We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Patty Castellanos a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Patty, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

It all began when I became a mother. I thought the transition into motherhood would be seamless, because as I read in the books, I knew what to expect. Little did I know that it would be the day that everything changed. Who I was, what I thought and what I did would shift in an incredible way.

It was 4pm and my doctor came in to tell me it’s time to roll back for a c-section. I was confused as to what was going on, but once again, as I had done many times throughout my pregnancy, I followed directions and headed back to the OR for a c-section to birth my baby boy. My baby boy was healthy, I was healthy, but we weren’t actually ok. Everything I thought was going to go a certain way was turned upside down. I felt like a failure, like I wasn’t good enough.

Recovery was hard…
Healing was hard…
Breastfeeding was hard…

I was hard on myself.

I am a therapist that helped so many people in challenging situations, especially mothers, but I felt clueless as to why I felt like I failed. After all, I kept hearing from others that my baby was happy and healthy, but I often wondered – Why wasn’t I?

I took some time and I pulled out my “toolbox” of strategies that I often used with my clients, I looked for resources and I adjusted, figured things out, I released expectations and we were ok. But that thought lingered – What happened?

After about a year, I decided to dig deeper. I learned more about the mind-body connection and how powerful it is in everything we do! This was a game changer for me! Up until this moment, I thought my body was in charge of physical things and my mind was in charge of mental and emotional things. I’m a therapist after all, I worked with my client’s minds. And that’s when everything changed… I learned “What the mind believes, the body achieves”. The incredible powerful connection that links our minds and our bodies.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a wife and mother of 2 amazing kids in Miami. I understand what it’s like to move through the challenges of motherhood, including raising kids, supporting your career, managing your home, all while carving out time for self-care and scheduling a night out. I am passionate about helping women break free from anxiety, doubt and overwhelm to Redefine Motherhood and ignite the confidence to rise to any challenge. With over 12 years in practice, I work with women, to release fear and shatter self-judgement to take back control of their lives, so that they build confidence in themselves at any stage in their lives.

As an online therapy & hypnotherapy practitioner for the last 8 years, my clients fully relax and focus on their goals in the comfort of their own safe space. Offering One-on-One Hypnosis, Hypnobirthing classes, Groups and Workshops, I offer the tools and strategies to support women through conception and fertility, pregnancy, birthing and throughout their motherhood journey or any challenges they experience.

I show up as myself and meet my client’s where they are, perfectly imperfect, whether that’s in a mom bun and pjs holding their fresh baby or in their best corporate or business attire working toward the next level of success. I pride myself on building that trust and connection with my clients to have fun, work from their strengths through an easy and effortless approach connecting towards their personal goals to create massive personal change.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I always thought that shortly after having a baby, I would go back to work seamlessly. This all changed when I actually became a mother. After the birth of my son, not only did I pivot, but I took the opportunity to completely shift the shape of my work. After experiencing challenges in postpartum, I wanted mothers to have a space to be heard, learn and grow. I wanted them to know there was more to motherhood than the day to day struggles that I experienced. I opened my private practice so I could be a present mother and a clinician that was truly passionate about the clients I worked with. The preparation for and the birth of my daughter further empowered a shift, where I became certified as a hypnotherapist. This further created an incredible shift, an opportunity to increase the way I helped my clients to break through their challenges in motherhood. As I learn and grow, I create the opportunities for my clients to learn and grow.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I began in private practice, I was told, “In order to be taken seriously, you must dress the way the industry expects you to.” Having worked in the nonprofit world for many years, I knew what that meant, so I did exactly that. I dressed in collared shirts and dressy work wear, until one day, I realized that I was doing my client a disservice. When I became a mom, my first year wardrobe consisted of black leggings and tee’s. I noticed that my clients were doing the same. I realized that I was creating a disconnect simply by the way that I was dressing. So I decided to test this out and it became one of the most important lessons and changes I made. I decided to show up as myself, authentically me. I began dressing casually professional, jeans and tees with messages of empowerment and healing and I never looked back. My choice of tee was always a way to start hard conversations in a lighter way, to laugh or to simply connect. There was less pressure on how they looked and increased focus on showing up to work on themselves. I am real, my clients are real, and I was able to make space for my clients in a way that increased the opportunity to create beautiful transformations.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theexpressioncenter.com
• Instagram: www/instagram.com/pmcexpression
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pmcexpression

Image Credits
Candy Meynarez, Modern Image Photography