Each year, Springtide offers a BIPOC Fellowship to a social scientist of color (either in training or early career) to learn more about the work we do studying people under age 25. This year, we’ve had the distinct privilege of working with Dr. Kitzia Moreno-Garza, a clinical psychologist who focuses on children and adolescents and specializes in how mental health intersects with cultural phenomena, including religion. For Mental Health Awareness Month, Dr. Moreno-Garza shares her experiences in researching and working with Latino/a/é young people.
In the past, therapists were taught in their trainings that to show respect to a person from a different background or culture meant not bringing up their background or culture – that wasn’t meant to be part of the therapeutic space. Now, we’re teaching future therapists that the way to be respectful is to bring that conversation into the room. It’s important to show it’s okay to talk about those pieces of yourself.
This is especially true for Latina/o/é individuals. Stigma in Latiné communities (among other structural barriers) often prevents Latinés from seeking and receiving mental health care; young people who face increased stigma around mental health in their communities are especially reticent to talk to the adults in their lives about it. While Latiné young people report rates of anxiety, depression, and trauma comparable to their white peers, they are less likely than their peers to have seen a mental health professional. This disparity in mental health care underscores the need for trusted adults in the lives of Latiné teens and young adults.
But while the benefits of trusted adults in the lives of young people are clear, becoming a trusted adult is easier said than done.
In my clinical work, I’ve seen non-family adults become trusted adults by having conversations with the young Latinés they serve in culturally informed – and sustaining – ways. This means acknowledging and celebrating young people’s cultural identities, values, practices, and ways of being. This kind of care from non-family adults supports Latiné young people’s positive emotional development, reduces mental health concerns, and decreases the internalization of stigma associated with mental illness.
While becoming a trusted adult may seem like a daunting task, it simply starts with a desire to help and a commitment to care. Here are a few practical steps adults can take to begin having culturally responsive and sustaining conversations about mental health with the Latiné young people in your life.
1. Do Your Research
Having productive discussions around mental health often means learning an entirely new language. Check out some of the free resources aimed at helping the public (including young people!) increase their mental health literacy (MIL). Also learn about how low levels of MIL (due to stigma or other structural barriers) may show up. For example, in Latiné cultures, low levels of MIL often prevent people from seeking and receiving mental health care. In the long term, mental health problems can start to manifest as physical symptoms. So, while it’s easy to address ongoing complaints of a stomachache, also consider any anxiety or other emotions that may be fueling it. Approach your research non-judgmentally and with an open mind. Build your mental health vocabulary so you can feel confident approaching these conversations, knowing what to look for and when to refer out to a higher level of care.
2. Ask Questions
Doing your research and learning about mental health challenges is a great start. But providing mental health support for the young people who trust you is not one-size-fits-all — what works for one young person may not work for another. Let the young people in your care tell you what different emotional states mean to them. Ask them about how they’re feeling, both in the moments when they seem okay and in the moments when they don’t. Try asking questions that are harder to respond to than with just one word. The words who, what, where, when, how are great question starters. For example, “I’ve noticed you’ve been physically sick lately. Sometimes our emotions can really impact how our body feels. How are you feeling emotionally?” Try to avoid questions that begin with “why”. While sometimes helpful, “why” questions can sometimes evoke concerns about judgement or minimization. Practice turning your “why” questions into one of the other W questions. For example, instead of “Why do you feel like that?” try “What made you feel sad/happy/angry/etc.?” If they don’t want to have a conversation in that moment, let them know they can come back to the conversation with you when they’re ready.
3. Model
Modeling may be one of the most important steps we take to support young people – and it’s often one of the most challenging. Practice talking about mental health and labeling your own emotions. Modeling how to share and talk about hard things can make young people feel like it is safe for them to do so as well. This may be especially true among Latiné young people, who are often taught that only positive feelings are desirable and appropriate to express. One activity I often recommended to parents is to print a “feelings wheel” and pick a feeling. You can pick the feeling that most fits for how you’re feeling in the moment, or you can pick a feeling and talk about a moment that made you feel that way. It’s not necessary for the story to have a takeaway message or meaning. It is simply an opportunity to practice labeling emotions we may be less likely to acknowledge on a daily basis. Your transparency in wanting to learn more and practicing vulnerability can go a long way in showing Latiné young people that you are a safe person to talk to.
4. Encourage Autonomy
Many Latiné young people I see tell me that they’re seeking meaning, identity, and purpose. Throughout these journeys, young people increasingly question teachings and beliefs from childhood about who they are and what they are supposed to do with their life. The feelings of uncertainty or even guilt for questioning their upbringing can weigh heavily on their mental health. Remind the young people in your life that all of who they are is welcome with you — even the parts of them that they are still trying to figure out. Encouraging them to do their own exploration while reminding them that you are there to support them can be just the affirmation many Latiné young people need. In these moments of uncertainty and instability, a trusted adult can sometimes be the only thing that feels consistent and grounding in the life of a young person. If you find yourself having a hard time with their identity exploration, it can be a good moment to take a step back and see what it might be that is striking a chord with you. Seeing that a trusted adult still has questions of their own can help Latiné young people see that it’s okay to not always have it all figured out!
5. Listen
More than anything, the Latiné young people I’ve worked with share that they want to be heard. It may seem like a small task to just listen to the young people you serve, but it is an impactful one. Enter conversations with no other agenda other than to simply listen. Release the pressure you might be putting on yourself to have the right response. And, of course, listen actively. Put away any distractions, look at the person who is talking to you, and use both nonverbal (like nodding) and verbal (like saying “mhm”) cues to show that you are fully present and engaged. You can also practice reflecting back what you heard. For example, if they say, “I’m mad that I didn’t get the grade I expected,” you can reflect back what they said in your own words, like: “I hear you — you had an expectation of what was going to happen, and you’re upset that it didn’t turn out that way.” Reflecting this way shows that you are going beyond listening to really trying to understand the person in front of you. It also allows you to check with the person that you understood their message correctly. You can close with a question like “did I get that right?” so the person can either clarify or confirm.
Part of being a member of any minoritized group means learning how to balance the traditions of collective culture with individual needs. The stigma around mental health and the barriers to care in many Latiné communities is real – and trusted adults can walk alongside young people as they embrace their identities and learn to care for themselves. The remarkable thing about these relationships is that they are reciprocal; while the adult may be acting in service of the young person, in reality, both people grow and evolve as a result of these types of conversation and resulting relationships. Showing up as a trusted adult can be life changing for all parties involved – and all it takes to start is a listening ear.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Increase students’ mental health literacy. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/mental-health-action-guide/increase-students-mental-health-literacy.html
Cabassa, L.J. (2016). Depression fotonovela: Integrating cultural factors and entertainment-education to improve depression literacy in the Latino community. The Oxford Handbook of Acculturation and Health, July, 379–392.
Dunlop, B. W., Still, S., LoParo, D., Aponte-Rivera, V., Johnson, B. N., Schneider, R. L., Nemeroff, C. B., Mayberg, H. S., & Craighead, W. E. (2020). Somatic symptoms in treatment-naïve Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients with major depression. Depression and Anxiety, 37(2), 156–165. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22984
Senft, N., Campos, B., Shiota, M. N., & Chentsova-Dutton, Y. E. (2021). Who emphasizes positivity? An exploration of emotion values in people of Latino, Asian, and European heritage living in the United States. Emotion, 21(4), 707–719. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000737
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