Healing Trauma, Immigrant Mental Health, and the Safe & Sound Protocol

hello there a fearfully and wonderfully made human welcome to another episode of the holistic counselor podcast it's me Diana from through the valley therapy and transform mind Consulting and coaching some of you have asked why I GRE reach you this way well it's because I want to remind you of the truth found in Psalm 139:14 I praise you for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made wonderful are your Works my soul knows it very well to be fearfully

made means that God created you with deep reverence and intentionality to be wonderfully made means that you are uniquely crafted a reflection of his Divine handiwork you are are not an accident you are seen known and deeply valued I encourage you to open your Bible and read the entire Psalm especially verses 23 and 24 search me oh God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any Grievious way in

me and Lead Me in the way of everlasting take time to be still in the presence of God and ask the Lord what needs to change let him search your heart and reveal the areas he wants to ref find in you so on that note let me introduce today's guest meet Rosara hopy I met her through the Christian mental health professionals of Florida a group that started right here in Broward County I love connecting with professionals

whose stories intrigue me and Rosara is no exception with 14 years of experience in the counseling field she offers Mental Health Services that prioritize understanding personal growth and healing she specializes in helping individuals navigate challenges such as trauma substance use depression grief and relationship difficulties her approach is rooted in creating a compassionate and safe therapeutic space where clients can find support during life's hardest moments Rosara is trained in EMDR the safe and sound protocol and other

therapeutic methods to address emotional distress and mental health concerns a deep believer in the transformative power of Faith she integrates spirituality into the counseling process recognizing it is a vital component of healing and change so I'm excited for you to meet her thanks for being here Rosara Hi how are you so nice to see you yes yes you know what I realized I didn't say what your life licenses in are you in lmft lmhc LCSW which

one are you license mental health counselor okay lmhc yeah all right cool what school you go to sometimes I went to uh Palm Beach Atlantic University um and I see like people put like you have to really talk about you know what those words mean because I feel that it speaks a lot about like what is your specialty what is your training but yeah mostly um uh master's degree license and then focus more so on faith

and mental health issues okay great and uh so PBA I know Palm Beach Atlantic actually I I I was there but not as a student I was actually there because I was the um casting director for the short films is that weird right you do I mean I can see that I can absolutely see that that's awesome plus I think that is such a small uh culture like you meet so many people that work to work

or finish uh their graduate program in PBA and so it's like it's nice to have that you know yeah nice campus yes I love it I love it did you live on campus or were you a commuter no I was a commuter okay yeah it's a great I love I love that little I mean I don't know about the as a student but I just it was it's such a pretty little campus that it's hidden like

nobody knows about it and it's like a really nice small school if you're looking into that people like the big colleges beautiful actually it's amazing actually my best friend ladyy which I know you knowa yes yes through because we all live I live in boka and she was living Southern so we had to commute and so that was a great thing we we strengthen our bond uh through the commute that's a great thing wow all right

so I want to know what led you to specialize in PTSD poly vagel and nervous system healing um it's very I don't think that I chose that I it almost feels like you know how sometimes you just feel and you gravitate towards specific areas um I think that very young I always um connected with for example you know uh teens of parents that were you know using alcohol or other substances and so I started doing groups

with things as was a team too uh it kind of I kind of kind of uh DW into this SP not really aware of what I was choosing and and so the more than I grew I think that it's just it almost uh something that felt very um that I felt call to I guess yeah can I ask you where you're from I'm from Colombia oh wow America what part of Colombia uh caha which is kind

of like the coast the Caribbean part of it yeah yeah did I know that you were Colombian maybe we had that conversation I meet so many people anyway well you know I'm half Colombian you are half Colombian I yeah I thought that we were like Latina sisters but I you know that you're from par Yeah well yeah my mom my mom's Colombian and my dad's Puerto Rican so but I was born here yeah when did you

come here I came to the US when I was was say 19 years old um yeah personally moved into doing life and kind of marriage so it wasn't for it just it was just very random to be honest and I'm here 17 years after nice so you C you're capable of doing therapy in Spanish like full on because me see I'm already stuck I mean I can understand everything you say but I try to do therapy

like twice in Spanish with uh the like when I worked with teens and Miha let me tell you that was the hardest thing because like the teen and spoke English and we were and then when the parents came in they didn't speak English so I'm trying to and some of the things didn't translate and I'm like and they're looking at me like and you're a therapist I feel that what I find helpful about doing therapy in

