Brave and Well: Conversations helping mental health professionals build a sustainable, profitable, and values-aligned business

Transformative Trauma Therapy & the Ripple Effects of Healing with Diana Anzaldua

• Vanessa Newton • Season 1 • Episode 23

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Today on Brave and Well podcast, I’m joined by Diana Anzaldua to discuss the importance of listening to our bodies and the impact of trauma on all of our lives, especially BIPOC lives.

Diana is a social change activist and LCSWS who founded Austin Trauma Therapy and Contigo Wellness. She has received numerous awards for her work in community healing, public services, and leadership. She also served on the 2022 board and chairs the diversity, equity, and ethics committee for the Clinical Social Work Association. and serves on the board for Contigo Wellness, Amala Foundation, and Comimadre.

Diana is determined to create an inclusive and equitable space in the mental health industry, providing care centered in an anti-racist and decolonized lens through her nonprofit, Contigo Wellness.

Tune in as we explore:

  • The importance of tuning into your body
  • The connection between trauma and chronic illness
  • The ripple effect that personal healing can have
  • Tapping into warrior and healer parts for change
  • Historical barriers for BIPOC individuals in the mental health space


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Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Brave and Well podcast. I'm your host, Vanessa Newton. I'm a group practice owner and social worker. I'm also a Latina entrepreneur, mom, and recovering perfectionist. On this podcast, we teach mental health professionals how to build sustainable, profitable, and values-aligned businesses. Here, you'll hear all about decolonizing the business side of private practice and supporting the entrepreneur and the therapist. We'll. Music. Invite fellow therapists and healers to share their stories. Our time together will be raw, honest, vulnerable, and held together by joy. If you like what you hear, subscribe to our newsletter at braveandwell.com slash newsletter dash sign up. Thank you for listening. Music. Yanan Sanzuwa is a social change activist in LCSWS who founded Austin and Trauma Therapy Center in Contigo Wellness. She has received numerous awards for her work in community healing, public services, and leadership. She also served on the 2022 board and chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Ethics Committee for the Clinical Social Work Association and serves on the board for Contigo Wellness, Amala Foundation, and Con Mi Madre. I'm excited to be here with you. I feel like last time we spoke, I was about to go on leave and it's been a minute. So I just want to catch up with you, hear about the work that you're doing, and hopefully our listeners can learn a thing or two. Thank you for the invitation. Thank you, yeah, for inviting me to be here. Yeah. Well, to kick it off, tell us about the identities you hold and how you would describe the work that you do. Yeah, so I identify as Latina. So I also am recently, and this is like a pretty new thing for me. Like I'm not like out, out, but I mean, I guess I am now, right? I do identify as a queer therapist And this is definitely a sort of a new. I mean, I'm leaving, um, I was leaving an 11 year relationship and like, realize that, you know, this is actually just like, not, it's like not for me. And there's something that I, and I've been in relationship, like I was with my kid's dad for 18 years, right. And then in this relationship recently that, um, has ended in that for 11 years. So I mean, 28 years I've been in, in relationship, right. With men. And, and I, this is something has always just like not been right for me. And so, so I'm, I'm on a whole new journey. And I really feel like this is more like where it's just more in alignment with me and who I am. Yeah, so I identify I'm a queer Latina therapist. Amazing. Thank you for sharing that. And I feel like that's, it's so exciting to rediscover yourself, right? And actually go through that process. Yeah. And I just wish you a lot of wellness and like, just authenticity in that, right? That you grow into that and you feel like you can fully live that truth. So, yeah, yeah, exactly. It's been, it's been a really beautiful process for sure. And what about the work that you're doing in the community? Because I know you, I know what you do. You do so much. But tell our listeners what you do. Yeah, I founded Austin Trauma Therapy Center in 2019. For the last 20 years, I mean, this has always been a goal of mine, right? It's I mean, when I was an undergrad, you know, really thinking about like, how can we provide healing space for people that is holistic, that doesn't involve so much, you, psychotropics and I'm not anti med at all by any means, but I do have concern about the way that medications have been dispensed right just just very like freely and in undergrad, I should know when I was at ACC, I was in a psychology class and the professor talked a lot about people being over. Medicated with stimulants, right with ADD and being overdiagnosed ADD, ADHD and children, right? And so I was like, you know, there's got to be another way, like, how do we, you know, begin to look at healing in this way? Right? So, so that's always kind of been my journey. And so in 2019, I was really excited to, to start Austin Trauma Therapy Center. And I had been working at that time for a neuro rehab center here in Austin. And it was a residential treatment center with teenagers. So