Immigration
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Abstract
It is important to recognize and understand the psychology of being an immigrant from a psychodynamic and existential perspective. Immigration is about attachment, separation, and re-attachment, and therefore touches some of the deepest part of human existence. During the psychiatric or psychological evaluation of patients with migrant background, the caregiver asks a series of questions about their experience and socio-demographic details that have a quantitative nature. In this chapter, the focus is on the question of the quality of being an immigrant from a phenomenological perspective and from conscious and unconscious levels during the process of migration from arrival to acculturation. Working in the field of transcultural psychiatry is not just about learning about different cultures, but also about grasping the quality of being immigrant and the process of immigration. This can contribute to empathy towards the patient, which will improve the therapeutic efficacy.