Spanish Sometimes some things only connect with you you in Spanish but I feel that a lot of people do feel comfortable with I think that it just it goes back to what feels comfortable at times even even if I do speak Spanish and the client I have to refer back to English because I wouldn't know how to explain it like you're saying like how do you say that it only comes in English and in in that

way I think that that's that's that's part of being bilingual yeah no but it's a great thing because honestly what I love that you're a a a Latina therapist um there's not many of us out like I can't even I mean I could say us because I have the looks of it and I can understand and and try my best to find the resources for someone that speaks Spanish um but you're right like for you to

be able to flow in the native language of somebody is so important and it also helps break the stigma because honestly in our culture I've seen it is is you know in the Caribbean you know I'm half Puerto Rican so in the Caribbean culture too and and just in the minority cultures it's hard because you know okay I go to therapy and that's I'm like right right how do you deal with that I think um I

I I mean growing up I feel that you have so much love for the culture I love the food this you know that is something is small like just like doing cleaning the house and just putting music it's such a cultural thing um and I think that part of my idea or my process is how do I encourage cultural growth how do I encourage like that love for the culture while also making it flexible because I

think that that's the beauty of you know when you have two different cultures like if you have grown up here and then you have these roots that are deeply you know coming from a different country then you feel like you don't fit in either sometimes exactly so I find that is by himself that is a culture and so I think that encouraging loving and but having a lot of flexibility when it comes to that um recognizing

that there there might be some things that culturally might not be um encouraged like therapy and I feel but but also understanding I can see that but I can choose to love the culture but not but love myself at the same time um I think the more flexible that we become the more that we can encourage folks for sure yeah what you said there you know how many times I've heard that where like I've come to

this country which I love like I was born here so like that it was still hard for me too because at home there's a different culture in schools it was the Americanized culture which is not a bad thing but you know the television everything that that we see and then you're you're there and then you're realizing well I'm I don't look like these people you know but is this like and then at home it's a whole

different thing and I felt like I didn't belong you're right you're so right on and honestly I just spoke to a Cuban woman who just said the same thing and I hear that from all like the Jamaican people that I work with or the trinidadians or or the Haitian I mean it is like because we come from a culture of like okay it's a collective culture like it's all about the the the the whole culture itself

and then but our westernized ways it's all indiv visualized capitalistic and and you know I don't want to say it like it's a bad thing you know because this is not about politics this is more about understanding who you are and I think that's why it's so important this is why I became a Christian therapist because to me my identity is in Christ right and so I feel that that's so important to start there I think

that's ex now it becomes clear that's why I do start Psalm one 39 you are fearfully and wonderfully made once you understand who you are in Christ no matter what color you are whatever like wherever you come from anything you would understand that you are God's creation and and Jesus loves you even if you don't feel loved by the culture I think that that's that's a great point because I that at times we Fus so much

on how we don't make sense for the context that we are rather than like when he said beautifully wonderfully made it means that all those pieces that might not be quite bad make sense for who we are and so like for example being like you said being um from a Latin descent or coming from a different country you are serving your your people that are very much Community Driven but you're also serving American people that need

to maybe deal with difficulties and so you can I think that it's hard when you feel that you feel in different context but also you can understand both perspectives ex basically by now fitting in you create a bridge between two different cultures I love that how you said flexibility and building a bridge we need more of that we need especially nowadays especially nowadays so you know people like I know I kind of know poly vagal Theory