I was there for about three years, it was very intense, you know, these kids, some of them, actually most of them were from out of state. So when we think about some of the most severe cases of trauma that we've seen in the states that they were living in, Nevada, New Mexico, Alaska, like these states were not prepared or equipped to be able to handle and manage the care that these kids needed. And so they sent them here to Austin. And so I was at that hospital for quite a while. Most of them diagnosed with intellectual disabilities, most of them having really low, like lower IQ, lots of trauma, I mean, significant. So it was just like, it was a lot for me to kind of be in that process. And I had been, you know, since I've been doing direct care and direct work, I had been working with traumatized populations, right? So, so I had just really started to notice like, hmm, like the trauma, the trauma, the trauma, this is like so much like, it's like so connected to all the things. And even when I I mean, I had worked in a drug court and I ran an IOP program for kids. And also worked at the methadone clinic, right? And so working with adults in that space and just really seeing the connection between substance use and trauma, chronic illness and trauma, right? So just like working with the traumatized populations. And I was just like, wow, like, this is like so much, it's all trauma related. How can we start to do more? Right? And then the kids would do amazing, like on my unit, I was the adolescent male therapist. And so I would do family therapy once a week with with the kiddos and their families. And oftentimes it was foster families, right? Most of the kiddos that we saw were. Were in foster care. So it was like working with foster parents and then, yeah, it was just a lot. And then I do individual, I do group. So all in all, I mean, I was probably doing like 37 sessions a week. It was just intense, right? It was intense work to think about now, like, Oh my God, how did I do that? And then we did, you know, IDT meetings, like interdisciplinary meetings, like, you know, that would last all day long some days. So it was just like a lot of work, but it was good work. It was very fulfilling work. It was beautiful work. The kids did really amazing. There was a lot of transformation. And then they'd go home. And I mean, they'd return within a month or two. Right. And so then looking at like, wow, how do we like we need to do more, not just with the individual, because we can, we've, we've proven that we can really do good work and help them to have rehabilitative skills and just like implement some of these things in a way that helps them to be successful. Right. But then they go home and then that's where like, we're not seeing change, right? So that was just really hard because I kept bringing it up to my supervisor. And I'm like, look, we have to do more work with the parents. I think we need to lessen our caseloads and do more so that it can be really enriching. And this was the first, the only for-profit company that I had ever worked for in my life. And so they were like, yeah, but we need to fill the beds and yada yada. And so this whole thing that we see where it's like profit over people. And I was like, ew, Like this isn't aligning because everyone's burned out here. You know, the staff are burned out. Therapists are burned out, the kids like just aren't getting what they need. Families aren't getting you know, like, it's just not supportive. And it's not helpful. And like, I think something has to change, right. And it was there that I really started to like notice, like my own physical stress on my body, being in that space. And I ended up in the hospital with a, it was like a TIA stroke, right. So it was like, you know, really scary, but also like looking at, okay, I'm really fucking stressed out here. And like, I cannot keep doing this work in this way. Something. Needs to change. And so that was when I started the trauma center, because I was like, I really want to work with traumatized populations. It's my passion. And we really need to do it in a way that that doesn't put profit over people. Right. And so yeah, that was in 2019. Yeah. And 2019, I started it was right before the pandemic. So I ended up leaving that job. And you know, just pouring everything I had into Austin trauma. You know, now we are three years in, and we have about 25 therapists and staff here. We see about 300 people a week. So yeah, it's been really beautiful. We have a nutritionist, you know, again, because we're looking at all of the ways we see trauma show up, right? We're getting to the root of how we see trauma show up. And so we're where we have a nutritionist, we have a yoga therapist, we have a nurse practitioner, we have a psychologist. So there's just like, we have multiple different people here again to help people. Also an ADHD coach that we have for people who maybe don't wanna be on medications but need some help with organization. Which I love that by the way, I've referred several people to her. Okay, awesome. She's amazing. She, we get such great feedback from her or for her. Thank you for that. Yeah, so I think I'm just really passionate about helping people find ways to heal. Because when we heal, when I'm healed, I can hold more or when I'm healing, I have the capacity to hold more for other people. And then I can show up for them in a way that is safe. And they can hold that and do that for someone else. So it's like this rippling effect of this outward sort of expansive, like healing that we can do in the world, right? So it starts with us, but it