Healing Generational Trauma: EFT Tapping & Mental Health First Aid for Latina Women

welcome fearfully and wonderfully made human to the holistic counselor podcast the place for faith-driven science-backed conversations on mental health and holistic Wellness I'm your host Diana s rice licensed mental health counselor certified integrative mental health professional and lover of all things healing I first met today's guest through the holistic business Network during an online meeting and right away I was intrigued she started telling me about EFT emotional Freedom techniques and of course my curiosity kicked in

I wanted to know more but before we even got into that we spent a few minutes connecting over something equally important our beautiful Latina Heritage and now I'm thrilled to introduce her to you Anna Martinez is a licensed mental health counselor and a nationally accredited board certified counselor with a master's and education specialist degree from Florida State University go NOS after years in Community Mental Health she founded her own practice lumen Corda Behavioral Health where she

helps individuals navigate anxiety depression and Trauma she specializes in working with teens young adults and women especially Latinas guiding them towards self-awareness healing and embracing their authentic selves Anna also conducts psychos sorry guys psychosocial evaluations for immigration cases drawing from her deep understanding of immigrant families and her passion for Access accessible mental health care as a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor for adults and youth she leads workshops in both English and Spanish working to break

down stigma and expand Mental Health Resources in the community so let's dive in Anna thank you for coming on the show thank you for having me Diana I'm so excited to be here yeah so I just want to ask because the mental health first aid and I I know that I had to do that when I worked at the high school at the Alternative High School uh for the Youth Mental Health First AE and it was

really I was almost going to go get certified to teach it as well and I know like we're going to talk about eftu people but to me I want others to understand what this um mental health first aid and you know being the instructor and everything can you can you just share a little bit about that because to me I know how important it was for me to get my staff certified in that it was a

wonderful program yeah yeah um one of the things that we compare to is like CPR right so most people that work with people are trained in CPR to help those that may be in distress and this is kind of similar but related to mental health so we talk to people that maybe don't have the background in Psychology or anything like that to recognize what might be some signs that someone's going through something right and then we

um we have an a five-step action plan that we work throughout the day we teach them the steps and how to use it for the Youth part how to use it with teens and then the adult module help them how to talk to adults and Implement that plan to help kind of check in with a person um it informs them what resources out there a lot of people because of the stigma don't know what providers they

can go to like where to reach out and get help and maybe they know like oh I should go to a psychologist but they have no clue how look for one right they have no clue what therapy is or what it looks like and so it's basically giving them the basics as to like okay these are the things you would be looking for these are the things that you might notice this is how you approach someone

what are the things you might want to consider and then these are the resources we have available in the community and honestly it does open up people's eyes in a way that is just so um in a way healing because then they go I've had particip be like you know what like I need to go check on my son right like I've been seeing these things and I haven't had the conversation and others were they're like

oh like you know this would have been so helpful when that person came into the office a couple days ago and like I had no idea how to talk to them right and so I think it is a lack of knowing a lot of people expect that answer I'm okay and everything's fine from everyone and when someone says like you know actually it's not that great people just like freeze and they're like what do I do

now exactly and so it is a great um it is a great training and a lot of people just walk away with the skills and being like yes let me you know let me help my community right and that's something that we do uh have done in hospitals and schools and different agencies But ultimately it's something we could all use for like our neighbors our family whatever work environment we're in so I I love that training

yeah it is I mean and it has a workbook and everything I remember there was a workbook and and the the the trainer had us in groups so it was interactive it was pretty cool I mean if if you're like an introvert that don't want to hang out with people then I don't you know but you still can learn a lot like it is is really informative and I you know we're therapist so when I was

there I'm like whoa like even then I'm like this is impressive and I think that every agency should have that certification and anyone that owns a business like a big business with more than let's say five employees they everybody should be certified so that's pretty cool thanks for sharing that so all right so let's get back hold on really quick I'm getting super excited but you do get the participant processing guide now the workbook and what

