What you told us about your feelings in re-entry

I recently carried out a survey with some other re-entry coaches to find out what your struggles are in re-entry. We had over 200 responses!  We looked at the range of feelings experienced and coping strategies used by expats from many different sectors (mission, Non-Governmental Organisations, corporate, educators, students, military and accompanying spouses). I’ll soon post some blog posts about what we found. As a taster, here’s a Wordle to sum up some of the feelings associated with re-entry that you came up with…

re-entry tree

The Wordle includes over 50 emotions, and probably the most common emotional states were conflicted and sad. There were also positive emotions about going home – excitement, relief, happiness, adventure etc.  As you can see from the diagram, the more ‘negative’ emotions – such as loss, confusion, anxiety, shock and frustration – took up more than their fair share of the experience.

This raises questions…

What is it about re-entry that makes it such a struggle for many people? Why should it be harder than going overseas in the first place? Where and what is home? What if it could be approached in a different way to make it a more positive experience? What strategies have people found helpful to keep them sane during their repatriation? And how can you find the support you need during your re-entry? I hope to answer these questions and more as I reveal bit by bit what the survey results have shown. You may have already gone home or be in the process of packing up and getting ready to go. Whichever, I hope you will find value from these posts and join in the discussion with me about how to make it easier.

Find out more about being supported during your re-entry here.

14th June 2017