More than 30 years ago, a Community Needs Assessment undertaken by the American Community Council “…recognised the sombre reality that numerous families were experiencing significant stress and personal problems during their settlement and integration”. While the most recent research is more quantitative than the one done earlier, the general conclusions align: relocating to a new country is stressful, and hard. It can lead to loneliness, feeling disconnected from one’s immediate environment and at a loss about what to do, or whom to turn to. Added to that, the multitude of questions one has about how things work in an unfamiliar place alone can significantly impact one’s mental well-being.
The ACCESS Counselling Network is a network of licensed professionals who, besides their professional experience, are also personally familiar with the process of expatriation, and repatriation. Between them, they speak multiple languages and have a variety of specialisations which can, and do, serve the international community in need of support. Every month, two are on-call to receive calls for help, and to direct these to the most relevant, appropriate source of support. This free, confidential on-call service was the original curative solution which remains in place to this day.
To reach out to ACCESS’ on-call counsellor visit www.access-nl.org/counselling/counsellor-on-call/ for the number OR contact them via on-call.access-nl.org. For all other questions, visit our FAQs or reach out (free of charge) to helpdesk@access-nl.org.
