Episode 30: Language, Belonging & Resilience – Ezgi Erik
This episode contains discussion around migration, language barriers, childhood responsibilities, cultural identity, and personal therapy experiences.
Join us for a moving and insightful conversation with therapist, psychologist and researcher Ezgi Erik as she shares her transformative journey from arriving in the UK at age 6 speaking no English to becoming a qualified therapist who specialises in reading the unspoken language of her clients. This powerful discussion explores how early adversity and cultural displacement can become unexpected strengths in therapeutic practice, and why understanding our own migration story is crucial for healing and connection.
In this compelling episode, Ezgi openly shares:
- Arriving in the UK from Turkey at age 6 with no English language skills
- Struggling to understand teachers, classmates and school routines
- Mastering English largely through watching British soap operas
- Becoming a family interpreter and advocate whilst still in primary school
- Managing doctors’ appointments, bills and adult responsibilities as a child
- The profound impact of early childhood displacement and responsibility
- Processing her migration experience through personal therapy during counselling training
- Discovering how her unusual childhood shaped her therapeutic abilities
- Developing exceptional skills in reading body language, tone and non-verbal cues
- The advantages of being a non-English speaker in developing emotional intelligence
- Launching a career in clinical psychology and running a private practice
- Balancing therapy work with psychology research
This essential conversation offers valuable insights for anyone who has experienced migration, cultural displacement, childhood responsibilities, or who is curious about how our early struggles can become our greatest strengths.
Key Topics Discussed:
- The experience of arriving in a new country as a young child
- Language barriers and the challenge of fitting in at school
- Parentification: children taking on adult responsibilities
- Cultural identity and belonging in a new country
- Using unconventional methods to learn language and culture
- Processing childhood trauma through personal therapy
- How non-verbal communication skills develop in multilingual environments
- The connection between migration experiences and emotional attunement
- Reading body language and tone as therapeutic superpowers
- From struggling child to skilled clinician
- Integrating personal experience into professional practice
- The role of psychology research in understanding migration and identity
Learn more about Ezgi Erik.
