Coping With Anxiety and Rebuilding Identity A Psychosynthesis Approach To Culture Shock
Coping With Anxiety and Rebuilding Identity A Psychosynthesis Approach To Culture Shock
Introduction
Today, international students are rapidly increasing worldwide in response to a number
of factors, including a globalizing world; inexpensive, easily-accessible communication
and transportation; and the demand for an international labor market (Suter & Jandl,
2008; Tremblay, 2008; Vincent-Lancrin, 2008). In addition, international students are
being actively sought by universities, in particular Australia, the UK, New Zealand and
the USA, as a valuable and growing source of revenue for universities (Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2005). Many students experience their move to a new envi-
ronment as a profound life event (Kim, 2001), and Ward, Bochner, and Furnham
(2001) have pointed out that international students are probably the most intensely stud-
ied group in the culture shock literature.
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Culture shock is a well-known term used to define the initial experiences of immer-
sion in an unfamiliar culture. Oberg (1960) first defined culture shock as involving two
processes: (1) contact with or immersion in a different culture and (2) loss of the safety
net of predictable social roles, cures, and practices. Since Oberg’s identification of cul-
ture shock, there have been numerous contributions to its study, models, causes, and
prevention. Besides finding oneself in a stressful situation, persons undergoing culture
shock can experience adjustment strain (Crano & Crano, 1993), acculturative stress
(Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987), and even grief and bereavement for significant oth-
ers left behind (Ward et al., 2001).
In addition to understanding its causes, many strategies have been proposed to suc-
cessfully manage culture shock and its effects. Cross-cultural training techniques, for
example include information-giving (Gudykunst & Hammer, 1988) where travelers are
passively presented with facts and figures about the host country either before or after
departure. Besides cognitive training, experiential training includes the use of critical
incidents, defined as brief social episodes where a misunderstanding or conflict arises
due to cultural differences (Bennett, 1995). With the help of a facilitator, travelers are
asked to explore critical incidents in order to increase their awareness of their own cul-
turally determined attitudes and how these attitudes effect their interpretation of the
host-citizens’ behavior. Another cross-cultural technique is Shirts’ (1973) BAFA BAFA
stimulation game which aims to increase travelers’ awareness of their ethnocentrism.
Participants are divided into two hypothetical cultural groups with distinct core values.
After learning their “new cultural identity” from written descriptions, the teams then
exchange visitors in order to simulate the experience of culture shock. Befus (1988)
designed another type of treatment model that integrated both cross-cultural training
methods with psychotherapeutic techniques such as deep breathing and talking about
negative experiences. Befus administered his integrated model to 64 North Americans
alongside a control group who had recently arrived in Central America for language
study. His statistical analysis clearly showed that the sojourners who received his 12-
week treatment for culture shock manifested lower scores of psychological distress than
those who received no treatment.
Contemporary theories and approaches to culture shock are currently based on its
affective, behavioral, and cognitive components, referred to as the ABC framework of
culture shock (Ward et al., 2001; Zhou, Jindal-Snape, Topping, & Todman, 2008). The
affect aspect of culture shock revolves around the significance of life changes during
cross-cultural transitions, the appraisal of these changes, and the application of coping
strategies to deal with inherently stressful situations that automatically arise when living
in a foreign country. Researchers have largely adopted a broad-based perspective of
stress and coping in their studies of culture shock (Ward et al., 2001). Variables affect-
ing one’s ability to manage the stress associated with transition and adjustment to living
abroad include demographic factors, cultural-specific knowledge and skills, personality,
social support, and cultural distance. For international students, the affect component of
culture shock appears in studies that indicate acculturative life changes correlate with
psychological distress (Searle & Ward, 1990; Ward & Kennedy, 1993a, 1993b). Nearly
all international students encounter an array of acculturative stressors, including the
language barrier, educational environment, sociocultural situations, discrimination,
loneliness, and practical or lifestyle stressors (Lin & Yi, 1997; Smith & Khawaja,
2011). In addition, student sojourners may also have to cope with unpredictable life
176 C.A. Lombard
events, such as serious illness or physical injury, illness or death of a family member,
familial difficulties, and political strife or natural disasters back home. In fact, the seem-
ingly high incidence of such trauma caused Brown (2009) to wonder “whether the
sojourn was the trigger, or whether significant life events are universally experienced in
life but highlighted during the sojourn and compounded by isolation” (p. 511). Interna-
tional students cope with acculturative stressors in a number of ways, including emo-
tional suppression and dysfunctional coping such as denial, substance use, self-blame,
and disengagement (Khawaja & Dempsey, 2007, 2008). Acculturative stress and lack of
coping mechanisms can also lead international students to depression (Wei et al., 2007)
and somatic complaints (Mori, 2000). Intervention methods for the affect component of
culture shock include stress management skills to help the foreign visitor develop cop-
ing strategies and tactics (e.g. Zhou et al., 2008).
The behavior aspect of culture shock is based on the theory of cultural learning
(Furnham & Bochner, 1986). Researchers who adopt a cultural learning approach see
intercultural contact as a skilled and mutually organized performance (Argyle, 1969).
