Hello everyone, I’m Natasha!!
And welcome to my blog “Your Companion in Healing” where we share resources for managing every-day life, through the mental health lens.
I am so excited that you took the time to check out my website and blogs! I want you to know that this has been years in the making, and I hope this is the beginning of a long journey together full of interesting facts, tools, psychoeducation, and more.
These blogs are for everyone, of course, but let me explain why I’m focusing so much on the Latino population and having resources in Spanish. Main reason is that I’m Hispanic, bilingual, and there are not many bilingual therapists out there unfortunately. Probably because of this, limited information is put out there on the web for our community. This continues to be a major barrier to mental health services for Latinos.
For years, I have struggled finding resources in Spanish for my clients. Being a bilingual therapist, I have seen how important it is for a client to express themselves how they want to, versus trying to find the right words in their second language. Especially during a crisis or time of distress, it’s 1,000 times easier to speak in your native tongue. What a mission it is to find these resources in Spanish, whether it’s a psychoeducational book, worksheets, questionnaires, or even YouTube videos. These are often great supplements to therapy, and not having these in a client’s primary language presented itself as a big challenge.
Another main reason for focusing on having resources in Spanish, is how underserved the Latino population is, even though there is a major need. According to the Office of Minority Health, in 2019 the leading cause of death in Hispanics between the ages of 15-34 was suicide. That was even before COVID and the complications that came with it. Another important fact is that the death from suicide rate for men was four times higher than females in the Hispanic population in 2018. So yes, this blog is not just for women, but for all you men out there too. (Mental and Behavioral Health - Hispanics - The Office of Minority Health (hhs.gov). It’s safe to say that there are areas of improvement and growth needed in the mental health field, and I hope to be able to contribute to this.
So, after many years of struggling finding resources and talking with coworkers of these frustrations, I felt a calling to try and do something about it. I know I cannot save the world, but I can focus on what is in my control to help be that influence for others. Working with Lindsey Tabor and Vanessa Rodriguez, I have been able to find an amazing group of women that have helped make this possible. They share my passion to help the Hispanic community and have been exceptional in helping build this website.
Together, we plan to do our best to educate the community about topics related to mental health like anger management, communication skills, self-esteem, healthy coping skills, improving family interactions, increasing self-esteem, understanding depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, being assertive, and more. We hope these blogs will help people have a deeper understanding of what mental health means, and if it can help even one family, then this was all worth it.
In conclusion, my mission for this blog is to help promote understanding and awareness with mental health, to help clients find peace in their inner worlds, and see that you are not alone with these struggles. Hopefully this can become a safe place for you, where we can support one another. Now let’s get started…one blog at a time!!!
Nice to meet you and I look forward to being your companion in healing,
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