Latest / Yes And Land / Encanto and Breaking Generational Trauma | Cindy Chia on Healing What Was Never Spoken
Transcript
- 0:00I went through some kind of a childhood abuse
- 0:02from my dad. I grew up with a really angry dad.
- 0:05So when I watched Encanto, I was crying because
- 0:09it was so much of that generational trauma, breaking
- 0:12generational trauma, right? Yeah. Like not having
- 0:14any support, no network, you don't know anybody,
- 0:17no friends or family, especially being a foreigner.
- 0:19How relatable is Lalisa, honestly? Like, she
- 0:22can't show any cracks. Right. She can't because
- 0:24she has to be strong. She has to do everything
- 0:27that she's asked to do. So that the family can
- 0:30stay strong. So the family can keep doing things
- 0:33to serve others. And meanwhile, she is experiencing
- 0:38the insecurity and the weight of it all. In my
- 0:41perspective, Bruno was also the only one who
- 0:43told the truth. Yeah. That nobody was ready for
- 0:45it. So they exiled him. So I spent a lot of time
- 0:49being angry. But then I realized that anger is
- 0:51not bringing me anywhere. But as an adult, you
- 0:54have to realize your life is what you make out
- 0:57of it. Life is too short to live in your own
- 1:01BS. The BS is what's keeping us from feeling
- 1:05true to ourselves. Living a true life, like a
- 1:07very authentic life. I wear fur coat to the gym.
- 1:11Do I care? No. Do you like it? Because I love
- 1:14it! Welcome to Yes And Land, where we say yes
- 1:19to the reality of yesterday and today. And we
- 1:23say and to the possibility... growth, and imagination
- 1:27of tomorrow. Welcome to our next episode of Yes
- 1:38and Land. We're very excited to have Cindy with
- 1:40us today. Thank you, Ryan. We're talking about
- 1:42some fun things. I'm actually here to learn.
- 1:44In kind of our prep, we talked about the topic
- 1:47today. I thought, okay, this is something I don't
- 1:50know a lot about. And I'm just going to take
- 1:52the opportunity during this conversation to really
- 1:54learn. But also we're going to do it through
- 1:56the lens of my favorite, which is Encanto. Yay.
- 2:00Absolutely love Encanto so much. It's so good.
- 2:04We were doing a little pre -recording listening
- 2:08to one of the songs too. Kind of got me in the
- 2:10mood. I love it. Encanto is such a good one.
- 2:13It was interesting. I usually try to watch the
- 2:14night before the movie that we're going to talk
- 2:17about just to make sure I'm like. Ready to go?
- 2:19Yeah. Like I didn't need to rewatch this one.
- 2:21No. I've watched this so many times. So many
- 2:23times, right? I'm like, I'm excited. This is
- 2:24good. Yeah. So what I want to do to kind of get
- 2:26us kicked off, Cindy, is if you want to just
- 2:28talk a little bit about kind of your background,
- 2:30what you do professionally. And then we kind
- 2:32of explore kind of how you got there. Because
- 2:35I always just love hearing about somebody's story
- 2:37themselves personally, like how they got to be
- 2:39doing the things they do. We'd love to have really
- 2:41cool and interesting people on. And you're certainly
- 2:43one of those. So I'd love for people to learn
- 2:44about your background. And then we can kind of
- 2:46dive into the topic and then talk about the movie.
- 2:49Yeah, let's go. So my name is Cindy Chia, born
- 2:52and raised in Malaysia. Malaysia, so interesting.
- 2:55Yeah. So in Malaysia, it's, you know, in the
- 2:58Asian continent. So a lot of that cultural stigma.
- 3:01surrounding mental health still to this day.
- 3:04I went through some kind of a childhood abuse
- 3:07from my dad. I grew up with a really angry dad.
- 3:10So when I watch Encanto, ah, I was crying because
- 3:14there was so much of that generational trauma,
- 3:17breaking generational trauma, right? I can relate
- 3:19so much with Mirabelle, who was the one who actually
- 3:22kind of... took that step forward for the family.
- 3:27So my background comes from trauma. And then
- 3:30I went into psychology wanting to heal myself.
- 3:33No, actually, I went into psychology wanting
- 3:35to heal other people first. Of course. Okay,
- 3:37of course. Everybody else is the one that's got
- 3:39the problem. They got to get fixed. It's not
- 3:41me. Exactly. Yes, exactly. Everyone else's problem.
- 3:45I want to help other people. That was my goal
- 3:47to go into psychology. Okay, so I have a question
- 3:48for you, though, about Malaysia. Yes. What's
- 3:52the culture like there? Especially when it comes
- 3:55to men. Yeah. And the way that they interact
- 3:59with women, with their wives, with their daughters.
- 4:02How is that different from American culture if
- 4:05there are any differences? I just don't know
- 4:06Malaysia really much at all. Love it. I love
- 4:08talking about Malaysia. So Malaysia is a Muslim
- 4:10country. So a lot of the laws are written according
- 4:13to the Muslim law. So in some states, there are
- 4:17still men and women cannot walk together or cannot
- 4:20hold hands out in public. You have to have your
- 4:22own lane. movie theaters as well. Men and women
- 4:26have to be separated. So there's still some kind
- 4:28of segregation. Where I come from, the state
- 4:30of Sarawak, we are more harmonious. We live more
- 4:35harmoniously. We have a lot of cultures there.
- 4:38So my grandparents immigrated from China. And
- 4:41there's a lot of people that immigrated from
- 4:43India as well. And there's the locals, Malays,
- 4:46Indonesia, and a lot of other countries as well.
- 4:50So it's kind of like a melting pot. So the gender
- 4:52roles are... still pretty prominent i would say
- 4:55like the men are the decision maker the breadwinner
- 4:59and all of those things um it's changing though
- 5:02i mean as as the world's changing is changing
- 5:04to that um i talked i talked to a lady who had
- 5:07from here from uh the states And had gone to
- 5:10live there for a year with her husband. In Malaysia?
- 5:12Uh -huh. Oh, I didn't know that. And she said
- 5:14that it was just very different, a bit of a culture
- 5:16shock. And about halfway into their stay there,
- 5:19she went to go get her hair cut. And she wanted
- 5:20to have it cut quite a bit different. Like she
- 5:22was going to take a bunch of length off and have
- 5:23it cut pretty short. Uh -oh. Yes. Uh -oh is the
- 5:26right thing because you know exactly where it's
- 5:28going. Yeah. Because the guy that was going to
- 5:30cut her hair was like, oh, I can't do it without
- 5:31your husband's permission. She was like, oh,
- 5:33no, no, it's just my hair. I just want to cut
- 5:34my hair. He's like, oh, no, no. Like, I have
- 5:37to have his permission. Okay. And basically the
- 5:40way that she had described it was like it wasn't
- 5:43really that this hairdresser was like trying
- 5:45to do anything wrong. Yeah. He had just been
- 5:46burned before. Right, right. Like he had cut
- 5:49a woman's hair and then the husband came in and
- 5:51like. What did you do? Yeah. Like he was in big
- 5:54trouble because he didn't have the sign off.
- 5:56Oh, wow. And this was probably, I don't know,
- 5:59seven, eight years ago that she was there. Sure,
- 6:01I think not that long ago. And so it was just
- 6:02interesting because it was such a different experience
- 6:04that she had there. And she wasn't describing
- 6:07it in a negative way. She actually loved her
- 6:08time in Malaysia. She just thought it was a really,
- 6:10really wonderful, great experience to get out
- 6:12and experience something different. But something
- 6:14was a little bit different culturally. Yeah,
- 6:16she would probably be in the more conservative
- 6:18state. So I would say it goes by state to state.
- 6:21So the one that the state I'm from, they're pretty
- 6:23cool in general. And we celebrate each other's
- 6:26celebration. too so for example over here you
- 6:28guys usually do what Christmas Thanksgiving right
- 6:30over there we have Christmas we celebrate Christmas
- 6:34Chinese New Year the Muslim New Year the Deepavali
- 6:37so there's what was that last one Deepavali what's
- 6:41that Diwali We call it Diwali over there. And
- 6:46Gawai, which is the indigenous New Year as well.
- 6:49So we celebrate. I only know Diwali from The
- 6:51Office. Have you ever seen The Office? No, I
- 6:54haven't. Oh, it's so great. They're celebrating
- 6:56Diwali because one of their employees does. And
- 6:59so the main character, played by Steve Carell,
- 7:03goes and he has this little song about... And
- 7:05it's really hilarious. It's really great, actually.
- 7:08Great episode. I was like, okay, that actually
- 7:11looks like really fun. Like, I want to celebrate
- 7:12Diwali. Yeah, lots of colors, lots of food. Yeah,
- 7:15lots of people. So, okay, so that's kind of where
- 7:18you grow up. What brings you to the United States?
