First posting
go prepared
10-Week Individual Programme for Diplomatic Spouses
Your partner got their long-awaited first diplomatic posting. Everyone is thrilled for you two. SO are YOU…
…And somewhere underneath the excitement, you may already be thinking: this is not just another move.
A big part of you is focusing on the logistics, but there is also a part that may be wondering about…
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"Going to the 1950s"
You’ve red a book or two, a few personal blogs and it looks like things didn’t change much.
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Your career
Whether it survives the move. And if it does not, who you may be without it.
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Your finances
Not the amount. But what it feels like to depend on someone else's income past your childhood.
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Your day
Your partner has a schedule from day one. You have an empty home & a lot of to figure out.
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Your relationship
You are friends, you like each other and both agreed to go, will it stay like this?
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The "What if?"
A question you have not said out loud yet: what if I am the one who struggles with this?
you may try to push these thoughts away. so excited, busy with the move, Telling yourself it will be ok once you get there.
For most first-time spouses, it does not sort itself out.
Diplomatic life has a certain rhythm & rules of the game. Figuring them out on the go may be difficult, costly & nerve-wracking at times.
SO why wait?
Prepare before you leave
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Prepare before you leave /
This programme is for diplomatic spouses with 2 to 6 months before their first posting.
Upon Landing, the posting takes over. The things you could’ve thought through calmly become problems you solve under pressure, in a new country, without your people around you.
after the programme, You will arrive with a plan for your first posting instead of a bag full of hopes.
What this programme covers:
This is a 10-Week Programme for male and female diplomatic spouses who are about to leave for their first posting.
Your expectations and possible reality. What you think is coming and what the research and other spouses’ experience show.
Risk and protective factors. What may stand in your way to enjoy this new life and what/who can support you.
Key issues to think through individually before you go. The areas where first-time spouses lose their footing, and how to prepare yourself.
Key conversations to have as a couple. What needs to be said before the posting starts asking things of both of you.
A plan for your first year on a posting. A structure for the months when everything is new and diplomatic life starts bringing its surprises.
The programme includes:
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Masterclass
Access to 6 pre-recorded sessions on the key topics every new diplomatic spouse needs to understand. Start immediately.
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10 private live sessions
Online. 50 minutes each. Weekly. A brief intro to the topic, then we apply it to your specific situation, posting relationship, and concerns.
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Posting Workbook
A workbook you fill in during the programme and take with you to the posting. Your reference for when diplomatic life starts bringing its surprises.
This program is for you if...
You are a diplomatic spouse who:
Have googled “a diplomatic spouse” and found almost nothing useful;
Want to prepare but do not know what you are actually preparing for;
Have questions about money, career, or your relationship on posting and don’t know where to bring them;
Hope that your partner’s employer provide some training but suspect it will focus on how to be a supportive diplomatic spouse rather than on how this experience may shape you.
The price
€ 900. Three instalments of €300. If finances are genuinely tight, contact me before you decide it’s not for you.
Photo by David Geneugelijk on Unsplash
BY THE END OF THIS PROGRAMME, YOU WILL HAVE:
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Reality check
A realistic picture of your first year. Neither the idealised version, nor the horror stories. The one based on research & the experiences of others.
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Your risks
An understanding of what in your specific situation, background, and relationship may make the adjustment harder. And what to do about it now.
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The talks
The ones you need to have as a couple before the posting starts. About money, roles, expectations, and the things that are easier to say now than later.
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A 90-day plan
What to prioritise, what to expect from yourself and others, & what to do when the novelty wears off and the harder feelings arrive.
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Your Decisions
About your career, financial wellbeing & your place in this new life. Thought through before the posting makes them for you.
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Your workbook
A reference you build during the programme from your own answers and your own situation. Your anchor on your first posting.
Who is organising it?
I am Olya,
Psychologist. Researcher. Former diplomatic spouse across three continents.
I studied and worked abroad before my first posting. I spoke languages, had opinions, and a career. I was not worried. But I learned quickly that most of that had not prepared me for what came next.
Behind my belt: Academic research on what the first posting does to the person who follows (University of Liverpool’s Dissertation of the Year Award). Almost a decade of working with diplomatic spouses, couples, spouses’ associations, and foreign ministries to help bring the diplomatic spouses’ experience into the 21st century.