doesn't end with us, right? And my goal and hope is that we can live in a more beautiful, healthy planet and environment. And in order for us to do that, we really have to look at ourselves and how we're contributing or not contributing to that process. Yeah, I mean, I feel like what you said about working in a space where your body starts to fail you or your body just, I don't say fail you, your body starts to tell you something about. The environment you're in, right? That something's not right. I can't withstand, this environment. I need healing. I need something different. And that's how I felt when I worked at Dell Children's and then before that Memorial Hermann and Pediatric ICU and the trauma, like the ER. It was such an incredible experience, but so hard, you know, so much secondary trauma that I experienced and just seeing what I was seeing and also being new in the field, right? Like, I'm new too, and I'm taking in all these cases and seeing things I've never seen before. And as a person who's experienced trauma and not healed from it yet, which I didn't realize at the time, right? And just watching my body, kind of a lot of health issues started to show up. And I realized like, I can't do this anymore. I have to get out. As much as I wanna be here, I can't. Yep. Yeah. And it's, you know, I, I think that, you know, our, our body does really like send us messages, right. Our body really communicates with us. I think it was like right around that time. And I had previously been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, right. Again, because of the stress and the trauma and thinking about like my life journey, you know, being a teen mom with two kids, 16 years old, navigating the world as a, as an adult. Right. Even though I wasn't as far from an adult, you know, living in survival mode for so long. I developed this autoimmune disorder. And so I really started to notice like, oh, the stress, like it's stress related. And I used to be on medication for the autoimmune disorder. And so, really looking and listening at like, what is my body telling me? What's happening? Okay, I'm feeling overwhelmed. I need to change something, right? And so I started to look at how do I manage my stress in a way that helps me and helps my body to kind of like re-regulate itself in a way, right? And so I have not been on meds now for six years. And all of that, again, because I have been able to manage the stress and how it shows up and how that directly impacts the chronic, the autoimmune disorder. So I think it's like really important. And again, always thinking about how trauma impacts that for us, right? So that's why I'm like so passionate about trauma and like helping people like recognize and understand like all of the ways in which we're showing up in the world is if it's unprocessed, it's likely a trauma response, right? Right, right, exactly. I think about the work that you and your team do in the community and I'm curious, like how do you think they make that sustainable for them? Like your team of therapists who are doing this work. I mean, you are the trauma therapy center. So it's, you know, every client that comes in has some level of trauma. Yeah, no, that's a great question. And you know, I, um, I did an interview with another, like a newspaper a couple of weeks ago, and they asked the same thing. They were like, you know, what's different? Like, don't all people have trauma? And don't they all just go to the office and like process trauma? I'm like, yes. And right. Yes. And we like focus specifically on trauma and that is intense. And so, you know, I think it's recommended that most people only like carry like five clients on their caseload at any given time who have significant trauma, right. And all of our cases are trauma related, right. And so I do think like it is a lot of making sure that that people have what they need, giving them a lot of autonomy to choose. What is helpful for them what they need. I'm always like, what do you need? Okay, yes, let's do that. Do that you need it. You need to take a day off. Do you need to lessen your caseload? What do you need? Do you need space? Like how can we help you? Right? So it's always about giving the therapist the autonomy to choose what they need for themselves. And some of them are navigating their own health issues. And so then it becomes like, what can we do to support you? How can we help you like we're in this together. I love the way that they show up, we have a really high retention rate. You know, I'm constantly like checking in with people and making sure that they're well and that they feel supported. And as long as they feel supported, they can show up and do the work for the client. It's such an ecosystem. We want the clients to come back and continue to do the work because as long as the client's doing the work, then they can go out into the world and be better people. And in order for that to happen, we also need our therapists to show up and do that. We're so interdependent on one another you're in this process. Yeah, I mean, I think it's why what you're saying about checking in on your team, because many of the people listening, right, either have a private practice or a group practice, or they want to start one. And one of the biggest questions I get is how do we support our team? That work within our practices in a world like today where people's threshold is is lower, right? The amount that we can carry is only so much. And I think a lot of group practice owners are finding it challenging to hire folks because, you know, they just don't want to be seeing 20 clients