- 7:21How did that happen? Yeah, so I went to school.
- 7:24I pursued my undergrad in Australia. Didn't really
- 7:26have a good time there. I would say it was about
- 7:3120 years ago now, but still not a long time ago.
- 7:34A lot of racism there. People would throw water
- 7:36bottles at me, eggs at me when I'm walking down
- 7:38the street. It's just not a great experience.
- 7:41No. No, it was. And, you know, the narrative
- 7:44there. Yeah, the racism is just kind of hard.
- 7:47I wouldn't say it's everybody though, right?
- 7:48You get some bad eggs here and there. So I didn't
- 7:51have a good experience. I got a scholarship to
- 7:54study abroad anywhere I wanted. I initially wanted
- 7:56to go to England because I loved their accent.
- 7:58I was learning English. I wanted to have an English
- 8:00accent. Of course. But I would have been the
- 8:03only one there kind of like in Australia. So
- 8:05I didn't want to have a repeat of being alone.
- 8:07So I picked America. I picked Oklahoma. Oklahoma.
- 8:10Oklahoma. Because my cousin's there. Oklahoma.
- 8:13You're like, of all the states in the United
- 8:15States, it's Oklahoma. All right, let's go. I
- 8:17had the best time. Good. Oh, my gosh. I'm having
- 8:20the best time in the U .S. for sure. I feel like
- 8:22the psychology field here is so much, so diverse.
- 8:25And I learned so much. So this is a place for
- 8:29me to grow my career for sure. What school did
- 8:31you go to in Oklahoma? University of, sorry,
- 8:34Oklahoma State and then University of Central
- 8:36Oklahoma. Okay. And enjoyed both those universities?
- 8:39Yeah. I work with Robert Sternberg. I don't know
- 8:42if you know. He's like one of the biggest psychologists
- 8:44in the world. Really? Yeah, crazy. He developed
- 8:48the love triangle and all of this philosophy.
- 8:52So really cool. So you were learning from one
- 8:55of the experts in the field. Yeah. Which had
- 8:57to be just an amazing experience. Amazing. And
- 8:59we did research together and we did conferences
- 9:01and presentations and all of that. So I had a
- 9:04great time. Yeah. Very grateful. So you finish
- 9:07up your studies there and then did you end up
- 9:10practicing there or did you come straight to
- 9:13Utah or what happened? Yeah. So I did my fellowship
- 9:16in Harvard in Boston. Oh, in Boston. Yeah. That's
- 9:19kind of fun. It was fun. I would have lived there
- 9:21if I could. How come you didn't? Well, it was
- 9:24for a boy. My ex -husband's from here, so I had
- 9:30to move here. It's all good, but in Harvard.
- 9:33Boston's great, though. Yeah, so great. I learned
- 9:35so much there. So I worked with Mona Westmark,
- 9:38Dr. Westmark, who also is a war renown. So her
- 9:40parents was in a concentration camp from the
- 9:43Nazi. Oh, my goodness. So she was doing research
- 9:46about breaking generational trauma, which is
- 9:48so great, which is something that I was passionate
- 9:50about, breaking generational trauma in the Asian
- 9:53culture, too. So she was doing it with the Jews
- 9:55and the black slaves, like research on those,
- 9:58the owner of black slaves, and I was doing the
- 10:00research on Asian families. So it was so groundbreaking.
- 10:03Yeah, that's great. So was she at Harvard? Is
- 10:06that what you said? Yeah, she was at Harvard.
- 10:07So you're there in Boston. You're doing something
- 10:09with someone who's at Harvard, which is like
- 10:11one of the preeminent institutions really in
- 10:13the world, certainly in the United States. That
- 10:16would be a great experience. A great experience.
- 10:17So grateful for that, honestly. What was your
- 10:20favorite thing about Boston? People. Okay. Tell
- 10:24me more. Tell me more. is a bit biased because
- 10:28i feel like i was surrounded so i was in cambridge
- 10:30you know i live on campus and everything so i
- 10:32was surrounded by students mostly right and all
- 10:34of them are mostly international students um
- 10:36just like how open people are and how how just
- 10:42like, I don't know, like they just don't judge
- 10:45you. Like I come from this and I eat this and
- 10:48all of that. Like I feel like I get a lot more
- 10:50scrutinies here. Like, oh, why are you eating
- 10:53fish for lunch? You know, kind of stuff like
- 10:55that. But like in Boston, I just felt very included
- 10:58in general. That's great. I didn't have to explain
- 11:01myself. Yeah. Which is such a hard thing to do
- 11:03sometimes. Absolutely it is. And when you feel
- 11:06like you can just be yourself. Yeah. Right? Right.
- 11:10I know we're talking about Disney stuff, but
- 11:12to take it to K -pop Demon Hunters, if you're
- 11:15familiar with that. I love those too. I remember
- 11:17hearing a couple of interviews with the ladies
- 11:21that are the singers for it, right? Because I
- 11:23think that actresses that played the voices when
- 11:26they're regular talking were different than those
- 11:27that sang. And those that sang, one in particular
- 11:30wrote it. Now her name escapes me right now.
- 11:32But I remember her talking about when they were...
- 11:37watching the movie back the first time right
- 11:39when it was totally done and they're watching
- 11:41it and one of the gals had said that it was a
- 11:44really cool scene for her when they're in the
- 11:47plane at the very beginning of the movie you
- 11:49familiar with this and they're eating some particular
- 11:51kind of food And it was like this flood of emotion,
- 11:55she said, that came to her because when she was
- 11:57growing up with the Korean food that she would
- 11:59be eating at school, she would feel judged. And
- 12:01so she would like try to hide that she was eating.
- 12:03She would hide it in her paper lunch sack and
- 12:07she would quickly try to eat it so no one could
- 12:08see her eating it. And that now she's being part
- 12:11of this movie that's this phenomenon. And they're
- 12:15eating the very foods that she ate, that she
- 12:17grew up with, that she loved. And it was out
- 12:20there for everyone. And it was just this amazing
- 12:22experience for her because she didn't have to
- 12:24hide it. I just thought, oh, my goodness. It
- 12:26was just like, oof. And it's something small
- 12:29like food. Everybody eats something. And why
- 12:32do some people have to hide it and some people
- 12:34don't? And you don't want to have to be judged
- 12:37by eating something that. You love. That's part
- 12:39of your culture. You just grew up eating. Yeah.
- 12:41You don't want to explain yourself. Yeah. So
- 12:43I'm glad that was your experience in Boston.
- 12:45That's really great. Yeah. Another reason for
- 12:47me to like Boston. Yay. I've only been once,
- 12:48and I thought it was absolutely terrific. We
- 12:50only spent a couple of days there, and I thought,
- 12:51I've got to spend some more time here. It was
- 12:53so fun. I mean, the people, the history, the
- 12:54culture, the places. It's just amazing. Yeah.
- 12:57No doubt. I mean, Utah is great, too. Utah has
- 12:59some great things, for sure. Utah has some great
- 13:01things. So you're in Boston. You're doing your
- 13:03research there. Then where do you go from there?
- 13:05Then Utah. Okay, then Utah. Yeah. So I started
- 13:08my residency in a big private practice here and
- 13:10then I started my own private practice now with
- 13:12Spire Psychological in Riverton. And okay, so
- 13:15talk me through, you're with a bigger place.
- 13:18Talk me through the decision to then go out on
- 13:20your own and do your own thing. Yeah. Because
- 13:22that is not an easy thing to do. No, especially
- 13:24being a foreigner. Yeah. Why? Like not having
- 13:26any support, no network, you don't know anybody,
- 13:29no friends or family. I knew from the beginning
- 13:33that I wanted something bigger for myself. And
- 13:36I wanted to do it right. So when you're working
- 13:38for other people, there's a lot of policy that
- 13:40makes sense for them, right? So the place that
- 13:42I worked at, I wasn't very... happy with how
- 13:46they ran their practice so of course I wanted
- 13:49to run it better but then you learn too like
- 13:51oh my gosh owning a business is really really
- 13:53hard so I wanted to do it better I wanted to
- 13:57do it more ethically I wanted to do it more comprehensively
- 14:01to where like people feel hurt as a whole not
- 14:04so much of like oh you're anxious and we're just
- 14:06going to treat it anxiety no I want to see a
- 14:08person as a whole and I also want to see a person
- 14:10I want to treat a person as from the root too
- 14:13like I don't want to just to like give you band
- 14:15-aids for your symptoms like i want to go to
- 14:17the root of your problems which brings to trauma
- 14:20you know the the work that i've been doing the
- 14:22research that i've been doing the generational
- 14:24trauma so i do a lot of that in my work yeah
- 14:27and the practice didn't really you know focus
- 14:30on that yeah i didn't really like want me to
- 14:32pursue that okay yeah so tell me again the name
- 14:35of your of your place yeah aspire psychological
- 14:37we're in riverton and vegas okay And I've driven
- 14:41by it, especially since you and I first talked.