I also like to do is I bring in Community Resources so I bring in like a list of different providers where you can go access them because then again it's either for you or for someone else right so at least you have a list like easy to go easy access um and then people walk away with those resources that they can just take and share with the world so just wanted that it is a very active

it's quite a bit long sometimes but I just think it's so worthwhile but it's like the workshop like listen like a lot of uh let's say government agencies or even like big um companies they have to have like certifications and workshops for certain things just so you know it's just like that's how you grow by learning new things to me this though is one of those program and I had to do a lot like you know

when you work for a public school it's like once a month a TR teacher training or something like that that you're doing and to me this one though had the actual like wow here is tools here are actual resources this is something that will help a teacher be able just to be a teacher now instead of thinking that they have to do therapy as well or you know like we're trained and and and it gives us

boundaries because the training right Anna like that training gives boundaries to a point where it's like whoa you you is your scope right yeah like stay in your lane exactly um it was updated the the program was developed in Australia and it came to the US like in 2008 but um it was recently updated um around Co times um and now it includes things such as trauma and things such as culture because now we know that

I mean obviously those things also have a big influence in the way people approach or just interact with mental health yeah do you know if they have like a a church or faith-based component yet or how would that work can you still like because to me that's a thing like because you know girl we had this conversation I'm trying to break stigma in the churches like and so or even in our communities our minority communities where

the second like I know there's family members older family members that you oh do you know and I'm like no it's not about you know right and so to me like to get a program like this maybe they'll develop one or you can develop one or we can devel I don't know work on something yeah yeah all right so back so let's get into EFT um your journey like I want to know who you are outside

of work and what led you to become an EFT practitioner and and what is it yeah so EFT like you said is emotional Freedom tapping techniques um and I actually came across it back in grad school um so like you mentioned I went to FSU for undergrad I love day um and I stayed there and for my masters and I remember in practicum one of my professors were just bringing guests so we had someone talk about

opening a private practice and EFT I honestly don't remember the other guest but those were the two that kind of stuck in my mind uh but I remember this lady coming in and just tapping right and I was like what is this and I'm like this is ridiculous this does not work and I kind of just dismissed that right and so years go by I started um came back to South Florida I'm in West Palm now

and my first job was Community Mental Health so I worked with a lot of people a lot of teens and kids that are under DCF um with you know with cases and stuff like that so I saw a lot of trauma and you know we are very trained to do CBT and that was kind of like you leave school and if you know anything it is how to do CBT right and that's it so granted it

is helpful in some cases I was also seeing that it was not always going through it was not always you know as fruitful as it could be or as healing as I was hoping um and then I started working after Catholic Charities and I was seeing different and I was always learning I was always eager to learn like okay how can I help my client so I did this training that training and it was just like

um opening my eyes right and then we had that um shooting down in Parkland a couple years ago and I was six years ago that was yeah 2018 I'll never forget that that's what made me come back to being a therapist Anna I was in a whole different career wow so yeah it changed a lot and I mean sometimes like it just it flew by and it's also like not a lot has changed unfortunately in a

lot of areas but anyway so that happened um I was part of the crisis team for um Catholic Charities and so they sent me down to a high school um because I mean it is is a very small community so people know each other whether it's the students whether it's the teachers and just to be available for the community right and then through that all sorts of resources started coming out in the community and the community

really did come together for that right and like wanted to provide that support um and I found a training because I'm always looking for trainings that was like how to help with trauma healing and I just showed up it was a whole weekend training and I just signed up up myself and showed up uh I guess I was just one of those like I just need this I just I just wanted to help you know I

was just so eager I showed up and it was like if and I was like oh and I was like this is what I saw in like gr school I was like okay well like let me check it out um and that weekend honestly changed it for me right like I learned more in depth about trauma um and the instructor had actually worked with survivors from the Sandy Hook shooting shooting years ago so she had had

experienced something similar from the Parkland incident and the beautiful thing was that we had were different providers coming together to work on that um and she kept coming back once a month right and so then I got a super into it and continued the process in order to get certified um but then yeah I guess I was exposed to in grad school and then but it was the parked and shooting and that eagerness to like support

the community that was like this actually is op to heal and I just I still use it yeah so okay so emotional Freedom technique who who made it and how long has it been around and like what what is it I mean all I ever seen was people like touching their cheeks and and I get it I get that because you know I'm into acupuncture I'm into chiropractic care I'm into sematic like moving your stuff out