a week or whatever the requirement is. And so I think as a leader, as someone that supports a whole team, what do you think is your role in that? And how do you feel like you show up differently for them versus, you know, the other work that you're doing? It's like, how do I support this team of mine that I know is doing really hard and important work? Yeah, you know, I think it's sending them a lot of like really positive messages at times, like, hey, I really appreciate you. Hey, thank you so much for being here. And I really learned that when I was at Southwest Key, you know, I worked at Southwest Key when I was 17, I started there and I left there when I was 30. So I was there for, you know, 13 years. And it was, it was the best experience that I've had. That really helped me grow into who I am because it was not only Latinx owned, right? It wasn't, it was one of the largest nonprofits in the world at the time. And maybe it still is. I don't know. I don't follow them very much these days, but just being supported in that space, like, Hey, what do you need? Hey, do you want to do anything else besides just being here? Have you thought about going back to college? And at the time, I had dropped out of school. I didn't even have a GED. They're like just encouraging me to do that work, right? And constantly, our CEO was constantly coming around and, you know, saying, Hey, I thank you so much. And just like the ways that they would show up for staff, just, and I learned a lot of that in that process. And I was like, man, that makes me feel really seen, you know, and I really value that. And so I do that for my staff. Now, we send them cookies when it's their birthday, we send them, we had three Three master's level clinicians passed their clinical exam last month, and we sent them things, right? And we do this every time. We make a big thing of it because that's a really big ... To get your clinical license is huge, right? Huge. It's huge. It's like, oh my gosh, I can breathe now. I send them bonuses. I send them little awards and things in the mail. I mean, it's just like, how can we continue to show up and show gratitude for the work that they're doing? Because it's important work, right? can't possibly do this work alone. And I recognize that and I appreciate them and I believe that they feel that. Yeah, and they do. I mean, I love that you do, you find ways to just make them feel seen, right? That's the most important thing. And I find that a lot of therapists who come to work at our practice come from working in workplaces that were harmful or that they've experienced, you know, some type of trauma in that work environment, and. They come to us scared, afraid, with walls up to show up and ask for a day off or not be okay and need a reduction in their caseload. And, you know, building an environment that is safe for them to ask for what they need, and I think that it's very hard to find. And, you know, I hear that that's what you're doing, right? because we all come from somewhere and we come with a lot of experience. Yeah, for sure. And I am so passionate about how do we end the cycles of trauma, even if it's work-related, right? If it's work-related or whatever it is, how do we discontinue the perpetuation of these cycles of trauma, right? And looking at the oppressive systems that we have all come from. And so looking at that and constantly trying to think about how we're dismantling that. And a lot of it is giving the autonomy back to the therapist and saying, what do you need? Yeah, do that. Take the day off. Right. Do you need to cancel clients? You need us to change? Like what can we do to support you? Right. And so, um, I think that that has been really helpful for the, for the therapist. And again, it allows them to show up to the client as their like whole self when they, when they feel rested, when they feel seen and feel supported. And so it's, it's just wonderful. It's just, yeah. I'm grateful for them every day. Yeah, I know. Same. I'm with you. I mean, what about you? How do you take care of yourself? How do you manage all the things? And do you ever find it difficult to do that? Yeah, absolutely. And going back to the body, right? I was in the three-year. Somatic experiencing program. Oh, amazing. Yeah. Yeah, and you know, I think I have really come to just, be more in sync with my body and like recognizing when my body is telling me like this is too much and just noticing, you know, and it's it's such an interesting thing when I think about like, having emotion right and crying. And so much of my I'm not anti cry because I'm always like, oh, like tears are so good for us. Like we really need to have that for ourselves. It's so great. But then like for myself, this is like where I really struggle because it is so hard for me me to tap into that part and like allow myself to have the tears, right? So you know, a lot of it is really connected to like my growing up, it was like, why are you crying? Why are you crying? Right, right. So like holding that but then also like being a mom at 14 I was like, Oh shit, like I can't cry like, because I'm a mom, right? Moms don't cry. Right. So then like holding that this like belief system, and like navigating life for I mean, My kids are now in their mid to late 20s, and so now I'm finally like, oh, shit, I don't need that part anymore. I don't need the survival part anymore. It's okay for me to cry. And so I've kind of been like, how do I get into that space where I'm allowing myself to have tears? Previously, I've circumvented that by going running and working out. Working out was always my