- 14:43I'm like, oh, that's where Cindy works. That's
- 14:44her place. So tell me about what you guys do
- 14:48specialize in at your practice. So we mainly
- 14:51specialize in trauma. So any kinds of trauma,
- 14:54family trauma, relationship trauma, domestic
- 14:56violence, sexual trauma, and all of that. So
- 14:59I have a team of people who specialize in different
- 15:01kinds of things. For me, myself, I specialize
- 15:04in cultural trauma. and breaking generational
- 15:07trauma and all of that. So a lot of trauma stuff.
- 15:10And what are the types of therapy that y 'all
- 15:12offer there? We only offer, we pride ourselves
- 15:16in offering evidence -based treatments. So all
- 15:19or maybe a lot of our treatments are evidence
- 15:22-based. So it has been researched, it has been
- 15:24studied and all of that. So we use those modalities
- 15:27mostly. Talk therapy, individual group, couples,
- 15:32family therapy is what we do. Okay. So when it
- 15:36comes to then this intergenerational trauma,
- 15:39I guess it's totally appropriate. That's what
- 15:42we're talking about today because that's where
- 15:43you have a lot of expertise. So when we think
- 15:46about it, let's take a step kind of back and
- 15:49kind of set the stage for Encanto and why this
- 15:53is such an appropriate topic to discuss when
- 15:56it comes to Encanto. If you wouldn't mind, for
- 16:00anybody who might be listening or watching that
- 16:02doesn't know the story of Encanto, maybe set
- 16:05a 30 ,000 -foot view of overall what's going
- 16:08on in this story. What kind of is happening?
- 16:10Yeah, yeah. Okay, so I love Encanto because it's
- 16:15a mix of so many people and a mix of traumas
- 16:20as well. So if you watch Encanto, I think the
- 16:24root of it is that trauma came from survival.
- 16:28you know, they had to hold their family together
- 16:31to survive in the first place. And then it becomes
- 16:33like a rigid family roles. It became like a rigid
- 16:37family roles for everybody, right? Like Luisa.
- 16:40Yeah, because Abuela, when the story first starts,
- 16:43she just has these triplets, right? With her
- 16:44husband. And then they've got to go escape what
- 16:47appears to be these people attacking their town.
- 16:49You can't really tell, but clearly someone's
- 16:51attacking them. They're trying to leave. Her
- 16:53husband tries to stop him. He ends up being killed.
- 16:55So now she's really... on her own. Like she's
- 16:57experiencing a lot of trauma in what this is,
- 17:00losing her husband, losing security, losing the
- 17:03safety that she had and then have to take on
- 17:05this whole new experience. Yeah. Triplets by
- 17:08yourself. Like how scary would that be? And so
- 17:12I think you're right. I think through that experience,
- 17:14she ends up becoming pretty rigid in certain
- 17:16things. Right. And I don't think it was. negatively
- 17:20motivated either. No. They needed that for survival,
- 17:24right? They needed Luisa to step up to do something.
- 17:26They needed, you know, Bruno to do something.
- 17:28So it was a lot of like survival skills, like
- 17:31just wanting the family to use their gifts to
- 17:34survive. Yeah. And what's interesting too is
- 17:36I think whether it was even... Trying to have
- 17:39all of her children and grandchildren use their
- 17:42abilities to serve others. Yes. It became so
- 17:46rigid in the application of you have to do this
- 17:49because it is our responsibility and there's
- 17:50no flexibility and it's all on your shoulders
- 17:52and you have to do everything. Right. And you
- 17:53have to do it in this way. Right, right. That
- 17:56she really lost sight of what really makes a
- 18:00family a family, what really makes a community
- 18:02a community. Right, exactly. And it becomes shunned,
- 18:05right? Like hard conversations becomes. becomes
- 18:08like invisible. You can't talk about it. And
- 18:11that's how trauma lives in a family is when we
- 18:15don't talk about it. When they say you cannot
- 18:17talk about Bruno, you know, when you don't talk
- 18:19about something, it persists. It still exists.
- 18:22Doesn't mean that it goes away. So that's so
- 18:25interesting to look at that song in that way.
- 18:27I hadn't thought of that before. Yeah. Right.
- 18:30Because they're, they're like. It's still there.
- 18:32Yeah. Like he's actually physically still there,
- 18:36right? Right. But I think it's really what's
- 18:38that represent? What does that represent for
- 18:39us when we do have something that does need to
- 18:42get addressed and we just want to shun it and
- 18:44not talk about it? No, no, no. We can't possibly
- 18:46talk about that. That's too big of a deal. Too
- 18:49much stress, too much trauma associated with
- 18:51that. We're not going to deal with it. We're
- 18:53going to set it aside. We're going to keep it
- 18:54locked away in the walls, so to speak. Right.
- 18:57And not address it or deal with it. Right. And
- 18:59the trauma continues to live, right? People are
- 19:01still miserable. And how I reflected that in
- 19:03my own story is that people don't like to talk
- 19:05about my dad's anger outbursts, you know? Once
- 19:08he's good, we're good. Don't bring it up. Don't
- 19:11talk about it. You know, dad's good. Let's not
- 19:13rock the boat. But the trauma is still there,
- 19:15and it's going to come up again when you get
- 19:17triggered again. But we cannot talk about it.
- 19:20So trauma continues to live on. Yeah. It's something
- 19:23that we hadn't talked about before, but I think
- 19:26it fits in here that I would love to hear you
- 19:27kind of teach us more about, which is when it
- 19:29comes to triggers. I think what's interesting
- 19:33for me from a layperson's perspective is that
- 19:36what I've seen is like certainly we all can have
- 19:39triggers, especially with trauma we've experienced.
- 19:42I think this sometimes happens, and this is not
- 19:44all the time, and by no means is trying to discount
- 19:46experiences people have, but sometimes people
- 19:48use a trigger as like a weapon. Oh, an excuse.
- 19:53Oh, no, no, that triggers me. Yeah, yeah. No,
- 19:54no, no, you can't. Nope, that triggers me. I
- 19:56can't do that. That triggers me. And then it
- 19:59really kind of shuts things down. I'm interested,
- 20:01where does that come from, right? Because, and
- 20:03how do we find that balance of something like
- 20:05acknowledging a trigger actually exists and being
- 20:07able to like respect somebody's boundaries, set
- 20:09boundaries? Yeah. but not having it become a
- 20:12weapon. Yes. I think in the pop psychology culture,
- 20:16people use boundaries as like a gate, right?
- 20:19Like you can't cross my boundary because this
- 20:21is my boundary. But in a true psychology world,
- 20:24boundaries is connection. We want to have boundaries
- 20:27with you so I can connect with you better. So
- 20:29for example, you have a boundary of, you know,
- 20:34spending time, you know, you clock out at five
- 20:36o 'clock every day, right? Why? So that you can
- 20:38spend more time with your family. You want to
- 20:40be a good dad. You want to be a good spouse.
- 20:41So that's your boundary. So in order for me,
- 20:45so if I work with you, I have something come
- 20:48up at like 6 p .m. I cannot, I don't want to
- 20:51interrupt that because that will disrupt our
- 20:54connection. Because I want what's best for you.
- 20:56And your boundary is that you want to spend five
- 20:59o 'clock onwards with your family. So I'll respect
- 21:01that. But then I will also say like, hey, can
- 21:04we touch base tomorrow instead? So it's not to
- 21:07keep me away from your family time. It's more
- 21:10of like, how can I show up for you and you show
- 21:13up for me in a way that makes sense for us so
- 21:15we can connect outside of the boundary. Does
- 21:18that make sense? It does. And I think the kind
- 21:21of the next step there too, where I think sometimes
- 21:23people, miss out on the next step, which is,
- 21:27okay, if somebody's boundary is not to work after
- 21:29five and there are things that come up, then
- 21:31you've got to have that conversation. Okay. These
- 21:33kinds of things do come up. How can we effectively
- 21:35deal with these things within the time that we
- 21:38have? Do we need to have a different prioritization
- 21:41during the eight to five? So we can make sure
- 21:44that these things appropriately get handled.
- 21:45So if it can't happen at six and it's got to
- 21:47happen the next morning. Will it happen? Can
- 21:49it reliably happen by setting out priorities
- 21:51based on the boundaries that you do have? Because
- 21:53then it's a give and take. Exactly. Right. Right.
- 21:55I want what's best for you, too. And you want
- 21:57what's best for me. But we need to work together
- 21:59so we can connect when we can connect. Yeah.
- 22:02Yeah. Because otherwise it just becomes a one
- 22:04way street. It's like, oh, no, sorry. After five,
- 22:07can't do it. Right. Not going to address it.
