Therapy for Immigrants & Second Generation Americans

Therapy for Immigrants and Second-Generation Americans in New York City

Living between Worlds can Feel Lonely, but you don’t Have to Carry it Alone

Whether you are an immigrant building a new life in the United States or a second-generation American navigating the in-between of cultures, identity, and belonging, therapy can be a space where your whole story is honored.
For many immigrants, the journey involves leaving behind family, community, and a familiar way of life to face the challenges of resettling in a place that may feel both hopeful and overwhelming. For their children, born here or raised here, there is often the task of balancing two cultures at once: one inside the home and one outside.
In both experiences, there can be a deep sense of pressure, isolation, or even guilt. Therapy offers a grounded place to untangle these feelings, reclaim your voice, and move toward living in a way that feels true to you.

Unique Challenges for Immigrants

Immigrating to the U.S. is often more than a physical relocation—it is an emotional, cultural, and intergenerational shift. Even when the choice feels empowering, it may also carry loss. Common struggles include:

Cultural Adjustment Stress – Adapting to a new language, customs, and unspoken social rules while longing for the familiar.
Loss of Community & Identity – Feeling like you left behind the version of yourself that was rooted in your home culture.
Family Separation – Carrying the weight of being far from loved ones or supporting family across borders.
Work & Financial Pressure – Navigating job insecurity, credential barriers, or sending money home while trying to establish stability.
Microaggressions & Discrimination – Facing bias based on race, accent, religion, or immigration status.

These layers of stress can accumulate into anxiety, depression, or even trauma responses. Therapy can be a place to process grief, reconnect with resilience, and find a sense of belonging in your new environment.

Unique Challenges for Second-Generation Americans

Growing up in a household influenced by another culture while living in the U.S. often means walking a fine line between two (or more) worlds. Many second-generation Americans carry experiences such as:

Identity Conflict – Not feeling “enough” of either culture; being told you’re “too American” at home or “too foreign” outside.
Parental Expectations – Managing family hopes for success, stability, or “making sacrifices worth it,” often while carving out personal dreams.
Intergenerational Differences – Navigating cultural clashes in communication, values, and roles between parents and children.
Code-Switching – Shifting language, behavior, or appearance depending on whether you’re at home, school, work, or social spaces.
Shame and Silence – Feeling pressure to hide struggles from family or community to maintain honor, respect, or privacy.
Parentification– As a child, needing to play the role of an adult in difficult or scary situations because parents are not fluent in the surrounding language and/or culture

Therapy offers a safe, nonjudgmental space to name these experiences and build a stronger sense of self—one that can hold the complexity of both cultures without losing authenticity.

How Therapy Can Help

Therapy is not about choosing one culture over another. It is about finding ways to hold both—and to live in a way that feels sustainable and true. Some possibilities in our work together may include:

Processing grief, loss, and cultural dislocation.
Naming and validating experiences of racism, discrimination, or marginalization.
Developing tools for navigating family pressures while staying grounded in your values.
Exploring identity and belonging in a way that doesn’t require you to split yourself.
Building practices of self-compassion when shame, guilt, or perfectionism show up.
Learning grounding techniques to regulate anxiety, anger, or stress that may stem from cultural dissonance.

Laura’s Approach

As a relational and culturally sensitive therapist, I take time to understand your story in the context of where you come from, what you’ve lived through, and the roles you hold now.I have lived outside the United States for a total of 5+ years, so I share the lived experience of adapting to a foreign culture., It’s essential that therapy respects the richness and complexity of cultural identity.

I often draw on:

Body-based approaches

to regulate stress and trauma.

Attachment-focused therapy

to work through family dynamics and relational wounds.

Narrative and identity-informed work

to honor both your cultural background and your personal voice.

Practical coping tools

to navigate day-to-day pressures of work, school, family, and community.

Together, we can create a space where you don’t have to explain away your cultural experience—it is already understood as central to who you are.

Therapy in New York City and the Metropolitan Area

Living in New York City means living in one of the most diverse places in the world. And yet, many immigrants and first- or second-generation Americans still feel unseen or unheard in their struggles. Whether you’re in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, or the wider New York metropolitan area, therapy can be a place where your experiences are not minimized, but respected and deeply understood.

Beginning Therapy

You don’t need to navigate the weight of migration, cultural identity, or family pressures alone. Therapy is a space where your story, whether as an immigrant, a second-generation American, can be fully seen and supported.

If you’re ready, reach out today to begin.

FAQ: Commonly Asked Questions

Is therapy only in English?

Sessions are offered primarily in English, but we can explore together how language and expression show up in your experience. Therapy may involve processing how your native language shapes your identity and emotions. I have some facility in Arabic, French, Spanish and Turkish.

What if my family doesn’t believe in therapy?

This is a common experience. Therapy can be a private space just for you, where you don’t need to justify why you’re here. You can bring in the weight of family expectations without fear of judgment.

How do I know if therapy is right for me?

If you feel caught between cultures, overwhelmed by expectations, or isolated in your experiences, therapy may help you reconnect with your strengths and build new ways of relating to yourself and others.