Adaptation of immigrants in a new culture through the creation of a new cultural and linguistic envelope

Psychoanalysis and culture

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of migration and adaptation in a new culture from a psychoanalytic perspective as a grieving process and the loss of a native cultural identity, as well as the creation of a new psychic skin through a formation of a new cultural and linguistic envelope. Migration is seen as a mental trauma due to the loss of home, cultural values and language as a means for communication. This article can be used in psychoanalytic practice when working with patients experiencing difficulty adapting to a new environment. The empirical data obtained as a result of this study revealed that the nature of the relationship with one’s primary objects has a major effect on the process of forming a new identity, the duration and success/failure of a grief process and subsequent adaptation to a new culture.