Moving to a new country is incredibly challenging, especially one with an entirely different set of values, emotions, languages. This change is even more jarring when folks are apart from their loved ones or parts of their culture. Besides issues of homesickness, loneliness and adjustment difficulties, immigrants and refugees often carry with them past traumatic experiences that continue to affect their lives and create consequences that span across generations.

For children and descendants of immigrants, the pressure of assimilation, identity exploration, and cultural preservation can be distressing and paralyzing. Many feel torn among different cultures, lifestyles, even homelands, as they make sense of their values, beliefs, familial expectations, and experiences. Others find themselves taking on the household roles of caretakers, translators, planners from an early age, simultaneously missing out on the opportunity to attune to their own needs.