Expat Support: How It Works

Posted on 24. Apr, 2009 by Emmanuelle Archer in Announcements, Blog, Tools & Resources
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Now you know what expat support is all about and how it can benefit you. While that gives you an understanding of how it works in theory, you may still have some questions about the process itself.

I don’t know about you, but when I am about to hire someone for the first time, be it a financial advisor or a graphic designer, I like to know what the next steps are going to be. Clarity is important to me, so I like to know ahead of time what our working relationship is going to look like.

With this in mind, today’s post is:

Part III: What Happens When You Hire Me

Here is a step-by-step outline of what the expat support process looks like:

1. We agree on the number of sessions you want every month.
Most clients opt for 45min or 1hr sessions, twice a month. If you need more support or want faster results, we can do weekly sessions or whatever works for you.

2. We sign a contract so that you have all the details in writing: payment terms, cancellation policy, number and length of the sessions.
By signing the contract, you agree to fully participate in all the sessions and to complete your assignments between sessions.
On my end, I commit not only to delivering the services you are paying me for, but also to behaving in a professional and ethical manner. I am a member of the International Coach Federation and I abide by their rigourous Code of Ethics. Among other things, this means that our sessions together will be kept strictly confidential.

3. You fill in a questionnaire about your goals, the challenges you are currently facing, and a few questions that are designed to make you think laterally and kick-start our process. This questionnaire becomes the baseline against which we will measure your progress as we go.

4. We review your questionnaire together, clarifying or digging deeper if needed. The objective here is to make sure that your goals are really clear, measurable, big enough that you are excited and not so big that you end up discouraged or overwhelmed. This step will also introduce you to how we will work together, as I will be asking many probing/clarifying questions throughout our sessions.

5. Time for our first scheduled call together!
You are always the one who gets to decide what we work on.
If you like structure, you may pick a topic in advance and come to the session with a list of points you want to cover.
Or you may prefer to work in the moment, using your current state of mind (or last night’s dream, or a conversation you had yesterday) as a starting point.

There is no right or wrong way to do this. Go with what feels comfortable, whether it is “I want to make more local friends and I’d like to brainstorm ways to meet new people” (the structured approach), or “I’m kind of down today, I don’t really know why. It’s hard when you don’t have many friends, you know?” (the spontaneous, in-the-moment approach).
It is completely up to you. When I say that I custom-tailor the process to your needs, I really mean it.

6. Before the end of our call, we take time to design the assignment on which you will be working until our next session.
That’s right, you get to choose your homework, and I will never force you to work on something that you do not want to do. I might sometimes challenge you with an assignment that sounds hard or intimidating to you, but you always get the final say.
Oh, and in case assignments and homework sound boring, don’t worry. It’s not going to be about to-do lists or doing research (unless that’s what you want to do – remember, you choose your assignments). Some can even be pretty fun and exciting. But you will see for yourself when you get to the end of our session!

7. Rinse and repeat. Keep at it for a few months. See how far along you have come. Pat yourself on the back. Plan a celebration!

8. Because this process is not about quick fixes, you must be ready to dedicate at least four consecutive months to it.
However, I do not believe that you need this kind of deep work on a constant basis – unless you are working on a major project, one year is probably as long as you want to go.
When you decide that it is time for you to stop, I will design a completion session. This last session is meant to measure how much progress you have accomplished, consolidate what you have learned, and celebrate all your hard work. It is also the opportunity for me to wish you the best of success, and to give you a few tools to keep you moving forward.

Of course, should you ever need me again in the future, it will be an honour and a joy to work with you again!

I hope this gives you a better idea of how the expat support process works. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me through my website or leave a comment here on the blog.

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Emmanuelle