This model leads to practical guidelines for changing behavior in order to manage the
“shock” which is seen as the stimulus for acquiring new culture-specific skills that are
needed to engage in unfamiliar social situations. Cultural learning includes an under-
standing of the attitude and behavior in the host country with regard to social skills
such as gift-giving, etiquette, conflict resolution, and non-verbal communication like
bodily contact and mutual gaze (Ward et al., 2001). Examples of the behavioral aspect
of culture shock as experienced by international students can be found in how they
manage the cultural differences between educational methodologies in their home and
host country (Popadiuk & Arthur, 2004). For example Liberman’s (1994) qualitative
research showed that students from Asia studying in the United States were often criti-
cal of the informality in the classroom, perceived lack of respect for professors, and
insufficient focus in classroom interactions. On the other hand, McCargar (1993) found
that many Asian students responded positively to a decreased emphasis on memory
learning and an increased relationship with teaching staff. All these changes in the edu-
cational practices required behavioral adjustment on the part of the international student.
Intervention methods include pre-trip preparation, especially behavioral-based social
skills training (Zhou et al., 2008).
The cognitive aspect of culture shock is anchored in the theory of social identifica-
tion where identity is the fundamental issue for cross-cultural travelers (Ward et al,
2001). During cross-cultural contact, people suddenly find themselves in a much
broader context which can lead to anxiety-provoking change in how they perceive
themselves and their identity (Zhou et al., 2008). For example, using in-depth
interviews with Vietnamese university students studying in Australia, Pham and Salt-
marsh (2013) explored how these students encountered and traversed cultural differ-
ences to define new perspectives of identity that enabled them to perform roles such as
being academically successful. One student described his new ability to live indepen-
dently while another student talked about her changed attitude towards gays and lesbi-
ans. Pham and Saltmarsh found that the students’ construction of identity was an
ongoing representation of ever-changing internalized viewpoints.
Similarly through interviews, Brown and Brown (2013) studied the identity conflict
experienced by five international students at a university in the south of England
for whom real and perceived challenges to national self-image were shown to be
Counselling Psychology Quarterly 177
unsettling. For example, after a Chinese student experienced three incidents of discrimi-
nation during her first month in the host town, her response to “the challenges to her
identity involved a self-preservative retreat into a nationalist state of mind” (p. 404). In
stark contrast, an Iranian student resigned herself and acquiesced to the negative percep-
tions she experienced, closely monitoring her behavior in public, as she felt revealing
her national identity was full of risk.
Intervention guidelines for the cognitive component of culture shock include tech-
niques for enhancing self-esteem, the establishment of inter-group harmony, and empha-
sizing inter-group similarities (Zhou et al., 2008). From the cognitive point of view,
Ward et al. (2001) present four alternatives for people facing culture shock:
Anderson (1994) similarly states that the cross-cultural traveler has four ways of react-
ing to the new environment: “(1) change the environment, (2) change oneself, (3) do
nothing, (4) walk away” (p. 305). A psychosynthesis approach to such decisions
attempts to accept the challenge of Anderson’s second choice in order to achieve the
goal of Ward et al.’s third alternative.
Figure 1. Assagioli’s model of the structure of the psyche. (1) Lower unconscious. (2) Middle
unconscious. (3) Higher unconscious or superconscious. (4) Field of consciousness. (5) Conscious
self or “I.” (6) Self. (7) Collective unconscious (Assagioli, 2000, p. 15)
Note: Dotted lines indicate permeable boundaries.
other words, to synthesize the transpersonal with the personal. What distinguishes
psychosynthesis from most other psychologies is the understanding that the Self relates
to the higher qualities within human beings that allow them to foster their I–Self
connection and grow towards their authentic personality. One’s authentic personality is
an “expression of the natural, authentic sense of self, of who we truly are” which is
more than the sum of one’s social roles (Firman & Gila, 2002, p. 48).
Generally, we are only directly aware of thoughts, emotions, and sensations in an
undefined way, which are acted out in the roles we play according to the relationships
we have with other people and/or our surroundings. In psychosynthesis terms, these
roles are called subpersonalities (Assagioli, 2000). We all have multiple subpersonalities
that help us to function in the world, mostly without much reflection, such as mother,
executive, teacher, and friend. We also have subpersonalities that might be operating
without our conscious choice. Often these subpersonalities are polar in nature, acting
contrarily with antagonistic traits. For example, we might be carefree and spontaneous
in one situation and frozen in another. Subpersonalities have their weaknesses, but they
also have their strengths. Perhaps most essential is the concept that a higher quality lies
at the core of each subpersonality, no matter what its outer behavior might be. These
higher qualities, like truth, strength, and courage, are considered to be transpersonal,
Counselling Psychology Quarterly 179
universal, and timeless. However, often these qualities which exist in the Self can be
degraded or distorted when expressed through a subpersonality. For example, at the
core of a hyperactive subpersonality might be the higher quality of energy. The chal-
lenge of psychosynthesis is not to repress or eliminate any subpersonality’s behavior,
but rather to recover its higher quality and express that gift in a more positive and
holistic way. Psychosynthesis is about synthesizing all these subpersonalities into a uni-
fying center of authenticity where the “I” becomes the director and observer of all sub-
personalities, enabling them to function in a harmonious and balanced way. One
technique for reaching synthesis is the subpersonality integration process, also referred
to as the subpersonality model, which includes the following stages: recognition, accep-
tance, coordination, integration, and finally synthesis of one’s numerous subpersonalities
(Assagioli, 2000; Carter-Harr, 1975; Evans, 2003a; Ferrucci, 1982; Lombard, 2012; Var-
giu, 1974). A full explanation of this model is described under “Techniques” in the
“Research method” section.