I don't say that I'm an expert in it at all or like you really intrigued me and this is why you're on the show this safe and sound protocol I heard now that I heard this at our last meeting we were at a uh what was the meeting we were at the clinical Collective networking yeah yeah networking meeting and and there were three people talking about the safe and I'm like what is this why is there's

always something new and how did I not go into that rabbit hole yet because I go into so many rabbit holes people know this if you listen to my podcast you know I'm a I I'm always chasing rabbits but anyway um it's not a bad thing I try to chaste good fluffy sweet sweet rabbits not like some crazy stuff that will make you go cuckoo but so tell me what is the safe and sound protocol I

mean I I you know tell me like I really want to learn this like what is it um believe it or not that was me I I didn't the chances of me getting to this I I think that it were not except that you know like I used to do therapy especially as an EMDR uh uh trained you are used to um or or doing therapy in terms of processing with the MDR you have very traumatic

experience and then most likely you you want to work with trauma right yeah before you go on can you explain what EMDR is like what those four letters mean please EMDR is ime movement the initation repr processing and and what that means is that we use eye movement to help process distressing events this distressing event core beliefs uh this distress stages and so by prompting or um using bilateral stimulation like movement one side and the other

we we kind of promote processing of distressing and stuff that at times are is difficult to process like if you think about something very traumatic our our our defense mechanisms is not to go into something very traumatic and to break it down and so in therapy especially in trauma work we try to prompt processing like where you are coming from a very distressing um very uh overwhelming situation and eventually the more than you process um the

more grounded that you might feel the more understanding it kind of shifts it for a very it shifts from a very distressing experience to a more neutral experience really um so I think that that's when it comes to trauma work that's mostly what we try to do right to help clients go from very distressing stages to more com stage by processing creating narrative that's that really um um prompt healing um and that was my perspective for

the majority of my training uh but three years ago I started to experience a lot of very distressing stuff like going through like my personal life kind of shifted there was a lot of changes and so I started no I started I was doing therapy before but I restart therapy um and I again the same pattern of working through trauma regular standard therapy yet I noticed that for me I felt like there was something that was

not allowing me to really experience trauma because I think that uh like healing per se um because I feel that for me I could process really well I'm very good at making sense at being distressed but then at the same time eventually feel the peace that comes from processing but my body was not ready for that it feels that through the last three years my body was kind of very disregulated and so one of the biggest

thing that came for me was my difficulty sleeping um no yeah which again when you think about sleep at night is the most vulnerable time for us you know adaptively that's where you know you you know most people will be afraid that something bad happen so your body is more sensitive at night so I started to feel yes I'm processing yes I'm doing well yes I'm doing better but I almost felt like my body was stuck

yeah and and and let's talk talk about that a little because I know with some clients logically they know all these things to do right so but when you're logically taking all the information doing the work in therapy processing it realizing it educating yourself and then your body's feeling a certain way it adds to a guilt and a shaming that going oh what's wrong with me it's not working I'm doing everything you're telling me to do

Diana or Rosara I'm you know and that's the therapeutic like in therapy this happens and this is when as a therapist I'm like okay this means it's stuck in your system right right and so this is when I'm like okay we're going to have to either you know I have to refer you out and I'm okay with that because it's not about trying to keep I'm trying to my job our jobs as therapists or psychologist or

psychiatrist should be to help the person heal so they could be product productive citizens of this uh you know so we could be together in community and be healthy and strong and do you know what you're here to do on this Earth some people get stuck and this is what rosar is talking about the stuckness which is amaz I can't wait to learn more sorry I just get into these like wow okay this makes sense because

it's happened to me too I did EMDR and it's because something came up in my in and I had no idea at 47 years old Rosara 47 and this happened at 5 and I was blown away so I did EMDR to process it and I also was doing yoga and I also know how to release things in my body somatic healing is something I've you know the walking the breath work the whm hofing I mean like

I took everything so these are the things I try to do with my clients even though I don't have like EMD I love EMDR um and some people just need talk therapy like there's all different sorts so with the safe and sound protocol it's a sematic experiencing it's kind of it is when you think about more it's a way so to understand uh safe and sound you have to more about the polyal theory so poly so

that's what I started I I needed to dto I feel like I need to just just explore that so the polyal theory is is mostly explores how your nervous system uh makes you human you know you have a biologically inra way how you function but then you are responding a lot to your environment um and I like that because it's a very biologically driven uh type of therapy oh I'm sorry Theory but it's really focusing on

if your body is getting accused of a lot of danger your body then it's going to have a fyly response um it's going to be disregulated you have the sympathetic system and the parasympathetic system nervous system and so with the sympathetic system you have that phy ofly respon that activation that stressor you know and then if your body doesn't know how to stop to regulate and I think that when we are young it's easier to do

