A Hero's Welcome Podcast
A Hero’s Welcome Podcast
For the therapists doing the hard work and the hearts behind the healing.
Hosted by Maria Laquerre Diego and Liliana Baylon, both LMFT-S and RPT-S, A Hero’s Welcome is a podcast created by and for mental health professionals. We spotlight the work, wisdom, and lived experiences of therapists who show up for others every day, especially those working with children, families, and communities impacted by trauma, migration, and systemic stress.
Each episode features honest conversations with expert clinicians, supervisors, trainers, and consultants. We talk about clinical insights, cultural humility, and what it means to support healing in today’s world. This is your space if you’re a therapist seeking a more profound connection, real-world tools, and community.
Hosts:
Maria Laquerre-Diego
maria@anewhopetc.org
Liliana Baylon
liliana@lilianabaylon.com
A Hero's Welcome Podcast
Embracing Cultural Sensitivity and Early Relational Health with Dr. Meyleen Velasquez
Dr. Meyleen Velasquez, an inspiring Latina clinician, joins us to share her profound journey in mental health, shaped by her own life with vitiligo and her dedication to working with perinatal and early relational health. Embarking on this path in Miami, she was one of the few Spanish-speaking clinicians, leading her to specialize in play therapy. We explore her newly published book, "What Therapists Need to Know About Perinatal and Early Relational Health," which provides an anti-oppressive framework for supporting pregnant individuals and families with young children. Listen as Dr. Velasquez emphasizes the importance of recognizing caregivers as whole individuals beyond their parenting roles and how this perspective enriches family dynamics and therapeutic outcomes.
Reflective practice takes center stage as we discuss its critical role in infant mental health, highlighting the significance of reflective supervision and consultation in challenging embedded ableism within mental health fields. Dr. Velasquez encourages us to question dominant parenting style narratives and embrace cultural sensitivity by understanding family dynamics within their unique contexts. Together, we advocate for an inclusive approach that acknowledges diverse family structures, from multi-generational households to LGBTQ+ families. We also address the limitations of traditional theories and academia in adapting to these evolving dynamics, underscoring the need for heart-centered practices to build meaningful connections within the therapeutic community. Join us as we aim to transform the landscape of family mental health with openness and curiosity.
A Hero's Welcome Podcast © Maria Laquerre-Diego & Liliana Baylon
welcome listeners back for another episode of a hero's welcome podcast. I am your co-host, maria laquer diego, and I am here with my lovely co-host.
Speaker 2:That's me. I was gonna say it's my link, but no, it's me, liliana baylor, and we are here with a special guest, dr mylene velasquez. For all of you, um, who are there listening, um, first of all, I I'm going to say she's amazing. But, mylene, besides being a doctor, what else do you want everyone else who's listening to us to know about you? How do you want to introduce yourself?
Speaker 3:Sure, I am an immigrant Latina living in the US. I navigated most of my life in a brown body, so I say I'm a brown clinician and I navigate the world with vitiligo. It's an autoimmune condition where your immune system attacks the cells that produce melanin. For me, it developed when I was 16 with two tiny little spots under my eye, and when I was around 28 years old it just moved exponentially quickly. And so I share that because it's an important part of my identity and how I navigate the world. In my work, I live at the intersection of perinatal infant play therapy and anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices.
Speaker 2:Thanks Huge. So that's how I met May maylene. We're both migrants, um, we had discussions in regards to what is it like to live in the us, and either acculturating or assimilating, and I think one day we'll bring you back so that we can have this beautiful discussion, um, especially in a society that struggles with that, especially when you're serving this population as well. But for today, do you want to share with our audience what is it that we're going to be discussing?
Speaker 3:I can share. I'm excited we're going to be talking about a book that I just published this July and it's called what Therapists Need to Know About Perinatal and Early Relational Health and it's an anti-oppressive guide to working with perinatal folks, that's, pregnancy and postpartum folks, their babies and their young children.
Speaker 1:Congratulations.
