another language, culture shock at work, the trailing partner who has given up their career: settling in a new country tests even the most resilient people. These difficulties can show up as anxiety, low mood or a feeling of being lost.

Exile and migration

People in exile often carry experiences of violence, loss and rupture, compounded by administrative uncertainty and sometimes precarity. I worked at the Orspere-Samdarra national observatory, at the Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, dedicated to the mental health of people experiencing migration and precarity, and I am trained in interculturality and psychological trauma.

Multicultural couples and families

In a mixed couple or a binational family, cultural differences enrich life together but can also become a source of misunderstanding: the place of the extended family, raising children, each person’s role, the language spoken at home, religion, which country to live in. I see couples and families together when that helps, with a systemic approach that helps understand these different outlooks and bring them into dialogue.

Children of migration and “third culture kids”

Teenagers and young adults who grew up across several countries or cultures develop a great capacity to adapt, but also often ask themselves where they belong: where am I really from? These questions of identity can be explored in a space that does not ask you to choose.

Returning home

Returning to your home country after several years abroad is often harder than expected: you have changed, so has the country, and those around you do not always grasp what you have lived through. This “reverse culture shock” deserves support too.

Therapy in your language

I work in English, French and Portuguese. Being able to express yourself in your mother tongue, or in the language in which you feel freest, often makes a great difference: some emotions and some memories only truly exist in one language. Switching from one language to another within a session can also help say what was hard to put into words. Sessions can take place in the language of your choice, or mix several languages.

For English-speaking expatriates, international students and families, and for Portuguese speakers living in Lyon or the surrounding region, this is a chance to be supported without having to translate what you feel.

How I can help

My approach is integrative (find out more). The systemic approach makes it possible to understand the person within their relationships and affiliations: family here and back home, couple, communities. Cognitive behavioural tools help through periods of anxiety or discouragement linked to adjustment. Existential and psychoanalytic approaches open a space to think about the questions of identity, choice and meaning that any migration raises.

Sessions last about 50 minutes, at the Brotteaux practice, 134 rue de Sèze in Lyon 6th, or by video. Remote consultations make it possible to start therapy before a departure, continue it after a move, or be supported from abroad. Fees are listed on the home page.

Frequently asked questions

Can I have video sessions from abroad?

Yes, video consultations via Doctolib are possible from abroad, at the same fee as in person. They also make it possible to continue therapy during a period of mobility.

What language are sessions in?

English, French or Portuguese, as you prefer. It is also possible to switch from one language to another over the course of therapy.

Do you see mixed couples?

Yes. Couple sessions can help each partner better understand what the other brings from their culture and history, and find ways of doing things that suit you both.

Useful resources