- 22:08Not going to deal with it. Right. Just sorry.
- 22:10It's you're out of luck. Right. It's not it's
- 22:12not the other way. It's not. OK, what is that
- 22:14person's needs? What is that person's boundaries?
- 22:16How do I how do I. implement or want the best
- 22:19for them and help to make that happen. Right.
- 22:21Right. Boundary is not gate, gatekeeping. It's
- 22:23a lot of connection. Like I want, I want what's
- 22:25best for you and I want to connect with you.
- 22:27That makes meaning for you. Yeah. I think that's
- 22:30such a helpful way to look at that as the, the
- 22:34connection. That's what we want is the connection
- 22:36that really helps to inform me about what that
- 22:38means and how I can do that differently. Yeah,
- 22:41for sure. Yeah. Okay. So a couple of quotes,
- 22:43I'm going to lay, I'm going to lay at your feet.
- 22:45Okay. So a couple of things that, I went back
- 22:48to when it came to Encanto and some of the things
- 22:51that I heard. And I want to get your take on
- 22:53these things. Before we jump back in, can I ask
- 22:56you a quick favor? If you're enjoying the journey
- 22:59so far, will you like, rate, and subscribe to
- 23:02our show? It helps us reach more people like
- 23:05you. We can design and create and build the most
- 23:09wonderful place in the world, but it takes people
- 23:11to make the dream a reality. So one of the things
- 23:16that Abuela says, and when she's talking to Mirabel,
- 23:19is you have to stop, Mirabel. The cracks started
- 23:23with you. Bruno left because of you. Luisa's
- 23:26losing her powers. Isabel is out of control because
- 23:29of you. I don't know why you weren't given a
- 23:31gift, but it is not an excuse for you to hurt
- 23:33this family. Oh, that is absolutely brutal. Well,
- 23:39I don't know that I fully digested it the very
- 23:42first time that I saw it. But when I've seen
- 23:43it since, that is such a, oh, that's such a hard
- 23:47thing. Yeah. You know, for Abuela to have said
- 23:50to me that. Oh, yeah. But don't you think it's
- 23:52a projection? It totally is. So explain more
- 23:55about that. Tell more about that. Yeah. I think
- 23:56a lot of it is projection of insecurity. Like
- 23:59I said, I think Abuela started this whole thing,
- 24:02magical casita thing out of survival. Right.
- 24:05The trauma starts from survival. So when. the
- 24:08survival cracked like you know Luisa lost her
- 24:11magic skills and all of those things it became
- 24:15a threat It suddenly becomes like, oh my gosh,
- 24:18I no longer serve a purpose that I thought was
- 24:20purposeful. Or my family no longer serve a purpose
- 24:23that I thought was purposeful. So that threatened
- 24:25her security, her identity, her purpose. So the
- 24:29way that she dealt with that was projecting it
- 24:32on Mirabelle. Because that was obvious. Mirabelle
- 24:34was the problem. That was obvious in the scene,
- 24:36right? At the time. Sure. She was the problem,
- 24:38right? So a lot of us do that. When we're frustrated
- 24:42with something, we project our anger towards
- 24:45other people. and have other people deal with
- 24:47that instead of us regulating that. Yeah. So
- 24:50that's so interesting because that, I think,
- 24:52and I want to hear your take on this, I think
- 24:54this plays into the next thing that I was going
- 24:56to ask you about, which is then you've got Mirabel
- 25:00talking to Isabella. Mm -hmm. And she's telling
- 25:03Isabella that she's selfish. Right. Right. Because
- 25:07from Mirabelle's perspective, like, oh, OK, like
- 25:09I'm in all these things happen to me and she's
- 25:11rude to me. And so obviously she's got everything
- 25:13perfect. So she is so selfish. She's all about
- 25:15her. Yeah. And Isabella's response was selfish.
- 25:19I've been stuck being perfect my whole entire
- 25:22life. And literally the only thing you have ever
- 25:24done for me is mess things up. I never wanted
- 25:27to marry him. I was doing it for the family.
- 25:29Mm hmm. And so. Was Mirabel projecting onto Isabella?
- 25:35For sure, right? I think in a lot of ways, also
- 25:37her own insecurity. Yes. Because she didn't really
- 25:40have much, no magic in that sense. Yes. And so
- 25:43she projected her own insecurity to Isabella,
- 25:46but not knowing Isabella's part of the story
- 25:49too. Because she's struggling too. Totally. She's
- 25:51trying to be perfect to save the family, to please
- 25:54the family. Yeah, she's going to marry this guy
- 25:55because that's what she's supposed to do. Right,
- 25:57exactly. Not because she wants to. How many of
- 26:00us do that? Yeah, we take action because we think
- 26:02that's what our family wants. That's what our
- 26:04parents want. We're trying to please them. Which
- 26:07is, I think, back to that, like, I guess tie
- 26:10that in. Tie that in how that's manifesting intergenerational
- 26:14trauma for her to have done that and acted in
- 26:18the way that she did. Yeah, it's survival again,
- 26:21right? So Isabella thinks that she needs to be
- 26:24perfect to survive because imagine if she's not
- 26:27perfect. What's that going to look like? And
- 26:29I think we did see that in the movie, too, where
- 26:31she didn't want to marry the guy, I think, right?
- 26:34Totally. And people didn't like her because of
- 26:36that. So to save herself, to keep her in that
- 26:40position of admiration from the family and all
- 26:44of that, she needs to play that role. Same with
- 26:46Louisa and Bruno. Even Bruno. Bruno's the hard
- 26:49one. Where if she told the truth, sorry, if he
- 26:54told the truth, he would be shunned. Because
- 26:57he did that, nobody wants to do that. So that
- 26:59disruption, I think, taught everybody to just
- 27:01stay quiet and just do whatever you do to survive.
- 27:03Yeah, because Bruno said when they were asking
- 27:05him, when Mirabelle was asking about it afterwards,
- 27:08my gift wasn't helping the family. Right. But
- 27:10I love my family, you know? Yeah. Like, that's
- 27:12going to make me emotional. Yeah. He thinks the
- 27:17things that he's doing aren't helping. Right.
- 27:19And he loves them. Right. And so what's his option?
- 27:21Just leave. I'm going to leave. I'm going to
- 27:23leave. I don't want to hurt him anymore. Exactly.
- 27:25Because we haven't dealt with that trauma that's
- 27:27there. Exactly. We haven't dealt with how do
- 27:28we get to the bottom of this so we can actually
- 27:30fix it. Right. And so he feels like he has to
- 27:33just leave. Like, oh my gosh, that just gets
- 27:34me to my core. And Bruno, I think, in my perspective,
- 27:37Bruno was also the only one who told the truth.
- 27:39Yeah. That nobody was ready for it. Yeah. So
- 27:42they exiled him. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, then...
- 27:46you know, as we see kind of this story play now,
- 27:49let's hit Louisa as well, right? She clearly
- 27:51has a bit of that same thing, right? And I think
- 27:53that's why her song, Surface Pressure, is so
- 27:56emblematic of this. where she's just taking everything
- 27:59literally on her shoulders and figuratively on
- 28:02her shoulders, right? Because she's the strong
- 28:03one. I mean, how relatable is Louisa, honestly?
- 28:06Like, she's the strong one. She's got to carry
- 28:08the weight for everybody in the family. She can't
- 28:10show any cracks. She can't because she has to
- 28:13be strong. She has to do everything that she's
- 28:15asked to do so that the family can stay strong,
- 28:19so the family can keep doing things to serve
- 28:21others. And meanwhile, she is experiencing, like,
- 28:27the insecurity and the weight of it all and the
- 28:30stress of it all. Pressure. Surface pressure,
- 28:34yeah. It's all this pressure that she's being
- 28:36saddled with just because people think she can
- 28:39handle it. Right, right. And without ever asking
- 28:41her. That's why I think it's so interesting when
- 28:44we look at what this story is with the way that
- 28:46Isabella and Luisa and Bruno and others, it's
- 28:50playing out in what Mirabel, even though she
- 28:53did some projection, what she's able to do to
- 28:55help start. breaking that intergenerational trauma
- 29:00right right and that's the way that i'm thinking
- 29:02that this is playing out is that kind of the
- 29:03way that you're seeing it yeah for sure how does
- 29:05that happen how is she able to start doing that
- 29:07when she starts actually sitting down and listening
- 29:10to her like her siblings and her cousins yeah
- 29:12i think that's an interesting question i never
- 29:15thought about it that way i feel like she was
- 29:17put in that position because she didn't have
- 29:20any magical powers i felt like she was forced
- 29:24into needing to address all of these because
- 29:26she didn't have any magical powers but can you
- 29:28imagine if she did i don't think the trauma will
- 29:30be addressed i think that's right right i think
- 29:34that's right you know uh it's like she's she's
- 29:37not given a gift at least not in the traditional
- 29:39sense right right so she thinks that she doesn't
- 29:43have something to offer but in the absence of
- 29:46that traditional gift she's able to see something
- 29:49everybody else isn't. Yes. That was such a pivotal
- 29:52moment for the movie because if she was given
- 29:55a gift, this would not have happened. And because
- 29:57she wasn't given the traditional gift, I think
- 29:59that forced everybody to address it because,
- 30:03you know, that's the elephant in the room at
- 30:05the moment. Yeah. And then I think especially
- 30:08with Abuela, she's forced to reconcile that,
- 30:11right? What role did she actually play? and causing
- 30:15this pressure that each one of them was under
- 30:17to be perfect, to not do things wrong, to have
- 30:20to never worry about themselves, only ever worry
- 30:24about somebody else, because it's a born of necessity.