thing, right? Running, working out, and now I've discovered sitting in the sauna, right? I'm like, let me get this cortisol release without actually crying. Work for me, Sana, work for me. And it works every time I tell you, I'm like, okay, I really need to like, I need to get these, this like cortisol out of my body. Let me go sit in this sauna for 20 minutes. So I think it really is about like trying to figure out like what we need for ourselves in those moments of high stress. Like how do you know you're in high stress? Right. To get a little more irritable with like my tolerance gets a little bit lower with my loved ones, with friends. And I'm like, Oh, okay. Like I need to go like do something like it's time. Right. Sometimes I'll journal. Sometimes I will. Yeah. Go to the pool. I mean, it's just like, like a number of things, right. Traveling or even just a day trip somewhere. Right. Just like getting away, taking a little bit of space. So I think, you know, sometimes for us, it is just a It's just a matter of like exploring what that is. Getting outside on my patio with a cup of coffee in the morning, listening to the birds, right? Watching the stars at night. Sometimes it's just like little things that I'm like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. And I have a rocking chair. I have two rocking chairs. Outside in the Mioca, like, this is old lady's bathroom. I am into it. I am so into it. That was like, I'm like, yeah. I know. Hey y'all, I'm interrupting this episode because I want to make sure you all know about my amazing work. Laying the foundation for your private practice. A workbook for mental health professionals specifically who are seeking to launch a private practice, grow their private practice, or refine their practice. This workbook is jam-packed with 80 plus pages of practical exercises and worksheets that cover everything from writing your mission and vision statement to exploring the financials of your practice, implementing those financials, and ultimately turning a profit and building a business that you love. This book really guides you through any stage of business and it's something you can refer back to. It's beautiful, it's jam-packed with resources, and it's something that I often give to my coaching clients to help get them started. We talk about equity, we talk about sustainability, we talk about profitability, what it means to have a values-based business so that together we may shift the mental health industry. And I don't know about you, but these resources were things that I didn't have when I first started my journey into entrepreneurship. And so I'm giving you everything that I've learned to start a private practice and grow a private practice to what it is today, which is, three businesses, seven figure revenue stream and still going. You can buy the workbook at at bravenwell.com forward slash workbook or just go to bravenwell.com and click on book. Music. It's so true that I feel like some people want to create this like menu of self care, right? I'm going to do X, Y and Z every day. And it's just like what you're saying. It's what you need at any given moment. And it looks differently every day. And I think as leaders, as people who serve others and support others, we do have to be intentional about the ways that we care for ourselves and the ways that we listen to what our body is telling us. And I think I grew up very much like that, Like no emotion allowed. If you cry, that's weakness and you need to suck it up, buttercup and keep it moving. And it is, it's a way to protect yourself, to survive. And like this idea that, you know, I don't need that part anymore. It's served its purpose. It's served its role and I can let it go now. It's okay. That is something new that I'm learning. And there's a lot of grief in that too. You know, like letting go of the parts of you that have held you for so long. Yes. Yes. And saying goodbye and saying thank you. I don't need you anymore. Like it makes me emotional thinking about it. Oh, it's true. I know. So I'm like, Oh, this part has got me where I'm at right now. I just like that. Yeah. Yeah, I get that. I get that. And it's you know, it's it's it's really beautiful to to see like my son is 26. And I have seen him cry many times. And especially like at his daughter's birth, he cried. At his wedding, he cried. And I'm just like, you know, like grateful because I'm like, yes, yes, son, this is a really important day for you. And there's a lot of emotion. And I love that you are expressing that for yourself right now. Right. And I just love that. Because I'm like, men can cry. It's okay. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It is okay. It's so healing and I cry a lot these days, but. Sometimes I'm like, I don't even know why I'm crying. I'm just crying But it is it is a healing experience and to allow like permission to just do it in the first place, you know, Yeah, it's a beautiful release that we all need and just like allowing ourselves to do all I think is yeah Yeah. Yeah. So when I think about, you know, healing and decolonizing mental health and removing stigma outside of one-on-one clinical work, how can we as therapists work towards that? What is it that you see take a part in healing, and decolonizing mental health? Yeah. Know, decolonizing mental health is such a big, it's huge. And I think it's very necessary. And you know, at this mental health conference this past week, we in DC, we talked a lot and people were talking quite a bit about, you know, the systems that we're all in that are actually really harming people. How do we move