Speaker 3:Thank you. It still feels pretty surreal. It still feels like I'm talking about someone else, Like I'm like yeah, yeah, I'm totally this lady who published the book.
Speaker 2:I'm totally this lady who got a doctorate degree and I published a book.
Speaker 3:Little girl from Venezuela.
Speaker 1:That's right baby, Venezuela, that's right baby. So I'm curious how did you pick this as your?
Speaker 3:specialty and your interest. How did that happen? Oh yeah, that's such a good question because it's kind of my journey into the field. When I graduated with my bachelor's degree, I started working at a community mental health organization, and this is 2006. And I was doing psychosocial assessments. And then, because I spoke Spanish, and now this is in Miami where there's a lot of Spanish-speaking folks, but even so, you see sort of the discrepancies among who are the providers that have access to things and you know who are the bilingual community, that the providers that have access to things and you know who are the bilingual community that don't always have access to things. So because I was one of the only Spanish speaking providers, I was asked to run a group and this was an outpatient substance use disorder group, and so I was like sure, what do I do? And so that kind of started my journey.
Speaker 3:The next year I enrolled in a master's program and I got an MSW and I was thinking that I was going to focus on working with folks with substance use disorder and also with folks that had experienced interpartner violence, folks that had experienced inter-partner violence. What ended up happening is that I started a residential job and, seeing the lack of support that was provided for people, how folks were coming into this residential program. There wasn't a lot of holding or I wasn't sure what we were actually doing. And then folks went out into the community and then came right back in and so I started to think about how can I work with folks maybe a little younger earlier on and I got a job doing therapeutic home visits and so I was going to the homes was to do that kind of work. I remember asking my supervisor for some tools and activities that I can do with the families and my supervisor said you can create your own. And so I'm sure this is not what my supervisor meant at the time. But I was like I don't know what I'm doing. My supervisor doesn't know what they're doing. Like, what do I do? So I went online and it was like play therapy training, and so I was very lucky to have grown up as a clinician in Miami around a time that there were tons, tons of free, grant funded, accessible training for us. So I took my introductions play therapy. And so I took an intro to play therapy and I was like, oh yeah, this is my jam, I love it. And I got connected with a 72 hourhour play therapy training course that included supervision. So you were recorded, your supervisors were there and it was no cost to me, which was like that is unheard of. Had that not been the case, I wouldn't be here, like y'all would be here, I wouldn't be here.
Speaker 3:From there, I started working at a shelter for women and children and I started to see that a lot of folks had babies and were pregnant and I was like, what do I do? So I went online and I'm like baby training and I found a training that's called Fuzzy Baby, and that training actually shifted the whole trajectory of my career and I fell in love with the field of infant mental health, which is also called early relational health. And then, from there, I started to notice like, okay, there's a lot of focus on the babies, which is needed right, because we need caregivers to be protective and secure and reliable caregivers to to their children. Um, and there wasn't this piece of like the caregiver as an individual with a separate identity from being this child's parent, like I felt like that was sort of missing. So again I went online and I'm like, and I found a training by Perinatal Support Washington Perinatal Support Washington no. Postpartum Support International.
Speaker 3:Perinatal Support Washington is where I am now. That's the organization, that's the branch of Postpartum Support International that is in Washington state. But I found a training by PSI and I was like, oh, I love this. So most of my work is around supporting pregnant and postpartum folks and their little ones. How the anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens came in One. It's like my lived experience. But when I started doing leadership work, I was also. I also had like another experience of being whiplash and sort of coming to like a really strong break of wow. Like the things that folks say, like when I'm in the room and like they're talking about me and my community and they're talking about other communities that I'm not a member of, but how do I navigate this?
Speaker 3:And so that that led me into another journey. So that's, that's my. You know how we say like to make a long story short. So, this is like to make a long story.