In addition to integrating subpersonalities, fundamental to psychosynthesis counsel-
ing is the self-identification exercise, also referred to as the dis-identification exercise or
the body–feeling–mind meditation. The goal of the self-identification exercise is to sys-
tematically connect and bring awareness and affirmation to the physical, emotional, and
mental aspects of the personality, and then guide the client to dis-identify from each
aspect and connect to the “I,” the source of pure consciousness and will. The guiding
psychological principle of this exercise is: “We are dominated by everything with which
our self becomes identified. We can dominate and control everything from which we
dis-identify ourselves” (Assagioli, 2000, p. 98). For example, after acknowledging that
we have a body, dis-identification occurs when we further understand that we are not
our body, but, in fact, much more than this single component of ourselves. Even though
we may derive our greatest sense of personal identity from, for example, our body (or
parts of our body), specific feelings, and/or transitory thoughts and attitudes, in fact,
that viewpoint is limited in scope and impossible to maintain given that life is transitory
in nature. Physical sensations, our emotions, and thoughts are continually renewing and
changing while we remain at our core “I” the same. By learning to dis-identify from
these aspects of body, feelings, and mind, we can then begin to dominate, discipline,
and deliberately use them by way of our authentic personality – the simple, unchanging,
and self-conscious “I.”
Other psychosynthesis counseling techniques include guided visualization, daily
self-reflection, role-playing, drawing, and dream work. While psychosynthesis counsel-
ing sessions might look similar to other forms of counseling such as psychodynamic,
person-centered, or gestalt, the unique aspect of psychosynthesis is the idea that there is
a Self and all counseling is ultimately trying to achieve the recovery of the Self
(Whitmore, 2004). In addition, psychosynthesis counseling explores issues beyond the
behavior patterns and symptoms of the client’s presenting issue. Such exploration
includes examining the situations that trigger the problem, the interpersonal relation-
ships involved, the physical sensations and emotions evoked, the attitudes and beliefs
stimulated, and the values which may be hidden and implicit. Problems and obstacles
are seen not as pathological states to be eliminated but rather as creative opportunities
that “at their deepest level are inherently meaningful, evolutionary, coherent, and
potentially transformative” (Whitmore, 2004, p. 11).
180 C.A. Lombard
Research method
The source of data is psychosynthesis counseling work conducted in the Netherlands
from October 2008 to August 2013. The data gathered and analyzed in this study are
qualitative. While quantitative methods are beneficial in determining outcome research,
qualitative methods are particularly suited to counseling psychology research for a num-
ber of reasons, including the relevance of qualitative approaches to multicultural coun-
seling and psychology, and the advantages of methodological diversification and
expansion to psychology (Morrow, 2007). Since psychosynthesis counseling emphasizes
open-ended questions by the counselor when exploring clients’ issues, it is particular
suited to the collection of detailed, information-rich narrative data through in-depth
active interviews (Holstein & Gubrium, 1995). Open-ended questions permitted the stu-
dents the freedom to not respond and, at the same time, enabled the counselor to probe
beyond their answers (see also Berg, 1995).
Participants
Nine international student sojourners voluntarily sought counseling, with nationalities
from the following countries: Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Italy, Portugal,
and South Africa. One Dutch student was also included in this study as he related inci-
dents regarding time spent in South Korea during his master’s studies. Sojourners are
defined as people who:
… live voluntarily in a country for a longer period of time, with a specific and goal-ori-
ented purpose, such as business or education, and are usually inclined to adjust to local
cultural norms. (Gudykunst, 1998)
Although there are no fixed criteria for how long a sojourner might stay in the host
country, six months to five years are commonly cited parameters (Ward et al., 2001).
Of the student psychosynthesis clients included in this study, two were male and
eight female, and they ranged in age from 25 to 36 years old. Three were married and
Counselling Psychology Quarterly 181
the rest single. None had children. Except for the Dutch client, all student sojourners
coming for psychosynthesis counseling had already lived for at least two years in the
Netherlands. Except for two, all were mid-way through their doctorate degree. The two
exceptions were a postdoctoral researcher and the spouse of a PhD student (she had,
however, also recently completed her master’s degree at a Dutch university). Clients’
fields of research included philosophy, tissue engineering, nano-biology, physiochemist-
ry, computer science, geoscience, and technology and sustainable development.
evaluation, both the subpersonality model and self-identification exercise were assessed
and noted by the researcher. Similarly, students’ emails that discussed these two tech-
niques were also identified and noted by the researcher. Besides the six-week review,
all clients held a self-evaluation with the counselor during their last session, and long-
term clients self-evaluated their meetings every 6 to 9 months. Prior to these evaluation
meetings, students were asked to reflect on the turning points of their inner process and
what techniques they found particularly useful. Turning points were considered changes
in behavior or attitude that led to the resolution of any presenting issues. Then, during
the evaluation session, first the students presented what they believed each turning point
to be, followed by the counselor’s perceptions of the turning points. One-by-one, each
turning point was discussed and analyzed by both the student and counselor and a
consensus was reached. After such a session, the researcher carefully noted the agreed
upon turning points. In this way, the students were able to correct, reshape, or contextu-
alize the counselor’s perceptions as they deemed appropriate, and their reflections and
adjustments were integrated into the final data collection and analysis. For those clients
whose sessions were recorded, tapes were listened to by the researcher and reviewed
when they contained the following: introduction of a subpersonality, integration
processes between subpersonalities, and turning points agreed upon by the client and
counselor. Consequently, the narrative of each client was carefully held, reflected upon,
observed, and analyzed with the aim of garnering themes or patterns in each student’s
psychological process. While half of the client work was supervised by the Institute of
Psychosynthesis, London, affiliated with Middlesex University, London, the
interpretations are the researcher’s alone.