out of that space, right? And even in the healing space, right? I mean, thinking about us as therapists, the way that we were trained, right, in this sort of Western approach where it's very hierarchical and we're seen as sort of experts, right? And. So I think like, yes, and, right, we went to school, we learned all these things. And we also have to hold that the client is really the expert of their own life and like, allowing them to like... Be the lead and removing this hierarchical sort of dynamic, I think is a really big, it's like a really big thing that we need to be looking at. How are we removing some of the systems and. These oppressive systems within the therapeutic space, right? How are we doing that? And I know when you and I met back in, I think it was November. Yeah. And we talked about, you know, sometimes the things that we learn in school where it's like, don't share and don't do this and don't do that. And I'm like, people don't want to see that. Like we're in 2023, we've gone through a whole ass pandemic, you know, millions of people died. People are still in grief from that process. We cannot sit here and act like we are not hurting too. Right. Like that we're unfazed or untouched. Yeah. And so I'm like, you know what, not that we need to overshare with our clients, but I think clients need to really see these days that you are a real person, them, right? You are a woman and they want a way to connect. And that's just, that is just a natural response. We want to connect to people, right? We want to, we want to connect to our community. Yep. It's so vital. And so I think that, you know, continuing to do work like that, where we're looking at, oh, I'm a therapist, but I'm also human. And yeah, I like pizza too. You know? Yeah, I like Beyonce too. Yeah. You know, and it's just like, oh, like, you know, I can connect with my therapist in that way. And I think like, that's important, you know, it's, it's just really important, because people come to us with the most vulnerable things. And I tell people, the relationship that you have with your therapist is the. Most vulnerable relationship you will ever have with someone, because you're sharing, maybe things that you can't share with your parents, with your partner, with your kids, like you're sharing this really deep stuff. I mean, that's the that's the hope, right? Maybe for some people they haven't found that therapist to be able to do that. But you know, we're sharing our most vulnerable thoughts with another human and I think it makes sense that they want to connect. So that's another way that I think, you know, we have to really start to look at like decolonizing some of what we've been taught in school. That's so real. I mean, the power of story, right? The power of being truthful and honest, you know, like when a client asked me a question of, You know, I had a client who was like, I'm just curious, what sign are you? What's your zodiac sign? The old social worker in me from like 2009 would have said, why are you asking? You know, what makes you curious about that? And now I'm like, I'm a Gemini. Like, I'm happy to tell you who I am, you know? But I think like, so we're just drilled down so hard in these academic systems about like, what's OK and what's not OK. Okay, and now I think about. Well, who decided that like who said that that was what had to be true, you know. But we just take everything we learn in school and we Take it for all to be fact and truth without questioning or getting curious and saying well. Hmm. What does that look like? In practice Yeah, and some of it is I you know, exactly that like challenging the the systems right challenging like Like, who decided that was a good idea? Who decided that, right? And especially like, you know, a lot of the research out there is very, is white-centered, right? And so who decided that worked for brown bodies, right? Or BIPOC bodies, who decided that? Like, maybe that doesn't work here, right? And we know that. I mean, and I've been exploring my indigenous background. You know, my grandpa was 90% Native American And really starting to explore a lot of that for myself and recognizing like, oh, I have these healer parts, right? And learning that part of my mother's side of the family, my grandpa, they were healers. They were what we would consider like people who practice Cunaderismo, right? And so really learning like, oh, this has been something that has been in my lineage for quite a while. And then on my dad's side of the family, this warrior Aztec part of me that is like really where my passion comes from, I believe, right? And so, you know, this like fiery passion that I have that is more warrior based, that is like, you know, we just keep going like, I am like, so resilient, and some people don't like this word, but the resilience within me is. This passion, right, this warrior part, and we all likely have warrior parts, right and healer parts. And so I think it is just like a matter of like tapping in and holding that for ourselves and and making sense of it and using that to help change the world, hopefully. Right, yeah, my grandfather had a lot of Native American in him too. I don't know what percentage, but he had very dark skin and dark black shiny hair. And my hair is like my mom's hair. She gets her hair from him. And I'm like, man, I just wanna know more. Like I'm eager to learn more too. It's really powerful stuff. And again, it's been a really beautiful process and I'm just learning about myself where I thrive and the most freedom for myself right now is not in any boxes. Like I'm like, nope, not doing