A guide for anyone facing loss of professional status: practical ways to cope with worthlessness, grief and lost identity while waiting for degree recognition.
You may have worked for years in Turkey as a doctor, teacher, lawyer, engineer or manager. When you arrive in a new country, a process begins to get your degree recognised, one that can take months and sometimes years. In the meantime you may work in a warehouse, a restaurant or a job that has nothing to do with your profession. Perhaps you cannot work at all and wait at home. Loss of professional status is a person's temporary or permanent loss, because of a life change such as migration, of the professional position that reflects their education and experience. In this article we look at the psychological effects of this loss, why it can be so shattering, and how you can support yourself as you start over.
Degree equivalence, professional recognition and licensing processes differ greatly from country to country and from profession to profession. This article does not give legal or administrative information about these processes; for details, it is important to contact the relevant official bodies and professional chambers in the country where you live.
What Is Loss of Professional Status?
For most of us, a profession is not just a source of income. It is an important part of identity that defines who we are, what we value and our place in society. "What do you do?" is one of the first questions asked in many social settings. For this reason, being cut off from your profession can create a deep void in a person's story about themselves.
Loss of professional status can be experienced in different forms:
- Waiting for your degree to be recognised: Being unable to practise your profession during a long recognition or additional exam process.
- Working at a lower level: Working in a job below your experience, with less responsibility and income.
- Having to change field: Moving to another field because the profession requires different training in the new country.
- Being unable to work: Being unable to work at all for a while because of residence permit, language or family circumstances.
- Migrating by following your spouse: The experience of people who moved for their spouse's job and left their own career behind.
Although these experiences are hard, they are often part of a process. The same person may also go through several of these forms one after another; for example, first being unable to work at all for a while and then starting a job outside their field. Many people return to their profession in time, fulfil themselves in a new field, or find a new path that combines the two worlds.
Psychological Signs of Loss of Professional Status
The following emotional and behavioural signs may be seen in people who experience loss of professional status:
- Worthlessness: The thought "I studied for years, I gave so much, and now I have nothing."
- Shame: Hesitating to tell family and friends in Turkey about their new job, keeping their old title on social media.
- Anger and a sense of injustice: Anger at the system, at bureaucracy, even at the decision to migrate or at the people who caused the migration.
- Grief: Missing former colleagues, patients, students, the professional routine and respect.
- Identity confusion: Struggling with the question "Who am I now?"
- Loss of motivation: Being unable to start studying for the recognition process, putting off exams.
- Social withdrawal: Keeping away from social settings to avoid the question "What do you do?"
- Signs of low mood: Long-lasting unhappiness, lack of motivation, changes in sleep and appetite.
These signs are understandable reactions and do not alone amount to a diagnosis. But if they have been going on for a long time and noticeably affect your daily life, it is important to take them into account. For more information about the symptoms of depression, you can look at our article on symptoms of depression.
Why Is Loss of Professional Status So Shattering?
A Piece at the Centre of Identity Disappears
For someone who has said "I'm a teacher" or "I'm an engineer" for many years, the profession sits at the centre of their sense of self. When this piece recedes, the person may feel incomplete or unrecognisable.
A Sense of Effort and Sacrifice
In Turkey, many families make great sacrifices for their children's education. University entrance exams, long years of study, the family's financial and emotional support... When this effort becomes "invisible" in the new country, it can create in the person a feeling of indebtedness and guilt towards both themselves and their family.
Social Standing and the Family's Perception
In Turkish culture, a profession is an important indicator of respect within the family and in society. Expressions such as "our daughter the doctor" or "our son the engineer" are part of family pride. The temporary loss of this title far from home can lead a person to feel embarrassed in front of their circle in Turkey.
Reduced Sense of Control
Recognition processes are generally long, complicated and outside the person's control. Uncertain waiting times, additional documents, exams and language requirements can increase the feeling of helplessness.
Comparison
Seeing colleagues who stayed in Turkey progress over the same period, or comparing yourself with local colleagues in the new country, can strengthen the feeling of "being left behind".
Not being able to practise your profession for a while does not mean you have lost your knowledge, experience and abilities.
The Effect on the Family and Relationships
Loss of professional status often changes family dynamics too. Imagine a woman who was a successful architect in Turkey and moved to another country because of her husband's job offer. Recognition of her degree requires a language exam and additional training; in the meantime she looks after the children at home. As her husband progresses at work, she feels she is being left behind. In the evenings, when her husband tells his work stories, she feels a bitterness and sometimes anger. He cannot quite understand why she is unhappy and makes the situation even harder by saying, "Then find a job yourself."
In situations like this, the following effects may be seen in the family:
- Economic dependence: A spouse who previously earned their own income becoming financially dependent on the other can change the balance of power.
- Role changes: Housework and childcare piling up on one spouse.
- Resentment: Unspoken resentments about for whom the decision to migrate was made.
- Effect on children: The parent's unhappiness and tension can also be felt by the children.
We look in more detail at the experience of people who migrate for their spouse's job in our article on the psychology of the trailing spouse.