Techniques
Self-identification exercise
During initial sessions, students were led through the self-identification exercise. Unlike
other meditation techniques such as mindfulness, the self-identification exercise is
grounded in the theory of psychosynthesis and has the specific purpose of helping the
individual become more of an observer and director of all the personality’s aspects and
activities. The self-identification exercise was easily executed by clients on their own,
and to help them to do so, all the students were provided with a recording of the medi-
tation. The text of this distributed meditation was essentially the same as what appears
in the illustration below. During subsequent sessions, the counselor would encourage
daily practice of the exercise by asking about the students’ progress and discussing pos-
sible solutions to any obstacles that might be hindering them.
For a better understanding of how the self-identification exercise is executed, a brief
illustration (assuming the client is male) follows. For a full explanation, please refer to
Assagioli’s description (2002, pp. 211–217). The exercise, which can last from 10 to
20 min, is first introduced to the client, who is then asked for his willing participation.
Once the client has agreed, he is then told to sit comfortably in his chair, close his eyes,
and take three deep breaths. The client is told that he can open his eyes or stop the
exercise at any time. He is then asked to feel his feet on the floor. The counselor then
asks the client to slowly and systematically move his awareness from his feet up
Counselling Psychology Quarterly 183
through his body and back down into his feet. This part of the exercise can take about
7 to 10 min. The client is then asked to say to himself:
I have a body, but I am not my body. I treat it well, I seek to keep it in good health, but it
is not myself. I have a body, but I am not my body.
After approximately two minutes of silence, the client is then asked to turn his attention
away from his body towards his feelings. He is asked to allow his feelings to simply
be, without judging or fixating on them. After a few minutes, the client is then asked to
say to himself:
I have emotions, but I am not my emotions. They may swing from love to hatred, from
calm to anger, from joy to sorrow, but yet my essence, my true nature does not change. I
have emotions, but I am not my emotions.
After approximately two minutes of silence, the client is then asked to turn his attention
away from his feelings towards his thoughts. He is asked to allow the thoughts to sim-
ply flow through him “as water flows over and around a rock in a stream,” without
judging, fixating, or following them. After a few minutes, the client is then asked to
say to himself:
I have a mind, but I am not my mind. It is an organ of knowledge to both the outer and
the inner worlds, but it is not myself. I have a mind, but I am not my mind.
After approximately two minutes of silence, the client is then asked to say to himself,
“I am pure consciousness and will,” which is followed by a few more minutes of
silence. The client is then asked to “take three deep breaths and slowly bring his aware-
ness back into the room.” Once the client’s eyes are open and eye contact is made, the
counselor can then ask the client if he would like to explore verbally, in writing, or
through artwork any images, impressions, feelings, or thoughts that arose during the
exercise.
Subpersonality model
As previously stated, the subpersonality integration process includes the following
stages: recognition, acceptance, coordination, integration, and synthesis. Students
initially recognized their subpersonalities by assessing, alongside the counselor, what
subpersonalities might be playing a dominant role in their presenting issue(s). These
subpersonalities were revealed through the different roles students played in different
situations with different people. In the context of culture shock, the first roles defined
were those that were not successfully working in the foreign country, causing the stu-
dent stress and anxiety. For example, one student identified a Mr Freeze subpersonality
who wanted to connect to others but needed space and time to feel safe before doing
so. This subpersonality was, for obvious reasons, particularly challenged in a foreign
country. Another client strongly identified herself with a subpersonality called Stella who
wanted no problems and needed perfection, control, and certainty. This subpersonality
184 C.A. Lombard
For a deeper exploration, all students were asked if they were willing to investigate
their personal history to better understand the etiology of the subpersonality. Subperson-
alities develop based upon individual tendencies, inner gifts and talents, and the envi-
ronment in which an individual is born and raised. When a child is born, she looks
towards her mother1 for her core survival needs, both physical and psychological. In
the ideal world, the child will be able to identify with “mother as a foundation for [his]
sense of self” (Holliday, 2007, p. 39.) By empathically mirroring the child and coming
into intense relationship, the mother not only gives the child a sense of being but also a
connection to another, which is an outer expression of the inner world for the child’s
own I–Self connection (Firman & Gila, 1997).
Most of us, however, do not have an ideal experience as a child. Miller (1987)
describes the greatest of wounds as “not having been loved just as one truly was as a
child” (p. 110). Miller further explains that each newborn child needs a secure setting,
family, and available mother, who is able to provide the child’s need for “respect, echo-
ing, understanding, sympathy, and mirroring” (p. 10). As this can never fully occur,
even by the most astute and conscious mother, some degree of wounding inevitably
takes place.
In order to survive, the child then makes a “promise” to behave falsely and become
inauthentic as prescribed by the projections of her caregivers. As Holliday (2007) states,
the promise made by the child to her caregivers, while it “ensures early psychological
survival and belonging, is essentially Self-limiting” (p. 40). Thus, what Assagioli
describes as a subpersonality is formed to help the child survive in the outer world, and
at the same time express part of the child’s identity and protect a higher quality.