of your system and so tell me a little more about the actual technique and like who who like someone had to start it so um okay so and you're exactly right it is based on um Chinese acupressure points right so we tap on specific points um and it also has the evidence-based part like a positive psychology nowadays we're seeing like all sorts of EFT exercises and some of them you know were valuable to do as coping

but if we were to stick truly to the protocol it goes into Chinese ACU pressure points and it ties in the positive psychology part of it as well and and so what it does it it's basically if we look into trauma right we have that part of our brain the amydala what are just like signal something's going on and it releases all these chemicals and then our body goes into that fight flight or freeze response so

what we're doing is when we're tapping in those points we are helping reregulate the amula and then um it also works with the hippocampus so like that part of the memory part of her brain and it takes the charge out of it so I tell my clients I'm like it's not like I can't erase the past right I can't erase anything that has happened and we're going to remember it but it's almost it's it's like a

wound so when you fall of a bike or you get hurt you know it hurts in the beginning and as it heals it might still kind of hurt and you might have a scar though so every time you look at it you will remember the incident but it won't be painful and E is one of those modalities where it's like we're not erasing it but every time you look at that scar or you remember it it

won't hurt as much right because we're working with that part of our brain that takes that charge out and so at this point it's been growing it's been researched in like I don't know 10 plus countries and there's different Papers written about it um and the interesting part I actually took a note of it um is because they have been able to show through fmri and pet cans that it calms the amydala down right so like

just those pressure points like and it's something that you can do yourself right like it's something that we can do yes for a therapy but then I tell my clients I'm like pick a point and use that whenever you're feeling stress just to help your body regulate yourself so that you can think better right so this is a great approach for trauma but also for self-care as well so it's like grounding like you're grounding yourself but

it's not EMDR then it's not like you're sitting there with just hit my microphone you know so okay so so before we even go further can we do some of it can we can you just show us and for those that are either driving or listening only you probably will be able you can watch this on YouTube to actually see because I don't know how she's G if we're touching ourselves but to me like sometimes you're

right my brain will start going 100 miles per hour and I I've had to learn how to regulate and it's also due to how I was raised because I was raised in an environment that caus me to go into fight mode Mo mostly fight mode uh I I wasn't a freezer much and people know that they know my story if you've listened to other episodes but to me I've seen kids in like alternative schools learning this

technique I've seen video footage of like the classroom because we have a lot of diff different students that do not have the resources like others where they have a calm environment correct like you know they're schools are in the inner city and it is it could be a little more everybody's on flight mode and or I mean fight mode and so to calm them down or calm us down or you know right now calm me down

Anna yeah and we could definitely do it one of the things I also want to share is that I mean I can share I have a worksheet that I sent my clients so that you could see the point so I can share that with you as well yes um it is very very grounding and so one of the points and we'll go over them is like at the top of the head and I tell my clients

I don't expect you to be in your office going like this at the time so I get it right we don't want to look silly but we also have a point on our hands and I'm like you could do that U underneath the desk or somewhere where you can't see right and I'll show you all the points right now too like there are some that you could just do as you take a deep breath in right

and like no one needs to know like people are fidgeting all the time everywhere look look what I'm doing right now do you know this thing I'm constantly either touching this thing or I have a um the anxiety ring that I'm always touching because I'm and I I wish I had what you're about to teach I wish I was someone would have taught me back in the day because I got in a lot of trouble in

elementary school they you know especially in Catholic school when they would I couldn't sit still I I they had ADHD back then I probably would have been diagnosed I probably have adult ADHD but T no GE this is who I am and uh I'm okay I guess like I do it yeah well and this can also help you then gr like and I found myself like again it's not to avoid our feelings it's a better way

to like ground yourself and be able to think it through right so in moments where I'm like super emotional I'll just tap and take a deep breath in and be like okay like let me depending on where I'm at and what I'm doing okay let's explore and like cope with it and you know problem solve or let me put this to the side deal with what I have in front of me and come back to it

when I need to um okay so let let me show you the points and then we can go through a whole exercise um we are going to start with like on the side of our Hand by like her pinky finger and gently but firmly tapping there exactly right there so that's going to be our first point okay um and then the next one which is I think one of the silliest ones um to look at is

