WINTER 2021/2022 INTERVIEW
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shared mission Maria-Gabriele Doublesin, Founder of Intercultural Counselling & Competence Development Ltd, speaks to Sarah Muscat Azzopardi about her company’s diverse service offering. She explains how the work she does helps businesses overcome issues pertaining to social and cultural adjustment at the workplace, effecting social change, and working towards the enhancement of community cohesion and internationalisation of the local corporate sector.
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ounder of Intercultural Counselling & Competence Development, MariaGabriele Doublesin, wears many hats – among them, those of business consultant, leadership mentor and counsellor. As a multilingual German-born Maltese citizen, she draws from her experience of living and working among different cultures, people and societies – coupled with her academic training – to benefit her clients in a variety of different ways. “I incorporate myself and my personal experience into the work that I do,” Ms Doublesin says, affirming that
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interculturalism is part and parcel of her being. “I was brought up between two different cultures, two different languages and two different religions, so, from the very beginning, I was exposed to cultural differences and the issues arising from those.” Since then, she’s amassed more than 30 years of practical experience working with companies and individuals from Japan, China, South America, the Middle East, West Africa and Eastern European countries, going on to study psychology and becoming a certified and warranted counsellor with a focus on multinational and multi-ethnic communities.