- 30:28That's what we have to do. We have to do this.
- 30:29It's their identity. It became such an identity
- 30:32that they couldn't break away with it. But how
- 30:34beautiful is that, that Abuela was able to say,
- 30:37I was wrong. That was her exact word, right?
- 30:39I was wrong. Accountability. And then it came
- 30:43in. in this really beautiful way, right? It's,
- 30:48you know, with it. So the song Dos Orguitas,
- 30:51you're familiar with that song, right? When I
- 30:55think about that song and break it down, especially
- 30:57in relation to exactly what we're talking about,
- 30:59it's this idea of they're kind of like these
- 31:03little caterpillars, right? And in your life,
- 31:05these little caterpillars. What they're having
- 31:08to do and go through this experience is they're
- 31:10having to go in that cocoon and they're having
- 31:12to reemerge, having been healed from and learned
- 31:16from and break free from the actual cocoon or
- 31:19break free figuratively from this trauma that's
- 31:21bound them up. They had to do it. They go in
- 31:23this cocoon. They're having to protect themselves
- 31:25from the world. They're having to protect themselves
- 31:27from all these bad things that were happening
- 31:28around them. But now it's kept it constricted.
- 31:32So they're not actually able to fully recognize
- 31:35and realize. what gifts they truly have. Right.
- 31:39Because they're still stuck in this little cocoon.
- 31:41It was so rigid. So rigid. Right. It was kind
- 31:44of like gender roles almost, right? They have
- 31:47their own roles and they have to do it. When
- 31:49they pivot away from it, they get burned. Yes.
- 31:52Like they get shunned. Yes. Again, like Bruno.
- 31:55Yeah. Right. And then when they're actually able
- 31:57to break free from that and actually able to
- 32:01become the butterfly. Right. right? Spread their
- 32:05wings. Now they're actually able to recognize
- 32:07and realize. And then the very end, the song
- 32:10where they're rebuilding the casita, right? And
- 32:14then it's just really this magical moment where
- 32:16they're all kind of lined up in the pathway leading
- 32:19up to the home and Mirabelle's walking up and
- 32:21they give her the little doorknob to put on the
- 32:24home. And they're talking very specifically and
- 32:27Bruno says it too, like, hey, the real gift is
- 32:29you, kid. Yeah. Right? Like, it's not some...
- 32:32gift that you're given. No, it's you. It's each
- 32:34one of us. Like we are independently the gift.
- 32:38Yes. So we have certain skills and we can use
- 32:41those skills, but ultimately like we have to
- 32:43be healed from within because we ourselves are
- 32:46the gift, which I think is really, I mean, it's
- 32:48a really great message, right? Such a great message.
- 32:50And also kind of to tap into that, right. It's
- 32:54also like, we don't have to prove something to
- 33:00be loved. Yeah. You know, like that worth, right?
- 33:03That self -worth. I think sometimes when you
- 33:06get into like our jobs, our career, like we get
- 33:08into the mode of like, we need to prove something.
- 33:10We need to make certain amount of money to prove
- 33:12something that we're great or whatever. But like,
- 33:15I think at the end of that movie, it's like the
- 33:17gift is you. Like you don't need to prove anything
- 33:20to be worthy to be in this family. Yeah. That's
- 33:23beautiful. So I had a couple other quotes from
- 33:25you, for you, not in the movie. Other quotes
- 33:28from other people. Do you know Brene Brown? Yes.
- 33:30Of course you do. I love Brene Brown. Right?
- 33:32She talks a lot about shame. Yeah. Right? And
- 33:35one of the things she talks about in shame in
- 33:38her TED Talk was, she said, if you put shame
- 33:40in a Petri dish, it needs three ingredients to
- 33:42grow exponentially. Secrecy, silence, and judgment.
- 33:46And that's what these people experience. If you
- 33:48put the same amount of shame in the Petri dish
- 33:50and douse it with empathy, it can't survive.
- 33:53So it's like... To me, it was so much of what
- 33:56they're experiencing, right? Was this shame.
- 33:59Yeah. And then the empathy, I think, in part
- 34:02came from Mirabel. Where she was able to be empathetic
- 34:06to what they're going through. Yeah. And that's
- 34:08a gift. Yes. Right? That's exactly right. Right.
- 34:12Because no other family members could empathize
- 34:15for so long. And she was the only one who could
- 34:17break through that. That was beautiful. That's
- 34:20such a great take on that. Her gift was empathy.
- 34:24Yeah. Which is born from love, right? Yeah, right.
- 34:26You can't have empathy without love. Right. And
- 34:28when she was able to have that empathy and show
- 34:30that love to Luisa. Right. To Isabella. To Isabella
- 34:33too, yeah. To Dolores. Right. Right. To Bruno.
- 34:36To Bruno. Yeah. Oh, especially to Bruno. Right.
- 34:38Then suddenly. the secrecy that they all have
- 34:41with what their hardship is because each one
- 34:44of them was yeah bruno actually silent leaves
- 34:46luisa not telling anybody about her cracks isabella
- 34:48just trying to be perfect all the time not saying
- 34:50it right dolores knowing a lot and holding it
- 34:53back she knew bruno was there the whole time
- 34:55because she can hear him like i can't say anything
- 34:57i'm not gonna be the one that says something
- 34:59nope this won't be a secrecy right because he's
- 35:01got shame i've got shame we can't do it yeah
- 35:04So then as Mirabelle comes in with her gift,
- 35:08which I think you're exactly right, is empathy,
- 35:10able to help. break down that petri dish of shame.
- 35:14Yeah, and understanding and curiosity, right?
- 35:17I think we don't live our lives with enough curiosity
- 35:20to understand people. I think a lot of time,
- 35:24even in that movie, it's that everyone has their
- 35:26own struggles. We just don't talk about it. But
- 35:28when we come on the lens of curiosity, we know
- 35:30people struggle more and we can connect better
- 35:33when we know that too. And we can show up better.
- 35:36I think Mirabelle just really wanted to show
- 35:38up with the sisters and the cousins. She just
- 35:42didn't know how. Right. And you can see her efforts,
- 35:43too. Yeah. She's trying to, when they're first
- 35:45putting together the party for Antonio to get
- 35:50his gift. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she's trying
- 35:51to make the little things with the little candles.
- 35:53And she's trying to do everything she can to
- 35:54participate. Right. She didn't have a gift. Everyone's
- 35:57kind of like, ah, you don't need to do that.
- 35:59Like, Abuela's like, hey, step aside. Like, let
- 36:01other people do it. Right. But she's trying to.
- 36:03She's trying to find ways that she can serve.
- 36:05To show up, yeah. And then ultimately finds,
- 36:07you know. I think the best way, which was through
- 36:09empathy. So when we think about, we take a step
- 36:11away specifically from incontinence, we'll still
- 36:14look at the lens. When we think about intergenerational
- 36:17trauma that people have, what do they do with
- 36:21that? First off, how does somebody recognize
- 36:23that they have some of that in their life, in
- 36:26their family? And then what do they do with that
- 36:28information once they recognize that that's something
- 36:30that is harming them or something they are experiencing?
- 36:34Yeah, such a good question. How do we know if
- 36:37we have some kind of an intergenerational trauma?
- 36:41A big indication is when you're with your family
- 36:45and you cannot talk about something. There's
- 36:47always something. In my work, what I see a lot
- 36:52is abuse. We cannot talk about the abuse, usually
- 36:56from a family member. We cannot talk about the
- 36:59addiction. When there's addiction in the family,
- 37:02usually you can't talk about that. So I would
- 37:04say if there's something that you feel like you
- 37:06cannot talk about and it triggers that kind of
- 37:09really ugh emotions for you, I would say that's
- 37:12a good indicator that you're going through some
- 37:14kind of a trauma in your family. And so once
- 37:17you recognize it, what do you do about it? Yeah.