the top of our head so where your crown would go I tell my clients it's like where you wear your crown right there yeah and these are these are actually acupuncture pin I mean I'm seeing like my acupuncturist will put a pin up here and here man all right yeah and so you're probably gonna recognize these um then we're gonna go between your eyebrows and as we're doing this I also tell my clients you can take

a deep breath in right so inhale that's exhale and then we're going to go on the side of our eyes another one is underneath your eyes the next one is going to be underneath your nose above the lips on your chin so it's not like a hard tap it's just just gentle but firm so but firm so you're not punching your face or please don't hurt yourself um next is going to be the clavicle and you

know it's interesting because some of my clients tell me like some of the spots depending on how you're feeling they may be relieving and some of them they're like uncomfortable right the next one is going to be like underneath your um armpit like by your bra strap okay and you can just kind of like hug yourself and raise myself up too and I do it on both sides wow I haven't had I haven't had needles here

and the last one is going to be between your pinky and your ring finger on the top of your hand uhhuh okay so those are the points that we do um so one of the things I invite people well actually let me ask you which was there one that like the clavicle yeah that one was the one I felt the most and it shot like a not gooseb I was kind of like Goosebump like you know

like oh okay oh yeah all right make sure I stay awake well and this is something that also like stimulates like that release of like endorphin right so it like helps us reduce the pain so um actually one of the studies was shown that it also helps with physical pain right so we've had um different and I mean you know right our emotions if we don't cope with them they're going to impact our body so this

is a great way not only to deal with our mental health and our feelings but then also to help with our physical health ultimately it's just our health right both of them are are in our health I think we forget we're whole beings like you have to be taking care of all of of all parts of us and that would be you know physical I mean they're all connected so to me how I see it is

if one's off then the others will get off too they'll they'll end up and then you're trying to figure out like oh no it's is it an ulcer or is it because I'm so stressed out because I have not had self-care and I'm working you know 80 hours a week and I haven't even you know took a deep breath yet and and that you people shallow breathe throughout our Western ice culture constantly all the time all

the time and taking a deep breath like again I told my clients I was like everyone knows how to breathe you just have to pause and take a deeper breath and let it out and like you don't have to go because most of the people say like I don't have time right to do self-care studies I don't have time whatever I was like you breathe all the time so just pause take a longer breath in and

out and there's your self-care right like it doesn't have to be a whole full hour massage but little things that we can do here and there ultimately are helping our well-being overall so H how long do you recommend when you first start out with EFT like if you're teaching them I I think too though what I see it's kind of going like I don't know if I will take the time to actually do this on my

own maybe if I train myself well but I would want to you know in therapy because I know I'll do a little bit of breath with my clients in the first minute to because you know they're either I'm online full-time and a lot of mine are professional mostly women and you know from lawyers to you know um accountants stuff like that and I'm like okay this is your time we're gonna breathe now and they're like what

uh yeah you're paying me the big bucks so I can get you to focus and calm down and and realize that you're allowed it's like giving them permission to care for themselves so how how long do you usually would you suggest to do this or like because it is and people feel guilty for taking care of themselves for like in a way right especially oh let's now let's go into our culture yeah we are trained to

right go ahead especially within our culture but then also just like as women right we are almost like set to take care of other people right and maybe it's not explicitly but just the what we see right we are the caretakers the nurturers and so that's what we end up doing and it's always like oh they're first and you last and so there's a lot of guilt that comes to with taking care of yourself um but

yeah I guess going a little bit to to the other question how long I first introduce it to my clients with something small something annoying right so we all have a little annoying things that petty annoyance right so whether it was like traffic whether it was food anything so we'll do it with something small because it does look weird it is kind of odd and people again sometimes are not as open um and then once they

feel the relief then we can use it further and so I do the whole protocol with them in in session and I do the different um steps with them but I tell clients pick one spot that you like and I'm like all you need to do take a deep breath while you tap on there and then exhale and then you're done that's your homework like just do that throughout the week right you don't have to do

it you don't have to say anything just do one thing and I'm like you can even step out go to the bathroom that doesn't even take 30 seconds and then you're out you know like and you're taking care of yourself right so it's finding small ways like to incorporate especially for women because we're all so busy trying to do all the things and maybe also feeling guilty like oh no I can't take a break to take