Through uncovering the childhood story behind each subpersonality, students could
begin to more clearly identify with the observer “I” and choose to act out the behav-
ioral pattern of the subpersonality or not. Note, however, that this step was not manda-
tory and depended entirely on the student’s own will, psychological maturity, and what
he or she considered desirable and helpful.
The final stages of the subpersonality process – integration and synthesis – are life-
time endeavors. While coordination deals with the development and understanding of
specific subpersonalities, integration is concerned with the relationship between subper-
sonalities as well as each one’s activity within the personality as a whole. Integration
typically takes place with pairs of opposite subpersonalities since their wants and needs
are usually in conflict, for example, the previously described subpersonalities of Stella
and The Dreamer. Synthesis involves the culmination of individual growth that allows
for balance and harmony of the entire personality as a whole and is essentially interper-
sonal and transpersonal. As a result of synthesis, the life of the individual and his or
her interactions with others become “increasingly characterized by a sense of responsi-
bility, caring, co-operation, altruistic love and transpersonal objectives” (Vargiu, 1974,
p. 89). To initiate these final stages, students were first presented an opportunity for
their subpersonalities to interact. Numerous techniques were used to allow for such
interactions including: guided visualization, role play, imaginary meetings, conferences
between different subpersonalities, letter writing from the observer to the subpersonality
(and vice versa), and evening reviews. Throughout such interactions, students were
encouraged to strengthen their role as the observer and, consequently, to consciously
and more creatively fulfill any conflicting needs. In addition, the self-identification exer-
cise was used to identify with and then dis-identify from a subpersonality being
186 C.A. Lombard
explored. In this way, students could practice distancing themselves from the subperson-
ality and strengthen their “I,” the observer and director of all their subpersonalities. As
stated by Assagioli (2000), “Although it seems paradoxical, … the less we are identi-
fied with a particular role, the better we play it” (p. 67).
Students were ultimately guided to assess, appreciate, and come into relationship
with the higher quality held by each of their subpersonalities. In the case of the
previously mentioned Mr Freeze subpersonality, his higher quality was a deep and
sincere commitment when in relationship. For the subpersonality Stella, the higher
quality was a drive towards personal growth, and for The Dreamer, creativity and
vulnerability. In order to work towards the ultimate stage of synthesis, once the
need of the subpersonality was met in a new creative way, students were asked to
reflect upon, practice, and observe their expression of the subpersonality’s higher
quality in the world. For example, once reflecting on the higher qualities of
Mr Freeze, the student was better able to acknowledge, appreciate, and enjoy his
deeper relationships with friends and family. And through the continual integration
of the polar subpersonalities Stella and The Dreamer around the theme of
acceptance, the student was able to express her strong will to achieve personal
growth by spending a two-week retreat at a monastery. At the same time, The
Dreamer’s higher qualities of artistic expression were allowed to emerge through the
pursuit of the student’s long-held desire to take artistic photographs.
Results
This section shows how the psychosynthesis techniques of self-identification and the
subpersonality model were effective interventions for the ABC components of
culture shock. The results are presented through the case study of Maria2. Maria’s
narrative was chosen to demonstrate the findings because: (1) her process best repre-
sents the processes of the other student sojourners, (2) her inner and outer journey
best illustrates the psychosynthesis process, and (3) she was most able to articulate
her experience. The case study is also augmented with testimonies from other
clients.
Easing the affect component of culture shock with the self-identification exercise
Maria’s presenting issues were depression and feelings of being sad, lost, and unhappy.
In addition, Maria was having a difficult time relating to her Dutch PhD supervisor.
Midway through her PhD, she was considering returning home:
I just don’t identify with Dutch culture, its values, even its food. I’ve completed all the
Dutch language courses, but still can’t understand the morning news. After three years
here, I just feel done with it. Especially the weather.
The counselor’s initial task was to provide Maria a technique for managing and coping
with stress. During the first sessions, Maria was led through the self-identification exer-
cise. After six sessions, she sent the following email:
I feel stronger now with all the things I discovered about myself and also calmer and safer.
Loneliness is the worst thing. And I’m not really like that. I was never like that. It’s like I
am a failure in this town. (Brazilian student)
I feel lost and alone. I feel like I’m drowning. Nothing makes any sense anymore. I don’t
want to be here. I want to be home. I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.
(Canadian student)
188 C.A. Lombard
Like Maria, immediately after the self-identification exercise, all students stated that
they felt calmer and less anxious. Their testimonies below demonstrate how, after the
initial six sessions, they were progressing towards learning how to cope and manage
stress.
I’m much better now. One thing I’ve noticed about my feelings: It feels and seems I was
living all this time a big lie. As Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam sings: “Saw things clearer
once you were in my rearview-mirror.” Overall, I feel good about it. I’m also reading more
about how to cope, keeping myself busy, and taking more care of myself. (Brazilian
student)
As I’m crying and laughing, I feel good. And I’ve been thinking about the idea of being
happy and how I didn’t think it was possible for me to be happy here in the Netherlands.
I’ve been thinking about what it means to be happy for me. So I’m trying to make that
happiness come from within me. And I feel like I’m getting a lot of strength from that.
(Canadian student)
I feel more calm. I feel like I have more inner power and integrity. I can more clearly see
the reality of my family relationships and accept them. I am also more able to express my
feelings. (Chinese student)
great success. Miss Silent was sensitive, deeply emotional, and more creative. She
wanted acceptance for who she was and needed safety, space, and time alone.
