Examination of pschosocial experiences and psychological support needs of individuals who migrated abroad from Turkey

With globalisation, it has become inevitable for individuals from different cultures to come together. Individuals who have begun to live outside their home country for forced or voluntary reasons have had to adapt to differences over time. While adapting to another culture is a different experience for every individual, there are some common difficulties in the adaptation process. One of the difficulties shared by individuals who have migrated to a different culture is the psychological/psychosocial problems related to the adaptation process. Migration is experienced differently for each individual since each individual has different personality traits. For that reason, it is important to examine the psychological/psychosocial experiences of the individuals who started living in a different culture as deeply as possible. For this purpose, a qualitative phenomenological study has been carried out. In this study, face to face and phone in-depth interviews has been conducted with 32 participants who migrated abroad from Turkey. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and content analysis. According to the findings obtained, five main themes are presented: immigration process, social life, family life, psychological experiences and needs. It is seen that the positive and negative experiences resulted from migration process, social and familial experiences, the presence of social and psychological support have an impact on adaptation process. It seems that immigrants are in search of the psychological support they need in the individuals who are from their own culture or a similar culture and they seek for a professional who knows their culture and mother language. Keywords: Cross-cultural migration, Cross-cultural adaptation, Psychological experience, Psychosocial experience, Psychological support.