care of myself or I should be doing X Y and Z this is something small that it's like okay well you're in the car picking up your kids just tap on the hand right when you are waiting for the coffee or the tea or whatever in the morning just tap it here and take a deep breath in so it's something that maybe can help them slowly start changing and then bringing it back to them and noticing

their feelings and what they need and I think that also opens the door for them to be like no you know what I do need a break or I do need this and hopefully through work also being able to do that for themselves yeah I mean if you don't take the break you're going to end up having a breakdown yeah and then hopefully it turns into a breakthrough oh I love that yes but it's it's true

okay and then so let's talk a little bit about our culture I love being a Latina I do I do because it's such a rich culture and I mean where where is I I forgot sorry where where are you from again or Peru Peru okay and so my mom's Colombian my dad's Puerto Rican so I had the Caribbean thing happening and that was high stress I mean I love I love my Caribbean people I do but

I also was raised in that you know where it's like everybody just yelling all the time and then sometimes like people like I remember my son saying you know why do you got I'm like no this is how we are you know um but I also realized now like whoa there was a lot of unhealed people around I did not know so how do we disentangle what is our Rich culture and what's unhealed trauma that we

make excuses for saying that it's because we're Latino we're like that that's a very deep question um that's and I think it has all sorts of layers I think I mean I love being Latina I love a lot of aspects of it I think also like we come from a very Community Based right so we go back to the family we go back to our faith we go like there's a lot of things that maybe like

bring us together um but within that too it's so easy to lose ourselves right because it is like oh the family family family and then it's like okay we about me so I think it's a process also of recognizing and being aware of your own feelings and I think even for me right it's sometimes harder to like hear my own voice or know my own feelings and get to know yourself so I think yeah I think

um the first step would be awareness and I feel like could go through all stor but I think it's just awareness and being like okay like some of the things are going to bring you Joy and you know good feelings and things like that and then if something doesn't then pay attention to why it's not right so we could all be a very happy family and every family time could be something that brings you Joy and

that you've come out feeling refreshed but then for some people it could be like oh my gosh I dread going to see my family or every time I see them there's this one person or the whole family is just draining right so maybe pay attention to that right like yes family's important but you are also important so like let's see like what can you do so that it doesn't feel that way and maybe it's limiting the

time maybe it's recognizing those things right so it's like honestly it comes within the person right so I think it's really hard and even like you mentioned like every even though we're all Latinos every country has their own like little thing right so don't get me started because I just remember growing up with both think about South America you know like who Spanish was and then first of all I was bornn in America like I'm born

in New York and so I always that's one thing I hear a lot from um people that come from you know the parents might be from one country and then you're come here and then you get Americanized and then and it's just you feel like you don't have a place because if I'm with my family I don't feel because you know I was raised really different than they were you know they they came from hard places

I mean when I say hard places so I'm the spoiled American h and then and then I'm in a school and I don't look like most of the people there so it's just like well I don't feel like I belong with them and I think that's why my faith is so important because to me Jesus says I belong with him and he loves me no matter what so I was I was born and raised in Peru

and then I came here when I was about 13 so I feel like the first time I went back it was also like people were like oh you're from the stage so again let kind of like where do I belong where do I fit right like over here I don't at when people talk about like the cartoons they used to watch when they were kids cuz I was not here for that so I was like I

have no idea and then over there it's like now like that they've grown there's different things that I'm like not talking about right so there's just a mix about like where do we go and actually when I first got to College Church was like the place where I just felt safe like I just walked in and it was like no matter what like every Sunday I was just there and it was like my safe place because

anywhere I went like anywhere in the world it was just like I knew that was be the constant the stable thing and so most people during college just go off and like you know forget about the faith but then for me that was the one thing that I was this is like Florida state is known for the being the number one part I I was up in Tallahassee for a year when I first started college I

went to TCC is back then in 1991 oh I'm so old but but I I was that was going to be my track I was going to go to Florida State and that's why I said go NOS but not I don't really care about football people so sorry if you were a gator I'd be like is it go Gators I'm I'm not sure I think so I don't know but I get it like so you went