Concrete Steps You Can Take as You Start Over
1. Acknowledge the Loss and Make Space for Grief
Loss of professional status is a real loss and deserves to be grieved. Instead of suppressing feelings by saying "I should be grateful, I shouldn't complain", name what you have lost: your routine, your standing, your colleagues, your financial independence. Writing these feelings in a notebook or sharing them with someone you trust can be a first step.
2. Broaden Your Identity
Ask yourself: "Apart from my profession, what makes me who I am?" Your values, relationships, interests, abilities... Your profession is an important part of your identity, but not all of it. This awareness helps you stay on your feet during the transition.
3. Break the Process into Small Steps
The recognition or retraining process can seem overwhelming. Break it into manageable steps:
- Gather the official information from the relevant bodies and professional chambers.
- Make a list of the documents required.
- Set your language goal and exam dates.
- Set small weekly goals and tick off what you complete.
4. Keep Your Knowledge Alive
Even in the period when you cannot practise your profession, try to maintain your connection with your field: follow professional publications, take part in online training, do voluntary work related to your field or attend the events of professional associations. This both preserves your knowledge and helps you build a network in the new country.
5. Reframe the Transitional Job
If you are working in a job outside your profession, try to see it as a "bridge" rather than a "decline". This job may be giving you language practice, familiarity with the local work culture, income and social connection. This perspective can reduce shame.
6. Connect with Others on the Same Path
Meeting other migrant professionals who have been through or are going through a similar process provides both practical information and emotional support. Professional migrant networks, mentoring programmes or online groups can be valuable in this respect.
7. Be Honest with Your Circle in Turkey
Keeping up the impression that everything is fine is tiring. Openly sharing the process with a few people you trust can lighten the load. Saying "At the moment I'm working on getting my degree recognised; in the meantime I'm working in another job" is not an admission of failure but the account of a journey.
8. Give Yourself Time
Starting over is not a linear process. Some months can move quickly, others can be periods of pause. Instead of comparing yourself with colleagues in Turkey or locally, compare yourself with your own past: "Where was I six months ago and where am I now?"
9. Build a Daily Structure
In periods when you cannot work or work part-time, days blurring into one another can increase lack of motivation. Getting up at a set time in the morning and devoting part of the day to language or recognition work and part to movement and social contact strengthens your sense of control. A small weekly schedule lets you feel that your life is moving in a direction even during a period of loss of professional status.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
It may be helpful to seek support from a mental health professional in the following situations:
- If feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness have lasted for weeks,
- If you feel so low in energy that you cannot take any step for the recognition process or the search for a new job,
- If you have withdrawn completely from social settings,
- If sleep, appetite and concentration problems affect your daily life,
- If your relationships with your spouse or family have become seriously strained because of this process,
- If you have started using alcohol or other substances to suppress your feelings,
- If thoughts of harming yourself or of life being meaningless cross your mind.
The last situation is an emergency. Call the emergency number of the country where you are (112 in EU countries, 911 in the US and Canada, 999 or 112 in the UK, 000 in Australia) or go to the nearest emergency department. Online therapy is not an emergency intervention service; in situations of serious risk, local emergency services and local psychiatric services are necessary.
How Does Online Therapy in Your Mother Tongue Work?
Sessions in your mother tongue with people experiencing loss of professional status can make room for the person to describe both their loss and its meaning in Turkish culture, for example the family's investment in education, social standing and the worry of "what will people say", without needing to explain them. This support can be used alongside, not instead of, career counselling or local mental health services in the country where you live.
In a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based approach, the following steps may stand out:
- Recognising the loss: What the loss of professional status has changed in the person's life and what feelings it has awakened are addressed together.
- Evaluating thoughts: The realism of thoughts such as "I have nothing now" or "I wasted my years", and the strengths the person still has, are examined together.
- Values and goals: Which values matter to the person are identified, along with short- and long-term goals in line with these values.
- Behavioural activation: Small, achievable daily steps are planned to cope with low energy and lack of motivation.
- Relationships: If needed, role changes and joint decisions are discussed with the spouse; couples therapy can also be an option here.
For online sessions, a quiet, private setting, headphones and a secure connection are important. Suitable session times can be planned according to the time difference and your work schedule. Payment is made online and payment by international card is possible; we recommend checking the insurance terms in the country where you live. You can find our other articles aimed at those living abroad on our page for Turks living abroad.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does experiencing loss of professional status lead to depression?
Not in everyone; but long-lasting worthlessness, hopelessness and social withdrawal can prepare the ground for depression in some people. For this reason, when symptoms last a long time, it is important to get an assessment from a specialist.
Will working in a job outside my profession harm my career?
This can vary by profession and country. Many people work in different jobs during the transition and later return to their profession. In this process it can be helpful to maintain your connection with your field and to get information from career advisers.
How do I tell my family in Turkey about my new job?
It can help to describe the process not as a failure but as a period of transition. You cannot control your family's reactions, but you can decide your own account. Starting with a few people you trust can make this step easier.
My spouse is experiencing loss of professional status. How can I support them?
It is important to listen to their loss without belittling it and to try to understand their feelings instead of offering quick solutions such as "Get a job". Reorganising household responsibilities together and supporting their professional goals can also strengthen your relationship.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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