- 37:20Because it's not always easy, right? No, yeah.
- 37:22If there are certain things that are very taboo
- 37:24to talk about, you can recognize it's there,
- 37:27but then how in the world do you approach it?
- 37:30I think the first question you need to ask yourself
- 37:32is what do you want to do with this? Kind of
- 37:35circling back to my own story, right? You don't
- 37:39know you grew up in the... you know in the abusive
- 37:42childhood until you get out of it and you're
- 37:45like like that's not normal right that's not
- 37:47normal like oh your dad don't yell at you all
- 37:49the time like that's weird so you so i would
- 37:53say you live in it for so long you don't know
- 37:54until you know something different and you're
- 37:57like oh that's not normal so when you get the
- 38:00aha moment i want you to ask yourself like what
- 38:02do you want to do with this so for me when i
- 38:05realized that i had quite an abusive childhood
- 38:08and not like canny or like not physical. It was
- 38:10a lot of emotion, emotional abuse. Um, I asked
- 38:13myself like, what do I want to do with this?
- 38:15At first I wanted kind of like a revenge, right?
- 38:19Like kind of like, I want my dad to feel it.
- 38:21You know, I want my dad to feel like how it was,
- 38:24like how painful it was and stuff like that.
- 38:26So I spent a lot of time being angry, being angry
- 38:29with him at him and like, you know, like journaling
- 38:31a lot of just angry stuff and kind of want to,
- 38:33you know, yell at him and stuff like that. Um,
- 38:37So I spent a lot of time being angry, but then
- 38:39I realized that anger is not bringing me anywhere.
- 38:42I think a lot of people get stuck just in that
- 38:44phase, the anger part, where you blame, you shame,
- 38:47you blame, and it's everyone else's problem.
- 38:50But as an adult, you have to realize your life
- 38:53is what you make out of it. If you want to continue
- 38:56to be angry at your dad, you can. But do I want
- 38:58to live that life and be miserable? I actually
- 39:00love my dad. I want to have a connection with
- 39:02him. So what I did was I went to therapy. I had
- 39:05to be really, really honest with myself. Like,
- 39:07you know, I didn't have a part in it, right?
- 39:10But I can make a change now as an adult. So as
- 39:14an adult, what can I do? I'm a mother now. Obviously,
- 39:18I have some tendencies from my dad. Sure. That
- 39:20absolutely happens, right? Right. Like, you know,
- 39:23like in your head, I don't want to be my dad.
- 39:24But then, you know, you are your dad sometimes
- 39:26when you're triggered and all of that. So I have
- 39:28to check myself so much to like, OK, not repeat
- 39:31this and not, you know, change the pattern. I'm
- 39:34learning some things because in my culture, there's
- 39:36a lot of shaming you. If somebody if the kid
- 39:39doesn't want to do what you said, you shame them.
- 39:42Like, you're going to be stupid. You're going
- 39:44to be homeless and stuff like that. You shame
- 39:45them until they do something that you want to
- 39:47do. But that's not usually the best thing to
- 39:49do with your kids. Yeah, shaming is not an effective
- 39:52tool for, like, lasting impact. Right. You might
- 39:57get them to take that action in that moment.
- 40:00Right. But long term, no. For you, Brene Brown
- 40:04talks a little bit about this. What's the difference
- 40:05between shame and guilt? I think she talks about
- 40:08it like shame is generally bad. Guilt's not necessarily
- 40:10bad. What's the difference? I think shame is
- 40:14very internally judging. You're judging yourself
- 40:19internally. You feel like you're in trouble a
- 40:21lot. Guilt can fuel action. So if you feel guilty,
- 40:27you feel like, oh, you want to do something different.
- 40:29So I would say shame is more internal. Guilt
- 40:32is more maybe action -based for some people.
- 40:34Okay. I like that. I like that difference there.
- 40:36Yeah. Okay. So somebody is experiencing this.
- 40:39They recognize it. They've got to decide what
- 40:42they want to do with it. You said that sometimes,
- 40:45like for you, you felt anger. Yeah. Is that?
- 40:47Is that an essential step that somebody needs
- 40:50to go through that emotion of feeling the anger
- 40:54and not shying away from feeling anger about
- 40:56it? Or what component does that play in this
- 40:58process of trying to heal from this intergenerational
- 41:02trauma? Yeah, I think when it comes to healing
- 41:05trauma or like trauma from the past, especially.
- 41:10There's two, I feel like there's two kinds of
- 41:12people. One who would say like, oh, everything's
- 41:15fine. I was fine. You know, it wasn't such a
- 41:17big deal or like I got through it. It was fine.
- 41:19But there are a lot of time, a lot of time when
- 41:22that happens is that they are not wanting to
- 41:25address the feelings, not wanting to even go
- 41:27there because they know if they go there, the
- 41:29feelings are overflowing, right? It's hard to,
- 41:31it's hard to engage or like regulate. So there's
- 41:35that one. And then the other ones are like feeling
- 41:37a lot, right? Anger and just being. stuck there
- 41:40it's like just being stuck in that negative loop
- 41:42of like oh it's it's his fault it's whatever
- 41:44it's other people's fault and I'm not going to
- 41:46acknowledge that so so there's two types of people
- 41:49so I think in a way I think it's really good
- 41:52to kind of process like what you want to get
- 41:54out of that so yes feeling the feelings it very
- 41:57important but we need to get out of that feelings
- 42:00too yeah and more action -based and what do we
- 42:03want to get out of that feelings So when someone's
- 42:06experiencing those emotions of anger for past
- 42:09trauma and they decide what they want to do with
- 42:13it, how do they decide? How do they come up with
- 42:16what that is they want to do? If they're unsure,
- 42:20if they're lost about what that means or... what
- 42:24the options even are. How do they go about figuring
- 42:26out what it is they want to do with that? Yeah,
- 42:28good question. I think for me, it was just more
- 42:32of like, do I want to live a life where I'm just
- 42:35really angry with my dad all my life? You're
- 42:37talking 80 years, maybe potentially 80 years
- 42:41of like hating somebody. Not really. Like, I
- 42:43don't want to have that kind of a negative feeling
- 42:46in me, right? Because ultimately, I'm the one
- 42:47suffering. My dad's fine. He's gone through it.
- 42:50He's fine. He's healed, right? the one who's
- 42:54like carrying all of that so i would say check
- 42:56in with that and the next move will just be you
- 43:00know once you decided what you want out of it
- 43:02the next one will be seeking resources and help
- 43:04asking for support like maybe going up um sorry
- 43:09connecting with people who went through similarly
- 43:11siblings are usually good but even with siblings
- 43:14everyone usually have very different experiences
- 43:17childhood experiences too um therapy is always
- 43:20good you know having that third person that don't
- 43:24know you and don't know the dynamics and not
- 43:26really engage in, you know, all of this trauma,
- 43:28have them help you kind of sort it out for you.
- 43:31Um, and making sure that that's a good fit too,
- 43:34because a lot of people do not understand cultural
- 43:36drama, uh, trauma. Sorry. Sure. Yeah. So we need
- 43:39to make sure that the people that we seek out,
- 43:41seek help for from is also in line to our values.
- 43:45Yeah. Yeah. That's a great, that's a great point.
- 43:47You know, if somebody can't at all understand.
- 43:50what that experience was. They can't relate to
- 43:53it at all. It's going to make it a little bit
- 43:55harder for them to give you good advice about
- 43:56what to do. I mean, just as something as simple
- 43:59as culture, right? Like I come from Asian culture
- 44:02and you come from Western culture. When we talk
- 44:05about boundaries, when we talk about families.
- 44:07it's so different right like i think in the western
- 44:10culture it's very socially acceptable to cut
- 44:13people off cut your family off but in asian culture
- 44:16oh my gosh like we have a lot of intermingling
- 44:19things and culturally it's just not something
- 44:22that we do so if you go to a therapist who who
- 44:25you know who's okay with cutting people off there
- 44:28will be a lot of this alignment there with values
- 44:29too so seeking appropriate help with a good fit
- 44:33is important yeah definitely true So then somebody
- 44:37goes and kind of seeks that help and they're
- 44:40able to start breaking down this trauma and breaking
- 44:46out of the patterns that they might be stuck
- 44:48in because of this trauma. What does that look
- 44:52like in that process of trying to get rid of
- 44:55those patterns? Yeah. Oh my gosh, so hard. You
- 45:00will see a lot of people who rather, and I'm
- 45:04not saying this lightly, who rather stay in a
- 45:06trauma because it's easier. Yeah. Easier to deal
- 45:09because you know what to expect. You know how
- 45:12to deal with it when you're triggered. You know
- 45:14what happens next. You know your own narrative,
- 45:16right? But when you are trying to break out of
- 45:19it, it's going to be so uncomfortable because
- 45:21you need to sit with feelings that are very uncomfortable.