Wow you went to Florida State and you grounded yourself there instead of in the party scene you were really um cool good for you good for you I didn't I went off the de this was BC days people so don't judge me oh and BC means before Christ oh but yeah we all need that gring right and depending on the stage in your life like that might be it and so I think it all just comes

full circle and that was it for me yeah and so it's just like breaking the stigma in our culture because that's something I did he too like you're going to be a the you know a lot of not a lot I shouldn't say that because I don't know everybody but most of the people that I hear that come from like anywhere even India or wherever they come from um and they come to America either as a

child or um you know because this is the land of opportunities that's something that was taught to me I was I'm very patriotic even though I might not be on any Wing if you know what I mean especially after this this crazy last 10 years but I do understand my mom made me understand what it is to be an American like she did because she that's why they came here this is why else would they leave

their country and their families right you know to me it it's understanding like it was hard because I know I grew up many times where I had these emotions and these feelings but nobody had time for that we're working we're in survival mode we okay you have no idea what trauma is you know like how would you deal with a family that or a person that comes to you like saying those things yeah well first I

would explain just like we go to the doctors for our annual checkup right this is the same thing for our mental wellbeing so people think you have to wait until you've got their crisis you've gone through trauma actually most people don't even think about trauma they just think like you come to therapy if you're hearing voices or if you're about to hurt someone or something like that something extreme right like people don't think about trauma actually

like they just think like I'm like hearing voices and seeing things and something that's when I should go to trauma and that's a small percentage of people we see Tiny percent it's not the majority that's you know that's the thing it's like yeah you go to counseling I mean yeah or like something's wrong with me right so I think it's one of those hey you know what this is this could be like your checkup just someone

where you can go and like talk to about things and I like we could all use an extra support and this just gives you the unbiased so I was like it doesn't have to be something going on right now but maybe this is a place where you can safely grow you can maybe safely explore different things that happened in your life and the impact we've all been impacted by different things right and so even as I

reflect back on my life like when we first moved to the states I was very unhappy and so you know like um and I was like you know what maybe I should have found to therapy but like I didn't even know that right like I think when I was in in elementary school I might have seen a therapist once um once or twice and that was it but it's not something we talk about so I think

it's one of the things where having a conversation that this is not something that indicates there's something wrong with you it could just be an extra resource for you and if this is going to help you or your family then why not if it doesn't work out or this is not a good fit you can find someone else but this is just like going to the doctor and so I think one is like letting people know

this is not a place where you come only if you know there's drastically horrible symptoms going on granted if those are the case then definitely come to therapy right um and then so with the faith aspect of it a lot of people say like oh I'm just going to pray it out right I'm going to pray it out and you know I God is wonderful and he's very healing but then he also gives us all these

people around with their expertise and so if God is putting the a good fit therapist for you then that's yeah and then that's his way of helping you right and and I say good fit because as we know there are therapists that maybe are just not trained to deal with certain things um and so people people go in and then have a horrible experience and their Lego theapy is not for me and you know what yeah

maybe that therapist wasn't for you but maybe find someone that gets you that maybe culturally right like maybe they get your culture if you know you're spiritually based like maybe find someone that shares that faith and so finding someone that is a good fit for you and that will be able to be with you on that Journey yeah for sure and and that's it too because I realize a lot of a lot of my clients in

the last you know I I was a therapist and not therapist for a little bit and then came back to being a therapist but I've seen hundreds upon hundreds of students because I worked in the high schools and stuff but they felt more connected because I did look like them and it's not about racism or anything like that it's just having understanding in our different cultures like to me like if a black man comes to me

are you sure you want to you know have me as your it's cool like we I have I'm able we're able but the connection might be better for the Jamaican guy to go to the JAMA I mean it all depends and it's okay and we need to understand too nowadays we do have educated women like us because back in the day there it was no offense I'm married to a white man but it was think about

psychology started with Freud and then all of them were just white men and it's nothing bad about that situation it started somewhere but here we are trying to break stigma in different cultures so here we are Anna and I you know trying to get Latina females that it isn't a weakness to go get therapy it isn't a weakness to um stop and and you know because sometimes we get into that you know and okay fine but

it's like is that helping you and is that helping you become the the person that you need to be because you're right therapy Anna is not only for Crisis Intervention it should be for Crisis Prevention ideally yes ideally and it's commun and I mean affordable therapy that I mean these are the thing this is why the podcast was started because I was telling Anna before we came on right it's just like you and I are one