Speaker 2:long, that was that was sad, but I think that is the call right Before we jump in. I think that is a call and I think that's why I love connecting with you, because I think for both of us was going to trainings or reading books and realizing that there's a lot of stereotypes about us. Realizing that there's a lot of stereotypes about us, not just females the three of us, gender, gender inequality but also as latinas. And then if you add the migrant label, then we don't like how we've been portrayed, not in academia, not in mental health trainings. And then you and I both of us have discussed like fuck no, and let me go do this instead. So we're challenging when it comes to, you know, being anti-oppressive. It's not the idea that I reject you or I, but it's like I disagree with you. And are you open for another perspective that I can offer? And if we're individuals and we want to attend to the individual, can you not put us into boxes? Because there's no such thing, and I think that's part of our work, right? But coming back to I even love what you're discussing, which is that's true we tend to pay attention to when we're talking about working with early relationship help. We tend to and I have.
Speaker 2:This has been my pitch in anger since I was pregnant. I'm going to put it out there just for all of you to know, because I'm still resentful, even though my kid is 26 now and youngest is 21, which is when I was pregnant. Everyone wanted to touch my stomach and everyone was talking, which is when I say no and people are like, oh, but why? I was like because this is my body, can you ask for consent? And if I said no, don't touch my stomach, like, don't touch it, but then too, the attention was on the child, not on me.
Speaker 2:And then giving birth, then the attention goes to the child and as the mother left behind. So then society says do you have an identity? But I don't, because it goes from significant other. If you are in a relationship to mother of, no one pays attention to you, right? And then society says you have to be all these things and do all these things. And then we're not paying attention to the mental health of the mother and I love how you put it. I even like highlighted which is the early relationship help, which is how are you doing with all these adjustments around you? Are you taking care of your body as it's been going through so many transitions. And I see you. And how can I support you? I see that both of you are not and I was like great, I'm preaching to the choir.
Speaker 1:So I mean, honestly, what's coming up for me and this just unlocked a memory that I clearly have pushed aside so both of my children are adopted. And what just came up for me when you said that Liliana was one of their first checkups with my son, who's my oldest? The practitioner's assistant it wasn't the doctor at the time, but the practitioner's assistant. Right, they come in, they weigh the baby, they're doing their thing, and I got a, you know, a quick like a how are you holding up up? And then she's like flipping through the chart right and she goes oh, that's right, that's right, this, this one's adopted.
Speaker 1:How lucky for you that you must not be so exhausted oh, that's a microaggression in so intensity levels yeah, but for me that's what came up and I was like and I mean, clearly he's nine now as we're recording, like that has been like pushed aside. But I, for me, it was like, oh, I didn't, like I didn't experience that and I think in back of my mind that was it was because it was an adoption situation. Now, knowing that that's kind of their baseline anyway, right, like no one's asking about how the parents are holding up, right, we all make jokes about like oh, once the baby sleeps through the night, or sleep when the baby sleeps, and like all of these little things, but none of it is actually rooted in. Are you okay? Are you taking care of you so that you can take care of baby? The expectation and even the jokes like double down on you, sacrifice everything for the baby, you no longer matter, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can say that for the folks in the back. There's this idea that we often talk about in the perinatal world, about how the you know, when the person is pregnant, right, it's like a piece of candy, and so when the child is born, right, and when the child joins the family, we take the candy and we throw away the wrapper, right. And I'm hearing your experience and I'm like it is not only harmful but also incorrect, because we know that perinatal changes, complications, impact everyone the gestational caregiver, the non-gestational caregiver, whether a family, whether a child came in through a family, by all the different ways that it came, it's going to have a change. And to ignore that or to minimize it or to say that, you know, like it's not as bad, which is also minimizing, right, it's just ignorant, it is.
Speaker 2:It's a microaggression.
Speaker 3:That's what it is yeah, and how hurtful.
Speaker 1:Right, right. And my mind just went to the biological mother's own treatment after no longer caring for the baby. Right Like infant was adopted out, if that same and we're in different parts of the country, so. But if my nurse experience was anything similar to what she may have experienced after, well, like, well, at least you can sleep through the night because you don't have any. How terrible and how.
