BOOK
Neither Here Nor There: A Guide for Immigrants and the Therapists Who Walk with Them
By Leide Porcu, PhD, LP — psychotherapist and psychoanalyst with training in anthropology.
Routledge · February 2026
This book draws on more than thirty years of clinical practice, anthropological research, and lived experience across cultures. Neither Here Nor There explores what it means to live in between — between languages, identities, family expectations, and social systems.
Written for immigrants, expats, and second-generation individuals, as well as for therapists and professionals who work with them, the book weaves together clinical vignettes, theoretical reflection, and practical tools. It addresses themes such as cultural disorientation, shame, guilt, migratory grief, language, dreams, the body, resilience, and belonging.
Dream work is presented as a powerful bridge between inner life, memory, migration, and identity, while cultural context remains central throughout the book — offering depth without abstraction and clarity without simplification.
Integrating psychoanalysis, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and an anthropological perspective, Neither Here Nor There offers a thoughtful and accessible guide for navigating change, loss, and transformation across cultures.
Reviews
'Neither Here Nor There: A Guide for Immigrants and the Therapists who Walk With Themis just excellent! It outlines the major challenges facing immigrants and describes specific techniques that these individuals and their therapists can use to overcome them. Dr. Porcu draws from many different psychotherapies and other psychotherapeutic approaches, with great creativity and expertise, to create a comprehensive approach to help immigrants thrive.'
— Judith Beck, president of the Beck Institute
'Neither Here nor There is a much needed resource for people coping with the many challenges of immigration. Leide Porcu is herself an immigrant who has built a successful career as a therapist. She draws on her own lived experience to help others learn how to successfully master the experience. This book will give readers the knowledge to normalize the experience of coming to a new land. Dr. Porcu provides a uniquely well-informed insight into this experience. Highly recommended.'
— Robert L. Leahy, director, the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, clinical professor, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York.
'Neither Here nor There is a companion for those who cross borders in hope, finding new layers of emotional and cultural terrain to navigate―and a bridge for the practitioners and healers who walk beside them.'
— Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Life.
'Neither Here Nor There is a compassionate, clear, and empowering guide for anyone navigating life between cultures. With deep psychological insight and a therapist’s grounded wisdom, Leide Porcu gives voice to the emotional, relational, and spiritual complexities of migration. What makes this book truly stand out is its invitation to reclaim agency―to move from disorientation to empowerment. Whether you are an immigrant, a child of immigrants, or someone who walks beside them, this book offers not just understanding, but tools for healing, belonging, and rising.'
— Neelu Kaur, author of Be Your Own Cheerleader, Speaker, organizational psychologist
Whether you are navigating migration yourself, supporting clients or patients in transition, or seeking to better understand how to accompany a loved one through change, this book offers both clarity and practical guidance.
Neither Here Nor There is written to be read slowly, returned to often, and used as a companion through moments of disorientation, loss, and transformation.
Available on Amazon and wherever books are sold
[https://www.amazon.com/Neither-Here-Nor-There-Immigrants/dp/1041091184 ]