person we can only take on a certain amount of humans during the week I know I can't take more than 20 honestly I probably can't take more than nine but in my age and stage of life right but you see where I'm getting at is that it's so important especially if you're listening right now and you're going I I don't know like what would you say something in Spanish because I can't do that that quickly I

mean I don't do therapy in Spanish but Anna does if you were listening to say that 35 40y old mother of two and she just came from a different country and she feels lonely and scared but she's ignoring herself ignoring herself now she's got migraines now she's got an ulcer and she's ignoring herself ignoring herself what would you say to her and say it in Spanish if you can wow wow oh my gosh I'm Minister cry

wow she just just told the PO the the person that's listening right now that listen this is a place where you can get resources and be able to change the course of life I mean this is how I how I took it and that you can get the help you need and I I think you said something like you know you're worth it yeah well and I also said like you've been through a lot right and

so all these experiences are obviously impacting you so this is a place to not heal not only heal your body but your feelings right and like help you go through that and find their resource to help you feel better yeah and then be able to enjoy your life right like the way you want to like ultimately we all want to enjoy our life right like we all want to be happy and I think a lot of

my clients that's that's why they come they're like I just want to feel better yeah yes we all want to feel better right and I think that's the ultimate goal so working through that physically emotionally mentally um and to your point right finding a therapist that is able to do so if you want Spanish there are speaking spanic Spanish speaking therapist out there if you feel more comfortable in English then do English if you feel whatever

language you know it might be a little bit difficult yes but like it's worth the weight and like the you know research you do so that you ultimately find someone that you're able to like open up with um I was actually doing a career fair at an elementary school last week and I was you know giving my talk in English and there was this table and all of a sudden I just hear like like this is

like the man's table and so like five of the little guys were sitting there whatever and you know throughout the presentation like other kids were raising their hands and talking and they were just talking amongst themselves so I go over and I say something in Spanish and all of a sudden this kid just looks up at me and he's like and I was like yes and all of us said and all of them just were like

what and and then and that was it right like it was one of those like they maybe felt excluded they just didn't get it it wasn't for them but once they had that Spanish they were like oh actually let me pay attention to what you're saying like Okay like how do we you know and it was just that moment where you realized that like that diversity is what we need right like in therapy as well like

there's a whole bunch of therapists we all don't do the same approach we all have different backgrounds we all have maybe different language skills like all these things and so obviously there's not a perfect fit but just find someone that you feel comfortable with that maybe has the same language or like the um same beliefs that you come in um and then that you feel comfortable with right yeah I mean you have to build that Rapport

for sure like I I mean I've got I'm I go to a therapist and I had to do the homework to find someone that understood me you know and just like a lot of different aspects of myself and they're out there people like I would suggest to go I mean do you know of a a website besides contacting Anna which I will put all her information in the show notes um where else isn't there a website

called like therapy for Latinas or something like that yeah and then there's like latinx therapy as well the girl therapy um there's a couple and I and I think um in the past couple years with everything changing right there's there's been a little bit more of a movement to have those resources available um I've even seen those where they provide scholarships because unfortunately we do live in a system where like it can be very hard to

go and get those services so um I think it's it's honestly a matter of like okay you identifying that this is something that would benefit you and doing your homework and doing your research right like there's be away I know I also have like some paraded slots so for people that maybe don't have that coverage or Insurance like can't open up my whole schedule for them but you know like and sometimes people like lose a job

or the insurance changes and like that should not prevent them from still taking care of themselves right that's right that's right you want to prevent prevent because those are the choices either prevention or intervention yes that's it so where can people find you Anna yeah so I through um Instagram um so Lumen Cordis behavioral um and on my website Lumen cordus.com would be the best way to reach out to me okay well everything we talked about

today will be in the show notes so any last words of encouragement Before We Say Goodbye yeah I mean I will also share that worksheet with you so you can put it on the on the show notes as well for them to see the tapping points okay um and for them to maybe hopefully practice that in their own as a self care skill as well wonderful thank you so much all right listener thank you for listening

and don't forget to trust in the Lord guard your heart and renew your mind bye and now for the disclaimer to make sure you understand that you are responsible for you the content provided on the holistic counselor podcast is for entertainment and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice diagnosis or treatment always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have

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