- 45:23Like, I need to take accountability on my life.
- 45:26A lot of trauma victims don't feel like they
- 45:29need to take accountability because it's not
- 45:31their fault. And it is not their fault. But the
- 45:33accountability comes from living the life that
- 45:35you want to live. That's the accountability that
- 45:37you need to take. And that's where the decision
- 45:39has to be made. What do you want to do with this
- 45:42trauma? How do you want to heal from it? So I
- 45:44would say a lot of sitting with the discomfort
- 45:47of changing patterns. So for example, for me,
- 45:50when my daughter, I have a seven -year -old daughter.
- 45:54Seven -year -old, of course. She's like, you
- 45:56know, she wants everything. She's just a mess.
- 45:58Like, she just wants to do everything. When she
- 46:02talks back at me in my culture, in the past,
- 46:06my dad would be like, you don't talk to me like
- 46:08that. You know, just shut it down right away
- 46:09and yell it back to her. To break that intergenerational
- 46:14trauma, I need to catch myself to not react to
- 46:17that the same way that I was reacted to because
- 46:19that doesn't make her feel safe, right? So I
- 46:22need to be more mindful of listening to respond
- 46:25instead of listening to react. That's accountability.
- 46:29That's breaking your own generational trauma.
- 46:31It stops with you. Well, I mean, that leads perfectly
- 46:34to, I guess, a little bit further down that path,
- 46:36the same basic thing, which is once someone's
- 46:39able to break the patterns they have, how do
- 46:43you help make sure you don't pass those on? How
- 46:47do you make sure that now you don't continue
- 46:49that intergenerational trauma and your kids continue
- 46:52to experience those same things that you had
- 46:53experienced? Because I think for a lot of people,
- 46:56that's hard. Even though we know certain things
- 47:00that we didn't like that our parents did. Right?
- 47:02We could even name them. Yeah. And probably many
- 47:04of them. Right. And yet in the moment, in the
- 47:07heat of the moment especially, we revert to what
- 47:09we know because it's the only thing that we know.
- 47:11Right. Exactly. Like, okay, I experienced that
- 47:13before. I saw that. I'm going to do that. Right.
- 47:16How do you go about, like, really breaking that
- 47:19pattern? Yeah. I always ask, I always tell my,
- 47:22this is what I do. I always tell myself, like,
- 47:24is this worth spiraling for? so is this worth
- 47:29the battle picking like for example she didn't
- 47:32she wants to have chick -fil -a for dinner you
- 47:34know but i have already cooked dinner so then
- 47:37How do we manage that? Do we hear her what she
- 47:43wants? Or do we cave in too? Sometimes that can
- 47:46be seen as spoiling as well, right? Or do we
- 47:50set that boundary and be firm with that? And
- 47:52what did your family do that made you feel unsafe
- 47:56at the time? And what can you do to make your
- 47:58kids feel safe? So I would say taking that pause.
- 48:01Taking that pause before you respond. Taking
- 48:03that pause before you react. Even a one second
- 48:06or two. second breathe in and breathe out that
- 48:09could change so much of the trajectory of how
- 48:11you handle the situation because a lot of the
- 48:13time we know what we don't want to be sure but
- 48:16in the moment in the heat of moment we kind of
- 48:18cave into what we know yeah but when we take
- 48:20that step just that one or two seconds to breathe
- 48:22just one or two second i'm not taking not saying
- 48:25take five minutes just one or two second i think
- 48:27a lot of things can change that's how you break
- 48:30international intergenerational trauma is you
- 48:32change that pattern you stop that pattern how
- 48:35do you How do you resolve the inherent conflict
- 48:40there between spoiling a kid and holding really
- 48:45firm boundaries? Yeah, that will have to come
- 48:49from your family value. Like, what do you value?
- 48:53I think that example. Right. I think for me,
- 48:55what was happening there is that I had to tell
- 48:57her, like, hey, we're so privileged to be able
- 49:00to have a choice to go out or to eat in. So I
- 49:03had to tell her, like, I've already cooked the
- 49:05food and this is something that we have to eat
- 49:07tonight. But tomorrow we can do Chick -fil -A.
- 49:10So having her be heard as well and be safe and
- 49:14not react and be like, how dare you? suggest
- 49:17chick -fil -a there's dinner on the table you
- 49:19know just kind of how you respond really totally
- 49:22yeah so okay so so let me take a different slant
- 49:26at this uh same idea which is how do you help
- 49:32to break the patterns when you're dealing with
- 49:35a co -parenting situation as you know i'm a divorce
- 49:39attorney so i'm dealing with these things all
- 49:40day i also happen to have two boys with an ex
- 49:43yeah And so I think in co -parenting situations,
- 49:46a lot of things are more complicated. 100%. I'm
- 49:51also co -parenting, so I get you. Okay, so you
- 49:53get it. Yeah. You get it. So what was your question?
- 49:56How do you break those patterns? How do you help
- 49:59your kids not experience that same intergenerational
- 50:02trauma when you do have a co -parenting situation?
- 50:05So you can't. Always be there for those situations
- 50:08because they're only with you half the time or
- 50:09whatever it is. Right. Oh, this is so hard. And
- 50:13I tell this to myself, too. You control what
- 50:16you can control. You cannot control when your
- 50:20kids are away from you, but you can control when
- 50:22they're with you. So how do you want them to
- 50:24feel when they're with you? Do you want them
- 50:26to feel safe? What does safety look like for
- 50:29your kids? Maybe just listening to them more
- 50:31or being present with them, not scrolling on
- 50:34our phone. Or being that safe place to where
- 50:37they can tell us uncomfortable things without
- 50:39reaction. And that itself, just that, just three
- 50:42things, is already breaking a lot of generational
- 50:45trauma from a lot of families because we don't
- 50:47do that enough. So we control what we can control,
- 50:50and kids will know. I mean, you know, right?
- 50:52Kids know. And they'll find out. I think that's
- 50:55really insightful where... you know how do we
- 50:57want our kids to feel in our home and we want
- 50:59them to feel safe yeah and when we look at it
- 51:03through that lens i mean i'm already thinking
- 51:05right now about different decisions i would have
- 51:06made yesterday with my five -year -old right
- 51:08i'm already literally thinking about these things
- 51:10when we were trying to watch beauty and the beast
- 51:12last night okay we were experiencing the same
- 51:14thing and she's five But I can totally see this,
- 51:17like, I want her to feel safe. I do. And so some
- 51:20of the things that she and I were having this
- 51:22back and forth on at 5 and 43, like, oh, okay,
- 51:26I want her to feel safe, though. I could have
- 51:28made a different decision in the way that I held
- 51:30to this boundary or asked her to do that or she's
- 51:34getting upset and I need her to do something
- 51:35different. If my goal is, like, I actually want
- 51:38her to feel safe and loved, okay, I need to take
- 51:41a second or two. I need to think about this differently.
- 51:44And I can still have. a boundary that I set with
- 51:46her, but boy, it would have played out different.
- 51:48I would have totally done it different if I would
- 51:50have looked at that lens. I love that so much.
- 51:52Yeah, you're welcome. And I use that for myself
- 51:55so much. Even just yesterday, you know, she had
- 51:58a tantrum, of course, seven -year -old. She threw
- 52:00a fit because she wanted to draw another thing
- 52:01because we were drawing and she wanted to draw
- 52:03another thing and it's bedtime. So she threw
- 52:05a fit and then she went to her room. Her room
- 52:07is more like a safe place where I have combing
- 52:10posters and stuff like that, coping skills that
- 52:13she can use. So after like 10 minutes, she was
- 52:16in there. She came out and said, Mommy, I want
- 52:21to talk. I'm like, oh, that's cool that you said
- 52:23that. And then she's like, well, you don't love
- 52:27me. She said, well, Mommy, you don't love me.
- 52:29I'm like, that's... i love you maya in what ways
- 52:32have i shown that i don't love you today and
- 52:35then she's like well you didn't come and talk
- 52:36to me oh is that what you needed i can do that
- 52:39you know so just taking that even that pause
- 52:42and just really listening to what she needed
- 52:43she really just needed a hug after that yeah
- 52:46and i can give it to her i don't need to and
- 52:48you asked her Yeah, and I ask her, too. You asked
- 52:50her, what would you need to feel loved? Yeah.
- 52:53And I think a lot of times we don't. We're like,
- 52:55well, of course I love you. Right. Like, I do
- 52:56everything for you. I literally, everything you
- 52:58have in this house, everywhere you go, I buy
- 53:00it for you. Right. Like, of course I love you.
- 53:02Yes. Instead of just saying, oh. What do you
- 53:05need to feel loved? Yes. Yeah. So it's so important
- 53:08to like even just having that respect for your
- 53:10child that they have feelings, too, and they
- 53:12have needs, too. And we show up in ways that
- 53:14make sense for us in how we show love. But maybe
- 53:17it doesn't make sense for them. For sure. Yeah.
