We are here to support you, the members of Shanghai's International Community. In addition to all the exciting and enriching aspects that come with living and working in Shanghai, we know that people can feel overwhelmed while adjusting to their new lives. CCS Counseling Service is here to support individuals and families in need.
People may need to deal with major adjustments and difficulties when relocating to Shanghai. Many times a combination of several issues seem to come all at once and create temporary, intense stresses and/or crisis. Most clients are high functioning, well organized individuals and families, who find our services useful in coping with a difficult period in their lives.
If you find yourself, or someone you care for, in a position of need, You can call the counseling phone at: 136-3631-7474. Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Or send us and e-mail at counseling@communitycenter.cn. We are here to help you!
What are some of the most common problems our clients encounter in Shanghai?
Cultural transition/Culture Shock
Heightened Anxiety and Depression
Child/Parenting Issues
Marriage Relations(including pre-marital counseling)
Addictions
Cultural transition/Culture Shock
Many foreigners don't speak the Mandarin language on arrival, and as a result:
- cannot find their way around the city easily
- find it hard to get the right products
- feel uncertain how to approach others
- feel uncertain what to expect from local people
The differences in values and customs, together with a lack of routine, may well create a feeling of being in a vacuum without knowing where to turn.
Heightened Anxiety and Depression
For professionals, the expectations of their company, the high pace of doing business in Asia, and the hectic schedule working in different time zones can create a continuous high adrenaline level that can wear you out or bring you down. For trailing spouses, a change of professional identity and loss of support network may involve an unexpected feeling of emptiness and a process of grieving. Children may feel pressured to achieve in a different school system, and to build new friendships.
While most children seem to adapt well to life in Shanghai, quite a few families find that while one or several of their children are doing well, one child may seem unhappy or cause problems. Children's expression of unhappiness may take many forms; becoming withdrawn, acting out or being shy, showing aggressive behavior at home or in school, slipping grades, or an inability to keep friends. For teens, there's the added challenge regarding going out, responding to situations that involve alcohol and other drugs, together with the development of their own (sexual) identity.
Marriage Relations (including pre-marital counseling)
With the challenges of living in a foreign country and missing the resources from home, marriage and family life becomes a major target for tension. Working spouses may lack energy to contribute at home (both emotionally and practically) the way they did before. Their partners can feel disappointed in their expectations, and become lonely and resentful for primarily carrying responsibility of running a home and family. Any of these issues make a marriage vulnerable to feelings of isolation, sexual problems/affairs, declining communication and intimacy.
When stress levels are high, 'escape' may become an attractive alternative, instead of a healthy balancing of your physical, emotional and spiritual life. This escape can take many forms: drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, looking for sexual release in massage parlors, pornography on the internet, starting an affair, eating disorders or becoming a workaholic.
What Can CCS Counseling Services Do For You?
We offer a team of international, highly educated and experienced counselors and clinical psychologists. Our team members come from Asia, United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Each counselor has her or his professional expertise, and personal approach to therapy. This may include behavioral, cognitive, narrative, play and systems therapy. For a profile on our counselors, click on the link below.
It's all the rage! —— An anger management article.
http://shanghai.globaltimes.cn/community/2011-01/618009.html
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