Speaker 2:how that could have flitted through someone's brain and thought like, oh, that's okay to say out loud so I think that's where it comes right, like, how do we help our clients to organize this so that we don't minimize it or think like there was no harm there, when, in reality is, there is no focus? As you, as an individual, I really love the image that you share in regards to the candy, because I was like, oh my god, that's exactly what happens when we are caretakers. It has never been about us, is it? Um? And that is the way. That's the way I've been oppressed.
Speaker 2:A system that is oppressive, um, holy cow. There's like so many connections happening right now. I'm only just saying, you know, um, because I was like burn the system, um, but tell us besides, for all of us who are, who are listening, or for all of anyone who is listening, please get the book. It's really an important book. But how can, as a therapist, they show up and start recognizing those biases that they have? We all have biases. Don't think if you're a minority, if you're female instead of male, or identified as, or if you are a therapist, like, we all have biases. Let's normalize that. But what is it that they need to know? Attending to the clientele that they are serving?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, thank you for that, and thank you for saying we all have biases, because this is the air that we breathe, the water that we swim in, like none of us are immune from it, and to think that we are is dangerous. I'm going to kind of lean into an aspect of infant mental health that I love, which is reflective practice, an aspect of infant mental health that I love which is reflective practice, and so the field of infant mental health has embedded within it the practice of reflective supervision and reflective consultation. We know that reflection can happen individually and it can happen in the context of our collaborator, and I find that that's something that that is missing from the other fields. Like when do we have a space to sit and think about? What is it like for me to sit with this individual? What is it like for me to sit with this family? What am I thinking? What's coming up for me? If I start to feel upset, if I, if I all of a sudden, like my body, shakes, what was that about? And having some intentional time to actually reflect on that and and to think about when we come up with the hypotheses and, you know, reminding ourselves that everything that we come up with is a hypothesis. We don't know until, until we're in collaboration with a person. So when we come up with a hypothesis, thinking about where is this coming from, what life experience, what training experience is guiding this thought and how do I know that that's accurate, and how am I partnering with the client to say this is what I'm noticing, but I'm wondering how it is for you.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, the field and this is a bit controversial among some groups, but the field of infant mental health and the field of early childhood has a lot maybe all of mental health has a lot of ableism embedded into it. The way we think about development you know the existence of a diagnosing system is ableist, by, you know, by being ableist. But when we look at development, how are we partnering with the families to really understand what does this mean to you? Because developmental skills, right. We can argue like oh okay, you know they have been validated, but what does that mean?
Speaker 3:What does that mean in the context of communities that have been historically marginalized, right? Isn't it actually like what we think it means? You know, when we think about the rites of passage in different communities for children you know some communities in the US we focus a lot on zero to three. You know there's a bit of a movement to focus on zero to five, but in some of our Latino communities we focus on zero to seven, sometimes zero to ten. So what? The independence that we expect in some of the dominant systems is going to look very different across communities and across cultures. Across communities and across cultures.
Speaker 3:And if the lens that people are coming with is, you know, sort of this lens that we have been taught in school, you know, I think about, I read so much in my book, in the books in my MSW program and outside of it, about how Latino communities are enmeshed and the word by itself, like, seems so, like almost derogatory, like well what's the problem with being connected like that is actually a beautiful thing, right, but if we're, if we're coming with that lens and we're thinking about enmeshment as like something bad, and then we're seeing a child that whose parent is not, you know, letting them explore in the way that we think they should be letting them explore, then now we have this narrative about the family that is based on us and is not necessarily based on how the family is functioning and what makes sense in their ecosystem.
Speaker 1:Which just seems so funny when we, especially in play therapy and in working with children, behaviors are communication, right. So why can't we stay curious of, like, how is this serving them and how is this done by purpose, right? Like you, you know we have derogatory. I feel like the derogatory terms of you know, like the helicopter parent, and very much when you brought up the term enmeshment, like I went right back to grad school of like that is a no-no and like I even have a case that came to mind and that that was like the, the problem that they were coming in with and now living in Southern New Mexico and embedded into a culture that very much like enmeshment is not a bad thing. We don't even use that term when we look at it here, but my very Anglo counterparts in New England, where I went to grad school, would still very much hold that lens right.