that as we age I find that it's harder to get back to that um uh calm State I guess and so poly Veo Theory explor at there are different levels and understanding how we are functioning is helpful because we are acknowledging how our nervous system is so we have the you know F ofly respones very heighten it's a lot of activation that's what you call it you have the social engagement um you know when you are

social when you are engaged you have activation like you are being activated in a very calmed grounded way you in a very curious creative positive way but then also like when you think about a f Orly response when you're trying to fight something that is very distressing um there is a point where you know that you lost that battle right when it's not danger anymore it's life-threatening and so there is that level it's like shut down

and so this is the lowest kind of not lowest activation and it is more so um dissociation when you experience a lot of dissociated stages it's like that uh that prey that was running and running and running and it got tired so basically the only option is blame Deb basically that is the type of um of of lack of arousal and lack of functioning that we're talking about right um and so safe and sound part of

the polyal theory explains that uh prompting or Activa activating your vas nerve helps whether it is to lower that arousal meaning getting you out of that um um fight of fly responses or to activate you more into that into this um middle perspective where you're social engaged and so the purpose of poly Veo in general is to keep us in this window of tolerance so our body our nervous system learns that it cannot stay very heightened

all the time or shut down but we but there's a positive window where you can socially engage and it's called the the window of Tolerance is that called it okay so it's it's co-regulation it's me I'm co-regulating and prompting and I'm and creating a very safe environment where we are chering and being B point and and this is what we want and so the safe and sound protocol um you know it's very clinically but um what

it does is is is music it's kind of music therapy because the Vegas nerve has uh connections with your ears so a lot of there's very sounds a lot of different sounds that um that prompt that feeling of calmness that activate your veg nerve and so uh safe and sound protocol is just music that has a lot of positive a lot of like um harming sounds um that activates your Vos ner is it is this is

the music megahertz different megahertz or is I mean like because that would go into like sound therapy which I'm I'm trying to find someone that will come and talk to with me about that but I get it like if you're listening like to heavy metal or sco you know that would get you like really intense and then but I'm trying to figure out what you're meaning about the music what is can you give me an example

of something is it classical music is it just hand pan with you know violins or drums I mean I can tell you for my own experience because that's how it got to that I it was my own personal curiosity so I said I'm going to do it just my as well for me it's just different types of music you can select which one you want for me I love classic music so I chose that uh and

what I noticed as I was doing is that in the moment it can be calming but your body is fighting that state of calm because it's like I'm trying to fight why are you trying to calm me down my experience was very interesting at the beginning I just felt that prompt like that prompting to comp and then my body fighting it a little bit and so that's what we were talking about like sometimes it takes longer

to feel that it takes smaller bits of music because at times you want to teach your body to that is okay to to lean into that relaxation to lean into that um into that activation of calmness or of a calm State um and so for me it takes me a little bit and you can feel you can I don't know it's weird to explain it but sensationally what you feels that tension a little bit the beginning

and then you you see that relaxation and then your body really relaxes um and the more than you do it the more than your body's learning that it's okay to lean into that um rather than to stay tense um and so um what it is is just it's just like bits there are sounds that just prompt you to relax and so that's what they put it's like they put classic music and they put a little bit

of bits of uh of of specific spefic sounds I don't I don't that I don't know but the specific sound sounds that it feels like they are trying to help you yeah I mean it probably would be the megahertz is because I've went into I went into that rabbit hole so for a little while be and then I do I specifically will get okay let's see the gosh what was it the 400 and something megahertz that

will actually is you know I mean and then there's people that will name each one like oh this is the Angel sound or whatever but I don't go into that area because I want to know exactly what it does to the body and that mean that makes a lot of like massage or yes back to the poly vagel I mean we're going to go back to Safe and Sound but poly vagel I I learned a a

a treatment like where you put your and you do this behind the ear um when I start feeling disregulated just because I've had you know childhood PTSD and stuff like that so I had to learn these these tools in order to you know because you're you know our clients are only with us once a week and they don't want to be with us forever because they might not have the the money or it's just like that's

not the purpose like you want to get better it's like if you had a doctor you go to the doctor every week for the rest of your life I mean you might if you have dialysis or something but you know what I mean it's like um we're trying to give you your we're trying to empower you to give you your freedom back where you can be relaxed like and we're not talking about relaxing like oh like

