Counselling as a tool to support intercultural couples in Finland
Furter, Julie (2020)
Furter, Julie
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020110622295
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020110622295
Tiivistelmä
This study explores the possibilities and limitations of different types of counselling for intercultural couples awaiting a residence permit in Finland. The process of getting a residence permit takes time and can lead to a particularly significant amount of stress, impacting a person’s wellbeing and everyday life. In addition, the partner of the person waiting can be affected by stress as well, changing the dynamics in the relationship itself. An important number of intercultural couples in Finland gives new perspectives and challenges to social services and organizations working within immigration and multicultural fields. Municipalities in Finland are responsible for delivering residence permits. The length of the decision-making process can vary from one city to another. In accordance with the guidelines and actions of Kuljen Rinnallasi, a project created in 2018, by the non-profit organization Familia Ry, this study evaluates the relevance of various counselling methods to support intercultural couples and families, especially the partner with Finnish citizenship, and discusses future perspectives. During the data collection, in every case, one of the partners had applied to the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) for a residence permit. Their partner was always a Finnish citizen, supporting them with available resources. Kuljen Rinnallasi’s supervisors have organized group meetings, workshops and individual counselling since the beginning of the project. During the course of 2019, they also decided to launch an online counselling plan chat and to arrange a 3-day long camp in the countryside with workshops designed for the target group. These methods are reviewed and analyzed in this study. Through qualitative research, semi-conducted interviews and participant observation, the results showed that, despite being innovative, online counselling appeared to be challenging, both for the facilitators and the participants. Numerous technical issues and a lack of participation were obstacles for becoming an effective tool in counselling. On the other hand, the gettogether activities such as group meetings and the wellbeing and advocacy focused summer camp were successful in many ways, as participants felt welcome in a safe space, with a possibility to share and discuss their everyday struggles during the waiting process, as well as receiving useful tips, ideas and resources to empower themselves and their partner in stressful times.