It takes one to know one. ❤️

I had internalized so much stigma around feeling my uncomfortable emotions.

The way I grew up did not prepare me for taking care of my mental health as a multicultural being - straddling multiple cultural worlds at once.

It didn’t prepare me for the multilayered and complex world of relationships.

I now believe that feelings are powerful messengers full of vital information. They can help us navigate our lives with more authenticity, joy, and peace.

They can lead us to where we have unfinished work.

This path has lead me to my life’s calling which is to help as many fellow daughters of immigrants take an active step toward living the life that speaks to them by seeking the support of a professional who has BEEN there.

Comment ‘RESOURCES’ if you’d like to learn more about the offerings I have designed with you in mind - from free book clubs to group programs!

#generationaltrauma #generationaltraumahealing #healinggenerationaltrauma #breakinggenerationaltrauma #boundaries #mentalhealthmonth #traumainformedcare #vulnerabilityisstrength #breakthecycle #complextrauma #healingfromtrauma #reparenting #innerchildhealing #generationalhealing #intersectionality #intersectional #daughtersofimmigrants #decolonizementalhealth #bipoc #bipocmentalhealth #representationmatters #diversitymatters #womenofcolor #forwomenofcolor #immigrantparents #middleeastern #eldestdaughter #oldestdaughter
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paulinethepsychologist

2024-03-08 11:50:15

i was born in iran to an armenian family and we moved to los angeles california when i was four after the revolution and the midst of a war growing up in a middle eastern and religious christian family i had no concept of mental health and i struggled with my emotions and relationships in adolescence and early adulthood when i fell into a deep depression in my early twenties after my mom's death i didn't really have a sense of what was happening to me and non middle eastern friends suggested that i tried therapy and i hadn't ever considered it
therapy was incredibly foreign to me and i was skeptical but i was also desperate my first encounter with therapy illuminated two things one i immediately recognized the sacred intimate and transformative capacity of the therapeutic space and the therapeutic relationship
and two i realized there he was not a perfect fit my therapist was white and although he was wonderful in so many ways thanks richard i often left session feeling either i'd say too much and was being judged or i hadn't said enough for him to really understand me and help that experience sparked my desire to support my own healing and thou to bring back the skills knowledge and awareness i learned along the way to my community to support them it took three grad programs a lot of learning and unlearning along the way to become the psychologist i always wish i'd had now i have a group private practice in california and run programs that help me work with women around the world