that. No more boxes for me. Like I need to be free. I need to be free from these like boxes that we have been stuffed into for generations, right? That doesn't serve me. And the way that, again, I can be in my full authentic self and like show up for clients is like living in that space. We are multi-faceted human beings with lots of story that lives before us, so. So I see more and more therapists of color coming out and really going into the world of private practice and, you know, deciding that they can do it. There's like this new confidence. Do you see that too? What are you, what's your message to folks thinking about that? Because I think, Hell yeah, representation matters. We need more therapists of color in the field. And how it came to be that this was not the space for them. I know, you know, in Austin, like, the mental health community is very white. And so I feel very protective of our BIPOC therapist community, but also, you know, want to see more, more of that. Because our clients are craving it. You know, we've seen an uptick in clients, BIPOC clients seeking therapy services, finally for the first time, you know, they feel comfortable doing that. So just curious about your thoughts around that. Yeah, I think it's really beautiful. You know, I think for so long, BIPOC folks have stayed away from the mental health space because it's been so stigmatized, right? It's been so stigmatized that we have just like, nope. We're not crazy. We don't need to be anywhere near that. So let's just not even talk about and maybe that's that's even like how we I mean, and we know like, you know, educationally, that has not been a space for for BIPOC people, right? For a long time, it was like college was only for white people. So. This is why we continue to see so many, like a majority of over representation of white people in a lot of the spaces out there, right. And so I am glad that we are having more of an. Increase an uptick, this like rising of healers that are BIPOC that are coming out and ready to jump in and help because it's exhausting for the 4% of us that are out here now, right? It's exhausting. So I love that. And I'm glad to see that. And yeah, I hope that that continues. Yeah, representation is so important. destigmatization is so important. And this is also like what really prompted me to start Contigo Wellness, right, the nonprofit that is really centered in those three things, which is, you know, the representation, continuing to destigmatize looking at how how we're not causing more harm with these oppressive systems. So decolonizing, you know, anti racist curriculum that we're putting out there. And what else did I not leave out? Oh, connecting people to healers to whether it's a therapist, a licensed therapist, or somebody who does good in that he's somebody who does sound healing, somebody who does massage therapy, whatever it is, like whatever way people need to feel right now, like we want that for people, right? Yeah. And so yeah, just really removing all of the barriers that we have seen historically keep people out of the healing space. Right. Can you share more about Contigo Wellness? Yeah. So again, Contigo came to me at the end of, and I always tell people like, because people are like, how did you get here? And I'm like, you know, I'm divinely guided. I truly believe that I have a vision for things that need to exist that don't exist, right? And Contigo is one of these things that I'm really passionate about. I, you know, it's, it's sort of my, you know. My baby, but not just mine, right? I like to think of it as like, it's all of our baby. And when I tell our board all the time, it's like, you know, this is all of ours. And like, right, we, you know, all of us are contributing to this, because we're, we're making a difference. And so it really is, we're looking at what keeps people out of therapy, right? What keeps people out of the healing space? Historically, it's been stigma, right? I'm not crazy. I don't need that. I don't need to talk to anybody. I can talk to my mom, I can talk to my cousin. Like, I don't, I don't need anybody else to talk to. We keep it with all of everything, all of our problems we keep within the family because we don't trust. Right. So we're looking at destigmatization. We're looking at decolonizing, right? Because the really, the only way that we can help people is by not perpetuating systems that have caused harm. So we have to look at decolonizing all the things, right? And if nobody has read, or I'll just drop the book in here. It's decolonizing wealth, by Edgar Villanueva, and he is phenomenal. I mean, my soul just like is filled by his words and he talks a lot about the colonizer virus that we all are experiencing right now, right? And so really looking at decolonizing ourselves and the spaces that we're in. And so that's why our nonprofit Contigo Wellness is so important because no one is really doing this work, right? at. How are we providing care that's really focused on anti-racist lens? How are we bringing in people that really can honor this? Right. And so we have about 60 different healers on the network right now. People can sign up on our network and most of them are bilingual English and Spanish, but it's also not a requirement, right? I think the most important thing is that I am committed to providing care that is centered in an anti-racist and decolonized lens. And I want to be out here providing this to people. So we have people, we have several people listed on there who do curanderismo. And just all of the ways that we think about healing, right, even when we think about like