after a day at the beach but it's you being responsible for yourself saying oh here's the tool okay let me put the music on let me do the exercises so the poly vagal I want you can you explain where the Vagas nerve is and so um I again biologically it's easier to say if I have like a drawing but I think that it's a part of your brain a part of your nervous system I guess it's

better to to call it that is stimulated by different things and it's just when it's activated then your parasympathetic system nervous system gets activated so it comes it's like one little Center that extrapolate to different areas of your body so it reduces your heart rate um it's it can you know like maybe um um calm down your digestive system which when people experience anxiety there's a lot of digestive issues so it's kind of a center that

extends to a different parts of your body and so for example um when we're talking about different ways to activate that a lot of people do call plunges for some reason those yeah that is activating your th nerve um right um humming because it is in the back so I guess it will be closer to here in the back of your vocal cords right so the nerve was goes from like the brain stem what you're talking

about all like behind the ears all the way over here and all the way into the gut and that's why the gut and brain connection is together so it is a nerve I mean there's a book uh what's the name of the book Deb Dana is the one book that I'm thinking of but what's the like the the main book that everybody learns about the body keeps discore no that one yeah that's but the the one

about poly vagel H yes I think that is poly veel Theory oh and that's all it's called okay that's what it's called guys the poly vagel Theory but I know there was one Deb Dana that Dana written one too yeah and so I think that's important like listener like these are the this is why I do the show so then you get a tool and even if you can't afford therapy because not everybody can and honestly

in Community Mental Health I don't know how much they're teaching other theories that help I I don't know I haven't been in Community Mental Health in a long time but like learn go to a YouTube and learn about what what do they mean about poly Bagel Theory and look at it and um you know or listen to other podcasts because you can look up poly vagel theory in apple and you'll get a whole bunch of different

ones so um you know that state of shutdown you know what what are some everyday signs and what kinds of you know like that that the nervous system is disregulated um I think that um sleep is one of the biggest ones just because I feel that um believe it or not when we go to sleep I feel that there's a lot of different processings that take place and so if our body is feeling very disregulated um

it's very hard to settle um so for me I think that I I think that it's very different for a lot of people like w depending on the type of dis regulation if you're in a fight of fly response or in the what you call the sympathetic uh hyper rousel there's F so there's a lot of anxiety there's a lot of shakiness hyper Vision this is more the PTSD symptoms hypervision and anxiety provocation rumination you might

have um like to your digestive Sy system seems highly activated and so a lot of people might not might not experienc hunger or might have difficulties with you know you know digestive issues uh you can also have a lot of a lot of different physical symptoms that feel like mostly anxiety and hyperarousal that's what I was consider and I feel that this is helpful not so much what you can do but understanding your stages um I

think that for me knowing I am in a hyperal state I don't need to run well running is great but that creates more arousal and so what you need is something to ground you so the other aspect is the um the dors of vle which is more the shut down if you are in that state um um where people and so that when you see that you might experience people shutting down like not allowing avoiding conflict

you might experience people just going to sleep too much um maybe overeating um or not eating at all um I think that depending on the stage that you're in that you will see difficulties also difficulty sleeping too um disconnection from emotions dissociation um again it feels very different but it's just activation or not being activated at all and both are defense ways that we try to defend ourselves from um from our environment from how distressed our

nervous system is or how not regulated it is yeah I mean that's so like healing from trauma can feel overwhelming honestly because some people you know they come to us in a crisis or and and it's usually like they're already over stimulated or you know dis disregulated and if someone's just starting their recovery Journey right recovering from this what would be the first step they should take in your opinion I mean I'm biased because my first

step was learning more about it but I think that that's a great perspective to have um I think that it's important to know when you are been when you have been in fight of FL response for so many years it's hard to know that you're in Fire and Fire response yeah that's your normal right and it to be fair I also feel that at times you might need to if you're in a relationship that when domestic

violence you know where at the beginning fight of flood allows you to survive but then you need that shut down otherwise you will fight it and it will get worse for you and I think that people judge nervous systems from a very different perspective if you're in a social engagement I can't what you're saying what you're doing might not make sense to me because I'm not in a fight of Life response and so I think that