Miss Victorious, the more dominant subpersonality, was the one who propelled
Maria through her scientific studies and managed her success in the outer world. But,
by constantly wanting control, Miss Victorious left little space for Miss Silent. Part of
Maria’s unconscious reason for entering counseling was to give Miss Silent the space
she was inwardly demanding. The reason Maria initially felt depressed, sad, lost, and
unhappy was her not recognizing and accepting the needs of Miss Silent, compounded
by the limitations of always operating as Miss Victorious.
Maria agreed to more closely explore the origin of these two subpersonalities and
found that both had developed very early. Maria is the first born of three daughters to
parents who, while attentive caregivers, also carried psychological wounds from their
own childhood. As a young woman, Maria’s mother attended university but did not
finish her studies. As a result, Maria’s mother emotionally related to Maria almost
entirely around her education. In addition, when Maria was born, her father explicitly
expressed disappointment that she was not a son. Parental love and acceptance, there-
fore, depended upon, for the most part, high academic achievement. Maria is gifted
intellectually and strong willed, so she was able to excel in school. However, her deeper
emotional life and sensitivity was forced underground as Miss Silent. Here, we clearly
190 C.A. Lombard
see the promise that the infant Maria made to her parents: “I will be victorious in all
that I do” and the promise made to herself: “I will hide the more emotional, sensitive
side of myself from the world.” When Maria made these promises in order to survive
in her familial environment, she broke her connection with the Self – which is a synthe-
sis of the higher qualities of the two subpersonalities (amongst others).
The higher qualities that each of the subpersonalities held were also explored. The
higher qualities carried by Miss Victorious were trustworthiness, dependability, will,
initiative, and persistence. And the higher qualities of Miss Silent were creativity,
intuition, and wisdom. Living away from her home and country, facing scholastic chal-
lenges and difficult relationship issues with her supervisor only augmented and mirrored
Maria’s disconnection from Self. Through recognizing, accepting, and dis-identifying
from her Miss Victorious and Miss Silent subpersonalities, Maria was eventually able
to reconnect with each subpersonality’s higher qualities. This process of integration was
aided by a visualization in which the two subpersonalities dialoged with each other
alongside Maria as an observer. During the dialog, both Miss Victorious and Miss
Silent expressed their unique needs and by the end of the visualization, Miss Victorious
had become more humble and vulnerable and Miss Silent more assertive. Afterwards,
Maria drew the two subpersonalities in reconciliation, kneeling before each other,
holding hands, and smiling (Figure 3).
Reflecting on her drawing, Maria said:
Miss Silent has hope now. She trusts Miss Victorious. Miss Victorious has to create space
for Miss Silent. She has to be silent also. Patient. Not so anxious about things. They go
good together. They should do this more often!
Figure 3. Reconciliation leading to synthesis of Miss Victorious and Miss Silent. (Drawing by
client).
Counselling Psychology Quarterly 191
The counseling work continued around balancing, coordinating, and integrating these
two subpersonalities as well as other challenges during the year including the pain and
sadness around Maria’s “childhood promise” to herself and her parents. One example of
Maria’s continual integration of her subpersonalities occurred when she created a space
in her home called her “temple” where she started to paint and meditate. Through this
new endeavor, her subpersonality Miss Silent was allowed to fulfill her needs of safety,
space, and time alone in a new way, and hence integrate more fully with Miss Victori-
ous. This new approach also enabled Miss Silent’s higher quality of creativity to be
expressed in a more conscious and harmonious way.
They’re here and they’re me. And I’m them. It was funny to draw them. Some are so ridic-
ulous! I’m smiling because I think I accept them now. I know that I still suffer them, but I
am always able to see what triggers them and what belongs to them and what belongs to
me. I’m less angry and I feel like I have more control. They aren’t so big anymore in my
life. Just recognizing this makes me feel much better.
In fact, all but one of the clients in this study readily grasped the concept of subper-
sonalities and quickly incorporated and applied various techniques to help them recog-
nize, accept, coordinate, and integrate their subpersonalities in their daily life. As they
began to establish a relationship with their different subpersonalities, all student
sojourners found that they were more able to meet ongoing challenges, remained calmer
in uncertain situations, felt freer to make decisions, and more positively related to oth-
ers. Below are some of their testimonies:
The ongoing therapy is very helpful to my personal growth. I recognized my different sub-
personalities, spent some time to “talk” to each one of them, and initiated cross-talk
between them. By doing so, I understood myself better, and my interpersonal relationship
with other people. I understood where the attraction and conflicts stem from. I can also
control myself better in social situations by selecting the proper subpersonality and “talk”
the undesired subpersonality into temporal retirement. Clear recognition of my subpersonal-
ities also helped me understand relationships within my family. (Chinese postdoc)
Our meetings have equipped me with the tools, like my subpersonalities, to continue to
deal with the (what feels like) never ending challenges that life presents me with: the stress
of completing a PhD, the stress of finding new work, the stress of dealing with familial
and other intimate relationships. (Canadian student)
By recognizing and working with my subpersonalities, I was able to not be stuck and to
make clearer decisions. Coming into relationship with my subpersonalities and working
with them, frees up space in my mind and gives me more time for my PhD and to even
enjoy it more. (Dutch student)
(p. 141). He writes that “the extent that creativeness is constructive, synthesizing, unify-
ing, and integrative, … depends in part on the inner integration of the person” (p. 140).
