You are in the right place if:

• You feel “uprooted”—as if you’ve left your soul, your reputation, and your sense of belonging behind.
• You are exhausted from the “Immigration Marathon”—from the taxing paperwork and job rejections to the physical toll of jet lag and settling in.
• You are putting up a front—smiling for the people back home while crying on the inside so you don’t burden them.
• Your confidence has taken a knock—perhaps you’ve had to take a step back in your career or feel like a “Jack of all trades” in a system that doesn’t yet know your worth.
• You feel “homeless” in spirit—caught between a life that no longer exists and a new country where you still feel like a foreigner.
• The “fruit salad” of emotions is overwhelming—you are grateful for the safety and the opportunity, yet you feel a deep, heavy grief for the people, pets, and places you left behind.
• You are tired of just surviving—and you are ready to start living, growing new roots, and feeling like you again.

Who this programme is for

The Immigrant Support Programme provides a lifeline for anyone navigating this complex transition of feeling lost, uprooted, and out of place. Feeling a “fruit salad” of emotions—hope, stress, excitement, relief, anxiety, gratitude, sadness, joy, and isolation—is completely normal. It is not just you. This is a common immigrant experience, no matter how much internal strength you possess.

Adapting to life in a new country is overwhelmingly hard and requires time. For me, uprooting from South Africa felt like a profound loss. It left a hole in my heart that might never quite go away. While that space may always be there, it does soften over time as you learn to live with it.

You are human, not weak

Migration is the ultimate test of resilience. However, no two immigrant journeys are the same. Your upbringing, cultural roots, and ethnicity shape how you navigate this transition. Other factors, such as safety and discrimination, also play a role. Consequently, this process can resurface old wounds. After everything you have been through, you might feel like you’re weak—embarrassed to admit you are not coping. Please know you are not alone; there are countless others who feel exactly like you.

My own journey and turning point

To be honest, this is how I felt most of the time during my first year in New Zealand. It was the longest year of my life. Even as a life coach, I struggled to cope. I sought professional help, but the person didn’t get what it was like to be an immigrant, and I didn’t get the help I needed. Thus, I decided that it was up to me to feel okay and settled again. After all, I had all the life-changing tools I could ask for. During my second year, I took a lot of nurturing, inner time for myself. I gave myself space to shed tears, heal, grieve, and come home to myself.

It is okay to reach out

If you feel you are not coping mentally and emotionally, or you feel you’re sinking into depression, please reach out. It doesn’t mean you are weak; it means you are human. You didn’t come this far to drown or just survive.

Building a bridge to belonging

I crafted the Immigrant Support Programme for immigrants like you who find the effects of this life-changing event of migration hard to overcome. Knowing exactly how hard this journey can be, I would love to help you become okay again. Adapting to life in a new country is hard. However, with the right tools and guidance, you can reach your turning point where your struggle becomes your strength. You’ll start to see the silver linings as you build a bridge to belonging to the home within yourself.

Start living again

Bit by bit, the new country will start to feel less like a challenge and more like a home. You’ll find your confidence coming back, proving to yourself that you are capable of handling whatever comes your way. As a result, you will move from just surviving to actually belonging—creating the better life and future you envisioned for you and your family.

If this speaks to you, it means you’re ready to shift, start living again, and grow new roots.

Let’s meet—I’d love to support you!

Elsabie Hellberg, Master Life Coach & NLP Practitioner
COACH ME TO GROW
Whanganui, New Zealand