Speaker 1:And when you think about, was there a birthing trauma? Is that why mom and dad are so maybe, quote unquote over-attentive or over-responsive? Are they dealing with their own generational trauma now that they are? Parents are showing up for the first time for them, and I love that, because I do think that first lens can be very judgmental and harsh to you know, when we talk about the medical model, it is very judgmental. You know these developmental milestones. They're based on Anglo middle-class families. That is not, that is not the majority anymore, that's not the, especially in the mental health field. Those aren't the kids we're seeing.
Speaker 3:Like it doesn't benefit anybody, right Even Anglo families. It still causes harm. Which is like what? What baffles us sometimes we're like harm, which is like what baffles us, sometimes we're like why are we still doing this if it's oppressive to everyone?
Speaker 1:If it's oppressive to one, it shouldn't be considered.
Speaker 2:That's right. So I think this is what some of the discussions right, which is how can we create awareness not only that we all have biases, but that we tend to take something that we learn in academia and tend to project onto others. This is what it should be like, from attachment through enrichment. So for me it has always been like how is that a problem? And why is it a problem? Because it should be the focus on the eye For you, it's on the eye For these families, not.
Speaker 2:So what is the projection? Can we just stay here for a families? Not. So. What is the projection? Can we just stay here for a little bit? What is the expectation of this family? Because this is working for them? Um, so, even when I go to trainings now I'm very personal reading like who's the trainer, what's their background, and even when they say it's an attachment, they say tell me more, because attachment doesn't mean anything to me. So it's, can you be informed of what you're consuming? Because in that consumption comes the biases and the projections that you will take to heart and then take that into your clients. Versus being curious about your clients, right, your clients versus being curious about your clients, right. And what are the adaptations that we have to make with what we know and what makes sense for the client that you're serving?
Speaker 3:and there's a difference there, yeah, yeah, and how hard it is to to embark in this anti-racist and anti-oppressive journey because, as providers all of us I really strongly believe this that we come into this field with the best of intentions, with a heart to serve. Nobody gets into this wild heart-centered work to do harm, right? Um? And yet the way that we're trained brings a context. The systems that we're embedded in bring another context. You know, I think of diagnosing as a necessary evil because even though, like, yes, I wish I, you know it didn't exist, right, but let me okay, I'll finish this thought so I wish it didn't exist, because I wish that families, young children, adults, individuals, everybody were able to access the services that they need without this label. And I also want to say that, even though I called it this label, and I also want to say that, even though I called it a necessary evil, I also want to recognize that for many of us it's like the light and like, oh, like, this makes sense, this thing that everybody has judged me for makes sense and I'm going to own it.
Speaker 3:I often say that I navigate the world with PTSD, right, and that is a big part of my identity. So I just language is tricky and I'm trying to. I'm trying to hold myself accountable when my language goes somewhere that I don't want it to. But yeah, so we have school, we have the system that we're embedded into, we have families and bills and the cost of living. Right where you remember when before before, you were in the field where you were watching like movies or tv and you saw like the therapist in the movie that was, it had one client and then like was like had like five books open and they were like writing notes on that client, they lied to us. It's no time for that right and this movement is calling us to make time for it yeah, it's true.