Maria was no exception, as shown in her following reflection:
I feel like I was on hold for the past year. Waiting. Like my life was on hold. Not knowing
for what. Just having faith. I was busy, but I was questioning why I was doing the PhD.
And it felt like there was no clear path. Also in my personal life. Then things started to
develop when I started to look for clarity. Things started to unblock. The data came, my
personal life improved.
It’s incredible how much energy is consumed by doubts and feelings of sadness. How
much energy is consumed by being someone else. I want to be seen for who I am, not just
for who I’m expected to be. Now, I have more creative energy. It’s more “green” to be
myself! I see the post-doc that I want. And I have the energy to grab it. And it feels excit-
ing and so much better.
Examples of other students’ release of blocked creative energy include one student
who had started psychosynthesis counseling after being placed on probation due to
serious academic trouble. After finishing her meetings, she had become one of the
department’s high-flyers, organized an international conference, completed her PhD
early, and was granted a postdoctoral position. Another student came to counseling
depressed, lonely, and fearful of the town and his local environment. After 15 ses-
sions, he was making new friends, had been elected president of a student
association, and received two international awards for his presentations and papers.
He said:
My work is going so well. I am producing so much more than last year, and I have more
concentration and energy. (Brazilian student)
Discussion
This study illustrates how two psychosynthesis techniques were applied to intervene,
relieve, and transform the effects of the ABC components of culture shock experienced
by student sojourners in the Netherlands. Students sought psychosynthesis counseling
as a result of the stress and anxiety triggered by their living in a foreign environment.
Through these stressful situations, their personal identity was challenged and forced to
develop and transform. With a new, more authentic identity, the students were then able
to direct their behavior and successfully meet the challenges presented by the ABC
aspects of culture shock.
At the beginning of their counseling sessions, students were introduced to the
psychosynthesis self-identification exercise. This meditation exercise helped students to
identify and then dis-identify from their body sensations, feelings, and thoughts which
were provoking their anxiety. By the end of six sessions, all students were better able
to manage stress. During subsequent sessions, the psychosynthesis subpersonality model
then allowed the students to explore their conflicted identity. By recognizing and
becoming aware of the different roles the subpersonalities played, their individual
and contrasting wants and needs, and their origin, students learned how to coordinate
and integrate their subpersonalities into a new way of being. As observers of their
194 C.A. Lombard
diverse subpersonalities, students learned how to direct and regulate their subpersonali-
ties and express their most appropriate needs and goals. Through such practice, each
student’s new and more authentic identity was visibly expressed and hence the student’s
behavior changed. With the aid of psychosynthesis techniques, the student sojourners in
this study learned how to cope with stress, accepted and worked with subpersonalities
in more effective ways, came closer to healing childhood psychological wounds, and
developed deeper relationships with themselves. As a result, all were able to make
clearer decisions, become more creative, and successfully engage with others at home
and in the host country.
The findings in this research correspond to a major theme reported by Brown
(2009). She asserts that international students who participated in an intensive one-year
master’s program reported a discovery of a new self that influenced both personal and
professional relationships and hence impacted on their everyday life. Whether the deci-
sion to move overseas was consciously executed to achieve personal growth, all stu-
dents in this study eventually longed to find meaning in the experience. Similarly,
Brown (2009) concluded that all student sojourners’ in her study “underwent fundamen-
tal personal change [as] sojourners are faced with the … existential question about what
constitutes the self ” (p. 518). Psychosynthesis techniques, such as the self-identification
exercise and subpersonality model, can aid student sojourners to not only manage the
ABCs of culture shock, but also to more easily and effectively discover new values,
identities, and behaviors as well as express them into life-enhancing and positive
change both abroad and at home.
Limitations
One limitation to this study is that the findings rest on the presumption that changes
seen in the clients’ ability to manage and intervene the ABCs of culture shock are the
direct effect of two psychosynthesis techniques. In addition, this small client sample
with its limited representation makes it difficult to move towards any general conclu-
sions. Similarly, the number of sessions (10–55) varied widely for each client, which
might have influenced the subpersonality integration and psychosynthesis process.
Finally, these interpretations warrant a second researcher’s analysis to ensure the rigor
and validity of the findings. However, the qualitative methodology as a psychosynthesis
counselor did allow for intimate conversations over many months which provided depth
and breadth to these findings and analysis.
Implications
This research indicates that the psychosynthesis self-identification exercise and subper-
sonality model might provide an effective intervention for the ABCs of culture shock
for international students. As such, these tools could be offered as part of the larger
multicultural training program for both international students and university counselors
and staff. Establishing an acculturation program for student sojourners does not only
entail constructing a website that can instruct student sojourners on the academic
protocol, social conventions, and local services in their host country. As Brown and
Holloway (2008b) point out, we have a moral and educational duty to take international
students’ specific circumstances into account and provide them with long-term solutions.
Counselling Psychology Quarterly 195
In their ethnographic study (2008a), they also conclude that, while it may be appropri-
ate at times for international students to focus on the acquisition of appropriate behavior
and skills, university counselors, and pastoral staff also need to better understand the
complexity of the adjustment process. With a more comprehensive perspective, support
personnel could then better consider each student’s individual needs and circumstances
when deciding how he or she might best be supported.