restorative justice and transformative justice circles, right. So really bringing back in some of the indigenous ancestral practices of healing and how that used to happen in community, right. So that's part of it. And again, so we connect people to, to BIPOC healers. And we are also helping people pay for some of their therapy or some of their healing. So again, it's a really beautiful nonprofit. It really needs to exist everywhere that we're moving the needle to a lot of this decolonized work, helping people have that healing without being traumatized, re-traumatized, right? And I think about all of the people, even in the medical space, not just the therapeutic space, the medical space, where we're seeing bodies of color, you know, get treated. It very differently. The standard of care is not the same, right? And so, you know, that is happening everywhere in a lot of spaces. And so we're really just committed to helping people find that space for themselves that isn't going to be harmful. Gosh, I mean, I don't think I realize that people can sign up to be providers on there. I think that's an incredible resource. And so important that you have a variety of different, healers. It's not just therapists, because I'm a big believer that we healing does not just happen in one space or in the therapy room. I love that. I have a whole spiritual team. Like I tell people, like, they're like, Oh, how do you and I'm like, I have a whole spiritual team. I mean, I mean, I do Reiki and I do massage therapy, you know, I see an acupuncturist, I, I also see my tarot reader, right, like, I have an entire, that's the one I need. I don't have a tarot reader yet. I have a tarot person who's amazing. Yeah, I also have somebody who is a guide who does ceremonial plant medicine. And so she's also my guide and somebody who I have really just adored our connection and relationship and she has helped me tremendously. I mean, you know, I think when I did a, it feels like I am like an entirely new person. Like I've gone through a whole rebirth in my life last year. It was like an entire rebirth. And so that's why when I, at the beginning, when I talked about like my, how I identify, it's like I am in a whole new world. It's been a very interesting journey for me, for sure. It's so special to find those people that you can co-create with, right? And like really just discover what you need and who you are. And I'm a big believer in that too. That's why I tell my clients, I'm like, no, here are all the referrals you need to go out and find your people because that's the only way through. You know, we need each other. So. Absolutely. And again, it's not just one, right? Like how we pour into each other in different ways. We might get a little bit of this from this person and a little bit of that. And like that helps us be whole. Yep, thank you so much for being here. I, you know, I know I tell you this all the time, but I really appreciate the work you do. You are, how you show up and just how you bring people with you, you know, and I think that's important for for us, you know, who are out there doing the work and as leaders that we're bringing people with us. And and I think you do that so well. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for saying that for the kind words and yeah, allowing me to have this space. Yeah. So how can people find you after this? Part of my mental health break right now, is like not being on social media. And it's been amazing. It's been six weeks now I haven't been on but people can follow our our business pages, right? Austin Trauma Therapy Center at at x trauma therapy CTR, or contigo wellness contigo underscore wellness. Yeah, so those are some ways that Oh, and right now, so contigo wellness, again, because our big emphasis, one of the really big pillars that we have is de-stigmatization, right? So this month, June is LGBTQ Mental Health Awareness Month. And so we'll be doing some LGBTQ mental health focused events the latter part of this month. Next month is BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, right? And we know that that's been going on for a few years now. But in April, it's Men's Mental Health Awareness Month. And then March is Women's Mental Health Awareness Month. So again, we're looking it all of the ways that we can get into spaces where we're continuing to talk about mental illness, continuing to normalize mental illness. And just, you know, I think that the more we talk about it, the more we can start to break down the stigma and the barriers and just we're just normalizing being a human. Yeah. So yeah, so that's one of the one of the ways that people can follow us. Yeah, that'd be great. If people want to share our. Story, or Oh, we have a healing fund. That healing fund is what allows us to help people pay for their their healing services. So if people want to contribute, they feel called to do that. There's a place that they can they can do that on our website or online. So yeah, contigo wellness. Yeah. And I'll link all of this in the show notes so that people can have access to it all. And yes, and they can share your events, your information and follow along. It's such good work, y'all. So I will add it all in the show notes. All right. Thank you. Thank you. So great to see you. I know you too. All right, y'all. Thank you for listening. Stay brave. Thank you so much for listening to the Brave and Well podcast. You can find links and resources from this episode in the show notes at www.braveandwell.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast listening platform. Then send it to a friend. Music.