it's given that having that acknowledgement that is it might not me making these choices but my nervous system kind of taking over and how I'm you know I'm able to understand that in terms of you know what biologically is happening is helpful um I think that people need the ability to stay in a social engagement to make choices because here in fight of fly response or shut down you you are not making choices you're reacting a

lot right it is it's reacting in emotion and and reacting in protection and reacting in in what you believe is what's happening and it's not like because it's it remember how I just said like it's the normal of so many people and I know growing up in areas where there were a lot of immigrants okay my mom was an immigrant and and you know they come here and it's about you know hustling and working and trying

to make the American dream happen and also but nowadays it's a very different than in the 70s okay and I when I was working at the Alternative High School I saw a lot of hypervigilance and you know and it's like not that they were in denial many but many are in denial of what's happening in their system and sometimes they utilize I that as that's just part of our culture right that's who we are and I

had to disentangle that I had to truly disentangle that because I could have stayed in the in that fight andlight situation and be like that's who I am you don't like it you know come on let's fight you know like you make an excellent point I want to think about like if that is in fact our culture then as parents what do we bring we are teaching them disregulation regulation and that was a big kind of

moment for me because I was like yes maybe maybe that could be a p perspective that you feel that this is all that there is then that means that all that you're prompting is on Safe like you are teaching your kids to or or our families to to connect with danger and I understand that because in South America you need to be aware of your environment um but up until what point are we teaching survival skills

and not living I think that we have to be aware of that because if our nervous system is really on firly response constantly then if we don't work against it that's all that we're teaching yeah it's it's a hard place where Zara because like you're right on like a lot of us grew up like where I grew up and you know it wasn't in New York I'm thinking single immigrant mom you know it was constant and

and remember wherever your brain flows your your energy goes right it's like it's you know whatever fires together wires together and so when I was little I mean it was you know and I know now that she meant well when my mom was telling me things that uh an eight-year-old should not know but you know it's it's a hard place for us because we want to protect and especially if we don't we're not being raised with

a lot of resources and safety I mean if you're living in a neighborhood where there's gunshots every day or you know a lot of fighting or even in the school system that I saw is just like you know you you're either going this is what my mom used to say it's like oh yeah Miha you're tiny like you know you either got to fight or or they're gonna eat you up alive so toughen up toughen up

toughen up and but my poor personality I'm not I mean RAR you kind of get my vibe already so I'm just like you know like it was just straight up I appreciate it now that I've done all the work in therapy and I know how to regulate but how do we as therapists Latina therapists teach parents without making them feel shame and guilt because that's the thing like they did not some of them are in denial

not all some want to do the right thing they just don't know how yeah and it's like how do you balance teaching like Hey listen you got to learn to to stand up for yourself because if not you might get eaten up alive I think that um I think that the issue might not necessarily be how well intended you can be but that their world view is very different um like I think that if you grow

up in a very that makes sense for parents that live in that context but being in danger constantly might not be your reality so I think that is making a space for because even we are wired for that there's fight ofly responses you know ready for us available there when we need to I think that the the issue is when having that awareness of when do we need to where are we in a unsafe place and

and but making sure that we are understanding what safety looks like um and I think that at times um if safety cannot be wired at home because of loving parents that just have baby high stress reactions we have to make sure that at least KS have that experience and I feel that part of it is um it's our responsibility to provide both to prepare them for the world that we live in but at the same time

to teach them what safety looks like so they know the difference we know when to fight and flight and we know when to regulate and and connection I also think that one of the other aspect of polyal therapy that I love is the notion of co-regulation we are wired to regulate together even as as as a therapist I we do safe and sound but my job is to help them me being regulated to help them see

because I think the way you are just regulated it's very hard to see that you are not in a social engagement perspective and so I think that it's hard because it requires a lot of work but I think that it's worth as parents to know what what teaching regul looks like you know and and it can be done by creating those moments where we are fully engaged with our kids or or you know in in different

relationships because I think that that's also in therapy in couples therapy that that happens too you know if you don't feel safe and you cannot co-regulate together then you're are constantly fighting so co-regulation for some people it's to me I really feel like we're all God made us all energetic beings and so you ever walk in a room and all a sudden like you feel something and you know you got the hairs on the back of