Speaker 2:Um, I think part of the last month's conversation between Maria and I has been like there's a new cohort that is demanding, asking for different, and the field is having a hard time adjusting to it because they want to go to all norms, what is familiar, so I don't have to experience the anxiety of it. Yet this new cohort is saying no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We cannot go there. We know different. Why do I have to do this? I love this new cohort for that. I mean, it gives me anxiety, but I love what they're asking us to do because, for me, it's forcing me to be accountable not only for the words that I use, which it matters, with the exception of fuck you. That's just a release, um, but but it's awareness of what I consume, um, the awareness of um. Who are the trainers that I follow? Where is there accountability for ableism, for culture? I know ableism is within cultures, but cultures, when they focus on ethnicity and race, for understanding difference, and when I ask questions such as what adaptations are you making, they know how to attend to that versus this is what I learned. There's a rigidity and there's no space to be curious in that I keep saying the demographics are changing globally, it's not just in the United States.
Speaker 2:I know in the United States we have limitations because we don't get informed outside the US. I'm calling it and that's okay. It's heavy. It's heavy to pay attention outside the US. I think it's because I don't know about you, maylene, but because I coexist in worlds. I have this need to be informed because that's what clients are bringing to me, depending on their country of origin. So it requires that I'm informed in order to make sense. But in the US we have limitations because we're afraid, because we're comfortable, because we have these old ideas of comfort. And this new generation is saying we're being informed. It's a good thing, because they tend to go to social media and that's not accurate. But there's a shift that is happening and we are demanding more. Such as if you're working with this population, can you attend to the caretaker? It doesn't matter if it's biological or not. Such as if you're working with this population, can you attend to the caretaker? It doesn't matter if it's biological or not, can you attend?
Speaker 3:Because it emotionally impacts us.
Speaker 1:Well, and it's the trickle-down effect, right? If we're not looking at the whole system, then we're missing long-term change and health. Right? If we're only focused on the infant and we're leaving the parents to manage themselves? In a time where the world is upside down, right? Day and night are confused, they can't probably even tell you. I mean, there were days where I'm like how long has it been since I've eaten, showered or gone to the bathroom? I have no idea. I have no idea, right, but we hold this belief. Like you're an adult, you must be able to take care of yourself. I'm just going to be focused on this baby. We're missing the system of care and so the possibility for long impacting health and wellness is being missed. Right, it's no different than when we, you know, lift the bandage and we're like oh well, I'm just gonna put another bandaid on it, versus like, oh, I got to take the time to like clean this so that it heals whole and isn't at risk later on as soon as I take my eyes off of it.
Speaker 2:And then, how do we include the father if it's in the picture? Because historically, you know, we tend to focus on usually was the mother who used to take the child for visits, either to therapy or medical, and we did not include it to. How's he doing? How's he involved? How his identity change, is he aware of the changes? How is he taking care of? How he's responding and co-regulating with mama like it's? All these things that unfortunately tell me, if it's true, because I have a bias here and I'm owning it In the play therapy field we're trained to only work with the child and not attend the system, and we tend to dismiss the parental in this case the father quite often.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're not given a lot of skills in many different trainings to actually engage the family unit, and I think that when we're looking at a child, we absolutely need to think about who are the adults and the other folks that are involved in their lives folks that are involved in their lives and this is also hard because it comes back to, you know, what we're taught in many of our programs because, as you have both said, most of the historical research has been focused on the experience of the mother and the experience of a very specific group, right, that doesn't, that doesn't include everyone, right? And so in that we've lost, or erased rather, the stories of trans parents, we've erased the stories of LGBTQ families, we've erased the stories of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, we've erased the story of the eldest child who might be a co-parent to that main parent, and all those pieces are important.
Speaker 3:I am a fan of including and thinking with the client about who is important in your life and who needs to be here yeah even if we're just naming it, even if we're not ready to invite that person, because sometimes it could be beneficial to invite the non-gestational caregiver or to invite, you know, an extended family member, and sometimes it might not, because we know all the reasons why.
Speaker 2:But the invitation right is can you be curious? Because you're absolutely right. I grew up with my grandma being my mom and I remember coming to the US as a teenager and I would say, like my mom's, like your mom was like well, that's my grandma, um, so, like, how did you differentiate? Well, that's mama munda, this is mama socorro. And I was like, what do you mean? So there was that confusion of like we're gonna dismiss when you're talking about your grandma.
