Understanding Common Cultural Identity Terms
In today’s world, cultural identity isn’t just a label—it’s often a living part of your story. It can influence how you love, how you argue, how you heal, and how you move through the world. And while identity isn't always what brings people to therapy, it often plays a quiet (or not-so-quiet) role in our struggles with connection, belonging, and being understood.
Common Cultural Identity Terms
These definitions aren’t boxes—they’re simply reference points that might help make sense of your experience:
First-Generation Americans – Born in another country and immigrated to the U.S. Often balancing traditions from home with the realities of a new culture.
Second-Generation Americans – Born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. Often navigating two sets of expectations: family culture at home, American culture everywhere else.
Third Culture Kids (TCKs) – Grew up in a culture different from their parents’. They often don’t feel fully at home in either, and instead develop a “third” blended identity.
Expatriates (Expats) – Temporarily or permanently living in a country other than their own. This can bring excitement and disconnection in equal parts.
Multicultural Individuals – Identify with two or more cultures through heritage, lived experience, or both. Often fluent in multiple cultural worlds, but may struggle with feeling “enough” of any one.
More Than Labels
You are not defined by any one identity. These terms may resonate—or not. Either way, your story matters. People come to therapy for real-life challenges: heartbreak, conflict, grief, transition. But culture often shapes how those challenges unfold.
In my work with clients in Houston, the Bay Area, and across Texas and California, cultural identity often shows up quietly in the background. I make space for that—without reducing anyone to it.
How Culture Shows Up in Relationships
Culture can influence:
How we show love and ask for it
How we argue or avoid conflict
What family, success, and boundaries mean
I support clients who are:
Professionals burned out by pressure, bias, or disconnection
Navigating family tensions shaped by intergenerational or intercultural differences
Childfree or childless, navigating cultural expectations around parenting
In mixed-race or cross-cultural relationships, working through differences in values or expectations
Grieving home, identity, or stability after major life changes or relocation
Reimagining family or success on their own terms
International adoptees, navigating identity, belonging, and cultural integration
Expats, adjusting to new cultures and environments after relocationProfessionals burned out by pressure, bias, or disconnection
Let’s Work Together
I offer remote therapy for clients in Texas and California. If you’re working through relationship stress, life transitions, or cultural complexities, I’m here to help.
Let’s start with a consultation—whether you're in Houston, elsewhere in Texas, the Bay Area, or anywhere in California, I’d be honored to connect.