You left for a job, for love, out of curiosity or because there was no other option. Maybe it has all worked out: you have a home, a job, even new friends. And still, sometimes something hurts. A smell that takes you home. A song. A birthday you join by video call.
That has a name: migration grief. It is the goodbye, often a silent one, to everything you leave behind when you move abroad. And it is not one single loss but many at once:
- Your people: family, old friends, hugs that don't need a plane ticket.
- Your language: the one you don't have to think in to say what you feel.
- Your customs: the timetables, the food, the humour that doesn't always land here.
- Your land: the landscape, the weather, the light.
- Your place: who you were there, your work, your way of moving through the world.
There is something that makes it different from other kinds of grief: what you left is still there. That is why it comes back with every visit, every goodbye at the airport, every piece of news you miss.
Feeling it is normal. It doesn't mean you made the wrong choice or that you can't adapt. It means that what you left behind matters to you. It gets heavier when you carry it alone, with no one to share it with.
You might recognise yourself in some of this
- You feel you have no safety net, even with people around you.
- You live with your head in two places and never quite land in either.
- You idealise what you left or, on the contrary, prefer not to think about it.
- You sleep worse, or you are more irritable or sadder than usual.
- The months go by and the weight doesn't ease.
A space in your language
Talking about this in your own language, with someone who understands, brings real relief. In therapy we make room for that grief, without rushing, and look for ways to build a life here without giving up who you are.
If this resonated with you, the first session is free. We can start there.
