The re-migration of the Romanian children is often associated with social, psychological, behavioural and / or affective difficulties (Luca, Foca, Gulei, Brebuleţ, 2012), and the acculturation of those children is a difficult process, requiring the assistance of parent, family and friends, but also the specialized intervention of the psychologists in the schools and / or other specialists in child development.

The only previous study on the effect of the re-migration on the Romanian children coming back to Romania after a migration experience in another country (The remigration of Romanian children, in Valtolina, G.G., 2013) concluded that “around 10-15 per cent of children returning to Romania show a significant risk of developing a specific disorder (emotional, conduct, attention, peer or prosocial), these children requiring special attention from the family, the social environment and specialised support. At the same time, other 10-15 per cent of children returning to Romania show a major risk of developing a specific disorder such as the above-described, their subsequent development and adjustment to social and educational requirements being compromised to a great extent if not supported by specialised intervention in order to maintain their psychosocial development within the limits of normality.”

In this context, we developed an eight session counseling plan for the re-migrant children (12-15 years old), with group activities focused on facilitating the acculturation and supporting those children in their effort to reintegrate in the Romanian schools and society. Those activities were implemented in schools in Vrancea County by professional psychologists / school counsellors, and the effects of the activities were carefully measured in order to establish the impact on the acculturation.

The main objective of this research was to investigate the specific effects of the counseling activities on the psychological adaptation of the re-migrant children, focusing on the self-esteem and dysfunctional cognitive schemes.

In this respect, the main research questions of the study are as follows:

1. Does school counseling contribute significantly to the development of the self-esteem of the re-migrant Romanian children?

2. Does school counseling contribute significantly to minimizing the intensity of the dysfunctional cognitive schemes of the re-migrant Romanian children?

3. Does school counseling contribute to facilitating the acculturation of the re-migrant Romanian children? Can those effects be visible in a relatively short period (3-4 months, the duration of the counseling plan)?

Answering these questions is seen as important in the efforts to explore the possibilities for improving re-migrant Romanian children’s acculturation and the needs of the specialists in the Romanian schools regarding the tools and instruments to be used in facilitating the psychological reintegration of the children coming back to Romania. 

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