Experiencing Trauma as a Woman of Color
Lack of money… Guilt over family left behind… The stigma of seeking counseling… Latina women, particularly immigrants, face many fears. In this episode of Woman Worriers, creator and host Elizabeth Cush and her guest, Adriana Alejandre, MA, LMFT, talk about anxiety and women of color.
“There’s that layer of stigma in our culture that they can’t go to a therapist because that’s the last resort for those who are ‘crazy.’”
As the child of an immigrant whose mother experienced severe trauma in her native Guatemala, Adriana Alejandre has focused her therapy practice on overcoming anxiety and has made it a mission to help overcome the cultural stigma surrounding mental health counseling. In this episode of the Woman Worriers podcast, creator and host Elizabeth Cush, of Progression Counseling in Annapolis, Md., talks with her about the challenges that women of color face fitting into a white patriarchal society, the impact of violence against women, the stigma of asking for help and an innovative technique for healing past trauma.
Listen and learn:
Why you might overlook your anxiety and the trauma behind it
How your community and culture might normalize stress
Why you might feel more anxiety if you’re an immigrant or woman of color might feel more anxiety — and how your fears are rooted in reality
What happens to your body when you try to ignore a traumatic experience like domestic abuse or sexual assault
Which skills you didn’t learn growing up that could help you cope with anxiety
Why choosing a therapist and a treatment approach can be empowering
How a therapeutic technique called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can help the brain heal from trauma
Which struggles and issues EMDR could help you manage
What an EMDR session is like
How your community might be discouraging you from getting therapy that could benefit you
Where you can hear women of color who have overcome the stigma and are stronger as a result
Learn More
> Adriana Alejandre’s website
> LatinX Therapy podcast
> National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
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