I am a licensed therapist and mental health expert living in Long Beach and working throughout California.

As a child I wrestled with constant and, often, unreasonable worry. In those moments that I felt mentally beaten down by hours of catastrophizing, my mother would say to me, “You are stronger than you think.” At first, these words never actually stopped the angst, the racing thoughts or the stomach aches; her words usually resonated in the aftermath of my turmoil, when I realized that I had, indeed, survived. I was stronger than I’d thought. And over the years, that mantra has became something I repeat to myself when I feel myself on the brink of spiraling out of control. I am stronger than I think. The words aren’t magic; life’s stuff still happens. But when I remember those words, I’m no longer paralyzed with self-doubt. Sometimes I am empowered to be an active agent of change in my own life. And sometimes my mind is just quieted enough to ride the roller coaster of human existence rather than fighting it. I am stronger than I think.

*Strength is not about avoiding help from others; to reclaim your strength means to embrace your humanness without apology and trust that you will survive.*

Before I was a therapist and a researcher, I was a person. A friend. A sister. A daughter. A partner. Rather than use personal challenges as a weakness and an excuse to withdraw from relationships, I strive to accept struggle as the catalyst that can bring me into closer connection with others. When mental illness is misunderstood, it becomes stigmatized, and it becomes a reason for people to be seduced by seclusion. By openly talking about mental health, I hope I am helping us recognize that to struggle is not unique and that connections--relationships with others--during those times can be the difference between surrendering to weakness and reclaiming your strength.