Psychosynthesis counseling and training focuses on such challenges by aiding
students’ with their individual needs, helping them to acquire appropriate behavior and
skills, and dealing with the complexity of the adjustment process through various tech-
niques and models. Psychosynthesis can also enable student sojourners to come closer
to their own personal consciousness and will and, consequently, more easily in touch
with their own wants, needs, emotions, intuitions, and imagination. Gradually, student
sojourners can become directors of their diverse subpersonalities and more freely and
consciously choose and execute their daily actions. This is the real goal of any accultur-
ation project – to learn how to maintain one’s identity, self-esteem, and psychological
well-being while at the same time interacting in a constructive way within a society that
maintains a world view different from one’s own.
Future research
With only a handful of published papers on psychosynthesis methodology and tech-
niques, there remains no doubt that more research is needed. To better understand the
effectiveness of the self-identification exercise in helping student sojourners deal with
stress, more empirical data need to be collected. A small number of researchers have
attempted to develop standardized measures of adjustment strain on international stu-
dents (Crano & Crano, 1993; Pedersen, Neighbors, Larimer & Lee, 2011). One possible
project would involve comparing Sojourner Adjustment Measures before and after the
administration of the self-identification exercise to empirically determine how much and
for how long such a meditation might reduce anxiety and facilitate coping in the foreign
country.
Future research might also investigate the effectiveness of the subpersonality model
in rebuilding identity – not just for clients experiencing culture shock, but for anyone
suffering from identity conflict. Life narrative theory and methodology are approaches
that might be aptly suited to explore sojourners’ experience of culture shock and accul-
turation through the subpersonality model (Kenyon, Bohlmeijer & Randall, 2011). Life
narrative theory compliments and augments psychosynthesis techniques which employ
daily self-reflection and the identification and dis-identification of body, feelings, mind,
and subpersonalities. Nevertheless, despite its potential, life narrative has rarely been
applied as a strategy for acculturation stress. Taloyan, Johansson, Saleh-Stattin, and
Al-Windi (2011) have approached migration stress among ten Kurdish men in Sweden
based on narrative methodology. Their findings showed that the narrative process
enabled participants to begin to re-story and reconstruct their lives and critically reflect
on the conditions that constrained their actions and created difficulties. Sears’ (2011)
study of young students in an international school has suggested that narrative serves to
integrate the multiple aspects of participants’ identities.
Finally, of particular interest in this study is the fact that all the international
students who sought psychosynthesis counseling were experiencing culture shock after
196 C.A. Lombard
living abroad for two or more years. Popadiuk and Arthur (2004) also state that
“cross-cultural transitions unfold over time, and student issues may fluctuate as new
demands are perceived and others are managed” (p. 131). These findings point to Ward
et al.’s (2001) assertion that the frequently cited U-curve of adjustment (i.e. the
honeymoon period, followed by crisis, recovery, and adjustment) during cross-cultural
adaptation may “offer a convenient, common sense heuristic … but not an altogether
accurate one” (p. 82). This study supports their call for further longitudinal research
into culture shock in order to produce a critical and credible mass of findings that
consistently support an alternative theory to the U-curve hypothesis.
Conclusion
The aim of this study was to ascertain if two psychosynthesis techniques – the
self-identification exercise and the subpersonality model – might help international
students in the Netherlands to intervene and manage the ABCs of culture shock. The
self-identification exercise allowed students to deal with the affect component of culture
shock, namely stress and anxiety. During subsequent sessions, students were then guided
to integrate their subpersonalities and hence manage identity conflicts (the cognitive
component of ABC). As students were able to feel calmer and grow in awareness with
regard to their subpersonalities, in psychosynthesis terms, each student began to synthe-
size into a more authentic personality. As a result of this personal synthesis, their behav-
ior (the second ABC component) changed and new creative energies were released.
Ultimately, this study illustrates the effective results of psychosynthesis and, in
particular, the self-identification exercise and subpersonality process when applied to
student sojourners and their experience of culture shock. Most international students
have particularly intense emotional experiences at the start of their studies as they must
adapt, not only to a new environment, but also to unfamiliar academic protocol and
procedures (Brown, 2009). But at the same time, these young students also have a pow-
erful opportunity for transformation, a chance to glimpse and grasp their full potential,
and search for deeper meaning in their lives (Anderson, 1994; Lombard, 2012). Those
who have accepted, integrated, and ultimately synthesized the challenges posed by
adapting to a foreign culture inevitably deepen and broaden their relationship with
themselves and, consequently, are more able to engage fruitfully with others who hold
different world views. Psychosynthesis concepts and techniques are not only potentially
effective and inclusive tools for adapting to a host country, but also viable methodolo-
gies for anyone searching to synthesize a new personal and social identity.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all participants in this study, and especially Maria, for sharing their life
stories, drawings, and perceptions. Also special thanks to Dr Barbara C.N. Müller for her
suggestions for improving this manuscript.
Notes
1. In this study, mother refers to anyone acting as the infant/child’s primary caretaker.
2. This client’s name is a pseudonym.
Counselling Psychology Quarterly 197
Notes on contributor
Catherine Ann Lombard is a psychosynthesis psychologist and counselor in private practice,
primarily working with expatriates living in the Netherlands. She is an independent scholar
currently working in collaboration with the University of Twente researching how psychosynth-
esis and narrative methodologies can help sojourners manage culture shock and transform their
experience into personal and spiritual growth. She is passionate about guiding international
students to their higher creative potential. She has published a dozen articles and conference
presentations in the psychosynthesis literature.
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