Interview the Author: Global Worker Field Guide
Not everyone needs counseling, but all of us can benefit from personal growth. Part of our heart at Valeo is to equip global workers with resources that enhance your well-being and effectiveness. We recently created the Global Worker Field Guide as one of those resources and made it available as a free download on our website. We interviewed the author, Curtis, LPC, LMHC, for insights into the Field Guide and how to use it.
What is the Global Worker Field Guide?
It’s a workbook to help individuals, couples, small groups, or teams to work through the most important four areas of growth for a global worker to be successful. It can be used on its own to prevent problems down the road and help people grow in key areas, or it can be used as a supplement through their own counseling process. It addresses the four outcomes that we’ve determined that every global worker needs to be growing in for personal well-being and effectiveness in their service.
Beyond those four areas, it also includes process questions that reflect the summary of everything I’ve learned in 22 years as a counselor. At least it indicates almost every process, filter, and grid that I’m working a client through; it’s all reflected in there somewhere.
What prompted you to write the Field Guide?
The fact that not every global worker needs counseling or psychiatry, but every global worker needs help in some kind of structured or intentional growth process. I think it’s true for most global workers that there is no status quo on the field; we’re either growing or diminishing in every area of life. Whatever was maintained without intentionality in our passport country somehow has diminishing returns in our country of service.
The Field Guide also offers no wasted movement; people who are process-oriented don’t always know where to focus, or they get stuck, etc. This gives people a fruitful direction for their processing. It’s applicable for all global workers and not just those who need counseling.
How did you decide to start with the Your Story section instead of jumping into the four outcomes?
I was inspired a bit by Dan Allender’s book To Be Told; our history and our story is, in essence, the context of the four outcomes. If we don’t really understand our story, it could create some obstacles to getting the most out of the four outcomes. Global workers as a group don’t always understand our own stories very well.
Who do you recommend this for?
Literally every global worker. If you're going to live and serve cross-culturally, I recommend it for anyone who’s college-age or older, and even sections of it are helpful for teenagers. I think it’s particularly helpful for people before they ever need counseling, and can be a beneficial supplement if they are in counseling.
Anyone you would not recommend it for?
People who don’t want to be stirred deeply, or who don’t want to be self-reflective or scratch below the surface.
What’s the benefit of taking time to self-reflect?
With global workers, when we don’t take time to stop and reflect, we will harm ourselves or other people, and sometimes both. I would add that it’s sinful *not* to take time to self-reflect. A non-self-reflective life is offensive to God and harmful to others.
How would you recommend using it?
Start with the first section on Your Story, and then skip to the section that you identify as the most needed or most relevant in your life at this time. Perhaps with all the sections, but especially with Healing, it’s important to have a support system or someone you’ve already identified if it stirs things too deeply or it triggers/stirs up things in a way that’s unhelpful, that you have someone to reach out to and talk with to support you in it.
Would you recommend doing it with a group?
It could be helpful in a small group as long as the people in it are emotionally safe people. This isn’t something you’d want to go through with people that you don’t trust to be safe
Part of our team at Valeo went through the field guide as a small group. We found it particularly meaningful and impactful for each of us individually as well as for our team dynamic.
Did you find this intriguing? Are you ready to improve your well-being and effectiveness? Get your copy of the Global Worker Field Guide here.