your neck and you're just like wait there's something off and I just don't know what it is so that's your body trying to you know tell you what's up and to protect you I mean this is just something that's happened since the beginning I mean they talk about with the saber-tooth tiger coming after you and stuff like that but co-regulation is so important you're right for parents to know and understand and it's hard so is there

anything like you know you coping strategies or Mental Health Resources you recommend for immigrants facing these challenges I think um I think that I understanding the obstacle that um uh I feel that it's hard because going to therapy might not be the first perspective but I think that um so it's hard to start there but I think that Hispanic and immigrants are very much Community Driven so I think that maybe it's a good place to start

with communities um I feel that unfortunately I like learning more so about creating safe places where people do experience those moments of um even with God because I don't think that it can be people it can be communist but I think that God is the biggest co-regulator you know that he says you know lean into to me and stay in my presence and when you are with god it feels like this sense of peace and protection

and I think that is finding is actually finding um again whether is therapy even a lot of people might not be but also like having um um Faith often helps if that's something that you feel comfortable with um having safe places I think that that is um great starting point if therapy is not something that you feel comfortable yeah I mean I know for me what's worked was breath work when I started whm hofing years and

years and years ago before he became uh popular um and that's something I use it's like all right can you start with 2 minutes of breath there is an app called the pause app by John Eldridge and that's another I mean like so these things to calm yourself but honestly it is to get out of denial and become aware become a curious Observer of yourself and understanding like what just caused this to happen right what and

uh is there any like books or any like anything that you listen to that helps you you know there's the poly vagel is there a and sound protocol book or anything like that or videos or um I think that if you go to United is the page for Safe and Sound protocol again okay safe and sound is just activation of the polyal theory polyal nerve I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm confusing the Vos nered um at the

through listening but you can do a lot of different things and so if you want to explore what is the more of the polyal theory I think that the polyal Institute is a great resource um it talks to you about like deep breathing massages how all those things can help to activate uh that what I like about the safe and sound protocol and so with unite which is the the place that you go searching more information

about it is that it makes it very accessible like if I need one of the things that help me especially if you're having trouble sleeping is using um music as a way to relax and lean into sleep and so um unit is the best way to kind of connect with that uh but it's again it's just music and for me I love music I love to dance I love like that type of activation uh and so

go back to your point I say like understanding what is it that feels right for you some people just doing meditation deep breathing feels right um so it's same type to some degree of uh vus nerve activation depending on what feels right for you it's is what would encourag like I think that being curious and kind of being encouraged to try that because your body is something that we owe it to ourselves it has gone through

so much and he has fought every single battle uh physically mentally and even spiritually that we face and so I feel that we owe it to our bodies to really dive into that process intentionally yeah all right so I could keep asking questions and talking but I just want to respect the listener's time and yours because we both have work to do after this so um is there anything you want to tell the audience before we

go and and where can they find you the last thing we don't we were talking about um um regulation and immigration I feel that um there are so many things that it's hard to connect because you're coming from very different perspective but sounds bad and sad but human suffering is something that connects us and I was just thinking about like it's hard to connect with people being displace or immigrants coming to a different place but a

few months ago when the hurricane season came and we see that displacement we really connected with that and I think that we always have ways to connect and co-regulate to share empathy I feel that at times it's hard because we live in a very fast world where a lot of things changing but if anything I just want to encourage people to be prompt to co-regulation by understanding I think that when weaks spe in suffering is easier

our heart is so pable to connect with people that are experiencing the same and so I feel that um you know that is an easier also a great way to kind of co-regulate in different experiences yeah yeah so where can the audience find you if they want to work with you um I mean you can I think that you might have my information my name is is rapi I am a licensed mental health counselor I think

that I mean I can add I can give you my web page um yeah so you can search for me if you need me okay I'll put everything in the show notes but I want people to feel encouraged yes yes and that if you are someone that you know Spanish is your first language look here's a therapist that can help all throughout the State of Florida right I mean and we're licensed for the whole state so

anybody you know that wants to check out her website I'll put it like I said in the show notes and uh you know Rosara thank you for coming and and explaining the safe I'm like curious I'll put that in the show notes whatever I find too about safe and sound protocol so uh thank you for being here it was such a pleasure to see you and to share this time with you thanks bye and now for

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