Expat Teens Talk: Peers, Parents and Professionals offer support, advice and solutions in response to Expat Life challenges as shared by Expat Teens

Life as an Expatriate can be full of rich, exciting, unique, and adventurous opportunities! It can also be challenging as a result of being constantly confronted by change and having to adapt to new cultural norms, languages, foods, religions, and day-to-day ways of life. This can be made more complicated by consistently feeling like a guest within the host country, which makes it difficult to access supports and services with the same ease as non-Expats. When you combine an Expat lifestyle with the complicated challenges of being a teenager, it can feel like a double whammy!Expat Teens Talk recognizes the challenges that teens are faced with when growing up as Expats, and is a “must read” for Expat Teens, Expat Parents, and Expat Professionals (including teachers, principals, and counselors within International Schools). This book provides a unique platform where Expat Teens, worldwide, have been given the opportunity to share their personal stories, experiences, challenges, issues, and questions related to the impact of a transient lifestyle on life as a teenager. In return, they receive advice, solutions, and support from the three groups that are most important to them: their fellow Expat Peers, other Expat Parents, and Expat Professionals.Visit the website (www.expatteens.org) or contact the authors at byexpatteens.forexpatteens@yahoo.com.sg for more information.

About the authors:

Dr. Lisa Pittman is a practising psychologist, who has worked in monocultural and expatriate settings. She counsels children, adolescents, and their families on a wide range of social, emotional, behavioural, and psychological issues.

Diana Smit is an educational therapist who supports the academic needs of international students as a result of their specific learning difficulties. She is the mother of three Expat Teens who only know expat life.

For more info on the Expat Teens Talk:

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REVIEWS!

“… a great new resource for expat teens and fills a gap in the resource market for this unique population … I like the fact that this book goes right to the target audience and sources real questions and answers from the teens who are currently experiencing the expat lifestyle …  This book will hopefully help the teens find the good and wonderful experiences involved in this lifestyle, while helping them navigate some of the more difficult times they may go through on this journey.”

– Bronwyn Towart, B.Ed, M.Ed MAPS, psychologist working with teenagers in Australia

“Expat Teens Talk really is a great approach to deliver guidance in this manner and teens will find it easy to accept and relate to. I am absolutely convinced that this book is raising concerns, and providing direction, for questions that many teenagers are facing. The format of giving guidance from three different points of view is unique and very credible, and the teenager can take what he or she wants to from the responses. The book in fact has its relevance not just for Expat Teenagers, but for any teenager struggling to cope with moving from one community to another, or even one school to another.”

– Tim Nettleton, Geneva, Switzerland, works for a major educational organization and is the father of three daughters who each hold three passports and live a completely bilingual life.

“… I love the little blurbs throughout (‘Expat Teens say’) and the information at the end (related to statistics and resources and the mind map) is really, really great! I find the direct links in the comments helpful and timely for the reader. Great work!”

– Sharon Racine, Geneva, Switzerland, Advisor – Roots4Legacy, Crossing Cultures

“My goodness, I am impressed! You ladies have come up with a great concept, which has translated into a great book. It’s refreshing to have teens themselves expressing their concerns, triumphs and advice. The one-line quotes, in particular, were spot on. As I was reading I had a few moments of déjà vu! I’ve been an expat for most of my life, as a child, a teen, and a mother of three expat children, now all grown up. I’ve lived firsthand the numerous challenges, joys and heartbreaks my teens went through, and I know how important a good support system can be. This book certainly provides a lot of encouragement. I wish it had been available a few years ago. It goes a long way to reconfirm that expat life is sometimes a hardship, sometimes a gift, but always an adventure!”

– Michelle S., Dubai, mother of three Expat Teens