Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ivet Castañeda Ruiz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ivet, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents immigrated from Mexico to the United States in the 80s shortly after they married. My mother left her career as a teacher in Mexico behind and followed my father to the United States in search of the “American dream”. Both my parents had to leave everything they knew behind, careers, friends and family in hopes of being able to create a better future for themselves and their children. My parents knew that life in a foreign country would mean potential loneliness, hard work, determination, dedication, and most importantly self discipline in order to achieve their much desired “American Dream life”. My parents, as many other immigrant families had to learn a new language, a new culture, a new way of living as well as, navigating becoming parents for the first time in a foreign country.

Being a daughter of immigrant parents, I quickly learned all about my parents’ adaptability, hard work, dedication, determination, self discipline and most importantly their sacrifices and selfless acts that they made earlier in their lives in hopes of being able to provide a better future for my three sisters and I. As a first generation Chicana I too have experienced occasional loneliness environmentally and throughout my academic career as a result of often experiencing imposter syndrome and struggling with my own acculturation and finding my own sense of belonging. However, my parents’ tenacity to succeed has always motivated me to dream big and work towards my goals because with hard work, determination, dedication and self discipline everything is possible, even if that means paving my own unique path.

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

Yes of course! My name is Ivet Castañeda Ruiz, I am a first generation Chicana. I am also a California state Licensed Marriage and family Therapist.

I have been a practicing therapist for the last 7 years. Throughout the course of my career I have gained an amplitude of experience working with adolescents, individuals, couples and families. I am committed to establishing a safe, comfortable, and non-judgmental atmosphere. My longing as a therapist is to instill hope, acceptance, confidence, authenticity, empowerment and self-love to my clients.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I was a high school student, I, unfortunately, did not have the appropriate academic school counseling. I was told, “People like you are lucky to even graduate high school, yet alone go to a community college,” this was in reference to my race and socio-economic status. This statement was made by an authoritative adult (a school counselor) who I was seeking for guidance and help from in order to effectively work towards meeting all requirements to be able to qualify and successfully apply to a 4 year university straight after high school. However, the school counselor instead of helping me prepare to successfully meet all the college requirements she decided to do the opposite. She took me out of all my college prep classes that I was already enrolled in and instead placed me in general ed classes. I was fortunate enough to have been placed in Advanced Via Individual Determination class which is also known as AVID and thankfully the school counselor did not remove me from that particular class. Thanks to my AVID teacher and my parents they all three advocated for me and were able to get me enrolled back in my college prep classes. However, I had unfortunately fallen behind academically because of the change in classes I had had. I still vividly remember that that school year consisted of long hours in school and out of school doing homework in order to complete all my coursework to graduate on time, as well as to meet all the college requirements.

At that moment in time I didn’t realize how profoundly these words from a school counselor affected me until later in life. I was fortunate enough to have two older sisters attending college at that time, and a supportive teacher and parents who motivated me, and constantly reminded me to not allow this discouraging statement/experience affect my ultimate dreams of attending and obtaining a college degree. Through my hard work, my own inner healing and determination, I successfully graduated high school with my class, obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology and earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy. My less-than-positive experience with the school counselor resulted in my decision to pursue a degree in psychology in order to serve the underprivileged population and bring cultural sensitivity/awareness to such an important career that still requires more representation.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As I have previously shared with you my unfortunate experience with my high school counselor which ultimately resulted with my own inner battles with finding my own identity, to experiencing depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as imposter syndrome for many years as a teenager and a young adult.

I truly have to say thanks to my parents support and their open mind to mental health services it allowed me to also be open to the idea of me personally seeking out mental health services to unlearn the projected statements that I heard as a teenager and the barriers that I faced growing up as a first generation Chicana. Therapy provided me with a safe and non-judgmental space to help me find my own voice and help me stand in my own power. Thanks to therapy I was able to feel heard, feel seen and validated. Therapy taught me how to unlearn unhelpful thoughts that hindered my own personal growth and helped me find my own voice and how to confidently stand in my own power, as well as how to embrace my beautiful duality of being part of two cultures. I am a proud first generation Chicana daughter of immigrants, who is living not only her own dreams of being a female business owner, but I am also a living proof that my parents sacrifices and hard work in their search for their “American Dream” has not been in vein. Lastly, I am honored to be part of, and represent the 6.3% of Hispanic therapists in the United States. And just as a reminder to anyone who may need to hear this message, people like “us” CAN and WILL continue to pave the way! You got this! Keep going! I’m rooting for you!

Lastly, I want to say Gracias Mami y Papi por siempre inculcarme la importancia de seguir adelante y a no darme por vencida! Todo esto es gracias a ustedes y sus sacrificios, I love you Mom and Dad!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://selflovecounseling.clientsecure.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selflovecounseling/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivet-c-66679b121/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selflovecounseling

Image Credits
Yaya V.