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Immigration and Grief: How Cultural Identity Shapes Loss with Ana Marcela Rodríguez

“We are all worthy of grieving, we are all deserving of grieving, that grieving is part of life and that it is okay to grieve."

In this episode of Grief'd Up, host Rebecca Feinglos welcomes Ana Marcela Rodríguez, a licensed marriage and family therapist who's transforming mental health care for the Hispanic community in North Texas. Ana Marcela shares how early losses shaped her calling to therapy and why culturally competent care matters when we're at our most vulnerable.

Ana Marcela's grief journey began at 11 when her grandmother Ana Maria, died unexpectedly in a car accident. Just two years later, her parents' divorce brought another wave of loss, but it also led her father to do something revolutionary for their culture and time: he took her to therapy. That experience changed everything, sparking Ana Marcela's passion for psychology and setting her on a path to become the therapist she once needed.

When Ana Marcela moved to the U.S. and sought therapy herself, she couldn't find a provider who truly understood her Mexican culture. That gap inspired her to build Therapy Works Counseling.

Rebecca and Ana Marcela dive deep into the layered grief of immigration, like losing not just your country, but your food, language, routines, and sometimes decades without seeing family. Ana Marcela powerfully reminds us that grief shows up in every unmet expectation, every transition, every moment we disappoint others to stay true to ourselves. She shares her own journey balancing Mexican family expectations with being a working mother and business owner, choosing authenticity over approval.

This conversation explores how grief follows immigrants across borders and through generations, why seeking community defeats the isolation that grief creates, and how choosing yourself, even when you fail, leads to your most authentic life. 

Connect with Ana Marcela:

 

  • Instagram: @therapyworksana

 

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