Advocates say Latinx people beset by cultural mental health stigmas need a specialized approach when seeking help — one that incorporates their identity.
Cal State Fullerton’s counseling departments have embarked on an ongoing effort to address that, with a program aimed at informing students of the importance of cultural competence and how to incorporate their Latinx identity into their therapy work.
As part of that effort, the Department of Counseling and Graduate Counseling Student Association invited Adriana Alejandre, founder and creator of Latinx Therapy, to speak on trauma in the Latinx Community last Saturday.
The event was part of the department’s ongoing program, known officially as Ánimo — a program aimed at improving mental health resources to the Latinx community by focusing on what the current resources are missing. The program teaches students to be culturally-competent and to use Spanish to improve their practice.
“They focus on different elements of the Latinx community and how culture can help us connect to our clients and how it can also influence the way that they view the world,” said Naomi Tapia, a marriage and family therapy trainee for the counseling graduate program at CSUF.
Alejandre’s practice is focused on trauma psychotherapy and she specializes in teens and adults struggling with anxiety, depression and PTSD. Being Mexican and Guatemalan, she said she understands cultural stigmas around mental health that might prevent the Latinx community from seeking professional help.
Her ability to combine her trauma expertise with her Latinx identity allowed her to modify her practice for her clients’ needs.
“Within our culture, people tend to think that emotional and psychological and verbal abuse is not a big trauma, but in my book it is,” said Alejandre.
One reason why the Latinx needs specialized help is that there are significant cultural differences that affect their worldview, said Alejandre. Some values that Latinx hold dear to them are family, spirituality and respecting authority. Communication tends to be indirect, machismo and marianismo is prevalent, and their collectivistic ties are deeply rooted within their relationships.
“I found it, for my own personal therapy, very confusing, difficult and stressful when a therapist once told me I need to get away from my family,” Alejandre said. “I didn’t go back because I felt like, ‘She’s from a different culture. She’s not going to understand. I’m going to seem like I’m defiant with my treatment.’”
However, some of those cultural values prevent people from receiving help.
“Some individuals see religion as the only way to heal. It’s great to use, but it can’t be the only way,” Alejandre said.
Alejandre continued the discussion by explaining the common myths in Latinx culture. The most unrealistic myth is that crying is a sign of weakness.
“Imagine a soda bottle and every single problem is a shake. If that cap isn’t being open to relieve pressure within, it’s going to explode. Humans are the exact same way,” Alejandre said.
Alejandre was able to identify some commonalities in Latinx children’s experiences that can lead to trauma.
Some of them relate to social issues such as discrimination, system injustices and class conflict. Others relate varying parent dynamics: being home alone while parents are working, parents coming in and out of jail, parents with anger issues, not knowing who the biological parents are and being kicked out of the house, to trauma. Then there’s sexual, physical and verbal abuse that can also lead to trauma.
Workshops like Alejandre’s strive to end the stigma on mental health.
“It’s okay to ask for help. You’re not weak if you ask for help. Mental illness is not a joke. If it goes untreated, it will have really long-lasting impacts on your life,” Tapia said.
The audience comprised of current and future health care providers who also are striving to support the Latinx community.
“You want to be that person that helps them believe in themselves and strive to be above the prejudice and barriers that are often placed on folks or people of color,” said Mary Mosier, a licensed family and marriage family therapist.
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