Speaker 2:Even today, I was doing a consultation and they were telling me, no, she was raised by grandparents. I was like great, those are parents. She's like my biological mom was not attending, and so on and so forth. I was like, no, no, no. So you're focusing on the attachment, because now you are projecting this expectation from an attachment lens, but that's not serving this client. So let's reframe it.
Speaker 2:So again, we have, because the systems that we participate in by getting our degree there's no in or out about it Academia has a hard time catching up. Let's make that explicit. And it's based on what we're reading. It may be like. So let's think back to your book. How can we read this book and be curious about things that we have not considered, especially when you have these different share experiences and life experiences that you get to name for a lot of therapists who don't have that lens, have a bias, and now they get to read and be curious and consider when they're working with these families. You know, if you want to hire me to promote your book I can but I might. I am terrible with marketing.
Speaker 3:I call what I do heart centered marketing, which it's just like building relationships and like collaborating together. Because, yeah, the other stuff just I don't know. I don't know if it's my own stuff or it just doesn't feel right.
Speaker 2:There's some work to be done there.
Speaker 3:And we will do it for you.
Speaker 2:The work is never ending. Oh my God, there's so much. I feel like you need to come back because there was just not enough time for everything that you're sharing. So, first of all, like thank you for taking the space and coming in and inviting us to be reflective of our practice, to be curious and to consider other possibilities when we're working not only with the child, but with the system. We need to include the system and then, too, the beautiful way that you're doing it, which is even like with the book that you have right.
Speaker 2:What is it that we need to know when we're early, when we're working with early relational health? I love that. I even, like highlighted early relational help. Please come back and continue talking to us, because we cannot continue Like we need reminders of this work that we're doing. It's so easy.
Speaker 2:Even when you were talking about how they lied to us in regards to the therapy, I was like, oh my God, it's true, but we need reminders of hey, can you slow down, can, can, can you just be aware, not only when you are in front of that person, and God knows that we have all this to do, which is the treatment plan, the case note. How are you going to translate and link to a model, or what is it that you need to link for insurance and Medicaid purposes? But can you just be present with the client and can you be curious, with the client in front of you, versus everything that you're trying to manage in order for you to make a living? I love that you linked that part, which is we also have to make a living Right.
Speaker 3:It's a shift right of centering reflection as the most important thing that we do when, when working with folks. Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 2:I appreciate.
Speaker 3:I'm always happy to talk anti-oppression and perinatal and babies, so I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2:This was fun it is fun, maria, anything that you want to share before we say bye?
Speaker 1:oh my gosh um, I'll try to keep it short. No, I think that this is really, it's really important work and I haven't seen the connections as you've seen them and put them together. It's our book is in my cart, it's on my to read list now Because I think it is so, so important to read lists now, because I think it is so, so important. You know, I've had the privilege of growing up overseas and traveling around a lot and being transplanted, and so I was raised on culture appreciation, and not like appreciation like I take it for myself, but like appreciating the differences in culture, like that was very ingrained to me. Growing up and finding that dissonance when being forced into systems that don't share those values, and finding others like yourself who have found a way to make it work and to be able to hold both to be true at the same time, is just so helpful and inspiring and it helps us continue to go, because it can get really hard to work in systems that want to put us back in those boxes yeah beautiful.
Speaker 2:We need each other. Yes, we need each other, so I'm gonna I'm gonna do it here, just because I don't have shame. Please come back and talk to us, and if you say yes, it's going to be recorded, so everyone knows that you're coming back.
Speaker 3:I would be happy to come back, thank you.
Speaker 2:No pressure.
Speaker 1:Just put you on the spot, but no pressure, just put it on pressure.
Speaker 2:Please take care of you as always, Thank you. Thank you, listeners. In the podcast we will include all her information from the website, then the name of the book. Please go get it and then, when you see her in person because you're taking a training, make sure that she signs your book, because it's pretty cool to sign the book. Less on that Until next time. Listeners, please take care. Until then,