- 53:20Interesting. OK, I love it. OK, so I'm going
- 53:23to take us to a couple of quick segments and
- 53:25then we'll kind of do our final thoughts and
- 53:27then our three actionable takeaways. So before
- 53:30we do, we're going to do a this or that. Okay.
- 53:31I'll just give you a this or that and you say
- 53:33which one you think. Awesome. And you might have
- 53:34to defend your controversial opinion. All right.
- 53:37Let's do it. And then after that, it'll be a
- 53:38rapid fire. So the rapid fire is I'll just ask
- 53:40you a question and whatever first thing comes
- 53:42to your mind. Okay. Okay. So here's the this
- 53:44or that. This is the first one. Mirabelle or
- 53:47Isabella? Mirabelle. Bruno or Luisa? Ooh. This
- 53:53one was a little harder. Ooh. Um. Ooh, then I
- 53:59have to defend it, right? Luisa. I really love
- 54:09Luisa. Yeah. She might be my favorite. She's
- 54:13so great. I just think it's so relatable. So
- 54:15relatable. What she goes through. Yeah, in a
- 54:17lot of ways. And she didn't run away. I think
- 54:20that was why I would defend her is because she
- 54:22didn't run away from the cracks. Yeah, from her
- 54:25side. The Magic Candle or The Casita? Oh, The
- 54:31Casita. Yeah, I think it's got way more character.
- 54:33Yes, super fun. Let's see. Let's go with Family
- 54:39Dinner or Solo Night Out? Oh, Family Dinner,
- 54:43100%. I love my Family Dinner. That's why we
- 54:45talk. So good. Talk It Out or Ride It Out? Oh,
- 54:51I'm a talking it out person. Same. Yeah. Some
- 54:54people love to write and that's their way to
- 54:57kind of get it out. Oh, I just want to talk.
- 54:58I just want to talk. Yeah. Totally. Until your
- 55:00ear's out. Okay. Call your therapist or call
- 55:06your best friend? Therapist. I feel like my best
- 55:09friend will tell me what I want to hear. See,
- 55:12my best friend's different. He will tell me.
- 55:14He'll be way too hard on me. He'd be like, you're
- 55:17an idiot. Stop doing that, you moron. Right,
- 55:19right, right. He'd just give it to me straight.
- 55:22I think that's a good best friend to keep. He
- 55:24works for the sheriff's office, so he's used
- 55:26to not messing around. He's just going to give
- 55:28it to you like it is, which is actually really
- 55:30good for me to hear sometimes. But sometimes
- 55:32it is nice to have someone who's going to talk
- 55:34through it and think through it a little bit
- 55:35more thoroughly with you. Yes, I just feel like
- 55:37with therapists, they have a different perspective
- 55:39to where they're not biased, to where they can
- 55:41help me through it. I just feel like best friends
- 55:43know me through and through, and know my BS too.
- 55:45And they will tell me my BS. For sure. Okay,
- 55:49here's our rapid fire. Favorite Disney movie?
- 55:52Encanto. So good. Same. Favorite Disney song?
- 55:57Oh, Reflection. From Mulan. Oh, such a powerful
- 56:03song. Such a powerful song. We just did Mulan
- 56:07on an episode a couple of weeks ago. And that
- 56:11song came up. And it's really... It's really
- 56:13moving, you know, when she's just talking about
- 56:15the, like, when she's looking at that reflection,
- 56:17you know, is it who she wants to be? What does
- 56:20she need to become? Going back to that people
- 56:22pleasing, right? Yeah. Who are you? Yeah, because
- 56:24initially, like, all she's wanting to do is please
- 56:26everybody else around her. I've got to go be
- 56:28this perfect little wife and go be this bride
- 56:31and, like, do these things that they asked. And
- 56:32she has to learn to break free from that. It's
- 56:35so good. I love that. So relatable. Favorite
- 56:37Disney princess? Wow. Oh, my gosh. Elsa's sister.
- 56:47Oh, Anna. Anna. She's so great. It's not Elsa.
- 56:50Anna's so great. Anna's so great. I feel like
- 56:52Anna is such a connector, and she's so funny.
- 56:56She is. Yeah, she's so funny. She's got some
- 56:57similarities to Mirabel. Yeah, she does. Because
- 56:59neither of them has powers. Yeah, right. And
- 57:01yet they're still able to do great things even
- 57:04without powers. Right. And a lot of it's based
- 57:06in love, right? And empathy. Empathy, yes. Right?
- 57:09With Elsa. Like, she just wanted to, like, understand
- 57:12her. Like, why do we not want to build a snowman?
- 57:14So good. So good. Okay, favorite Disney hero
- 57:16or heroine? Oh, I'm not really a hero person.
- 57:24I would still say Anna. I think she saved Arendelle.
- 57:27She's a heroine. 100 % she is. Yeah, absolutely.
- 57:29Especially in Frozen 2. Yes. Yeah, what she was
- 57:32able to do to take the information that she had
- 57:35and make the super, super hard choice. Like,
- 57:37we're going to destroy this dam. It's going to
- 57:40flood all of Arendelle. Right. But it has to
- 57:42right the wrong. I've got to do it. Right. And
- 57:44she did it. She does it. She has the power to
- 57:46do it. Right. So good. I love her. So good. Favorite
- 57:48Disney villain? I would say Bruno. At first it
- 57:54was like a villain, right? Because you think
- 57:56he's the villain. Right. You think he is, and
- 57:57then it turns out that he's not at all. It's
- 57:59not, yeah. Which is, that's a good one, because
- 58:01then he's actually this great character, this
- 58:03lovable character who's only out there trying
- 58:05to love his family and help his family. Right.
- 58:06So totally redeemable. I love Bruno. Love it.
- 58:10Okay, here's a couple others. Which family member
- 58:15of the family Madrigal would you most want to
- 58:17have dinner with? I would say Abuela. Okay. Yeah.
- 58:24Tell me more. I want to know her story. I want
- 58:27to know how she survived single parenting with
- 58:31three triplets. I'm like drowning, but she had
- 58:34three. And what kind of pain did she need to
- 58:38survive to get to that point of the magical kingdom,
- 58:42right? And sustain that and what kind of stress
- 58:45she had. I just really want to talk to her. That's
- 58:47actually a really great one. I wasn't even thinking
- 58:49that one. That's awesome. If you could have any
- 58:52gift that any of the family members of the family
- 58:55Madrigal have, which would you choose? That's
- 58:59a hard question. The same Mirabelle health? Would
- 59:04that count? Sure, because we just talked about
- 59:07the fact that she's got the gift of empathy and
- 59:09love. I say that because I feel like I could
- 59:12relate. I am the first one and the only one in
- 59:16my family. that wants to break the trauma the
- 59:19generation of trauma and i could relate it so
- 59:21much because she was going through to so many
- 59:24people like help me understand like help me help
- 59:26me and nobody really wanted to right so it felt
- 59:30like i could yeah i could relate to her a lot
- 59:32okay so it was very personal to me i love that
- 59:34that's a great answer that's a great answer all
- 59:37right so let's kind of come to our kind of final
- 59:39um kind of conclusion thoughts or kind of takeaways
- 59:43that we have from here so What's kind of the
- 59:46overall closing reflection that somebody could
- 59:49have on this idea of intergenerational trauma
- 59:51within Kanto? And then let's get our three actionable
- 59:55takeaways. Yeah. So I wrote this down because
- 1:00:00I really want to distill this one thing. Yes.
- 1:00:03Breaking generational trauma isn't about rejecting
- 1:00:05your family. It's about loving them enough to
- 1:00:09change the story. Say it again. Yeah. Breaking
- 1:00:13generational trauma isn't about rejecting your
- 1:00:17family. It's about loving them enough to change
- 1:00:20the story. Kind of like boundaries. I want to
- 1:00:24have boundaries so I can connect with you. I
- 1:00:26want to love you enough so it's meaningful for
- 1:00:28you. So that we can actually have a family. Kind
- 1:00:30of like my family now, right? We're so close.
- 1:00:33I go home once every year, at least once every
- 1:00:35year, and I'll fly my parents here once every
- 1:00:37year too for my daughter's birthday. And why
- 1:00:39is that so important to break that? Trauma is
- 1:00:42that without that, without those work, we won't
- 1:00:45have this relationship. So I wanted to go through
- 1:00:48that rough patch, that really, really hard time,
- 1:00:50hard two years of just really processing with
- 1:00:54them and really talking with them and really
- 1:00:56like taking accountability for my own life so
- 1:00:59that I can have a relationship with my family.
- 1:01:02Yeah, I think it's so good. And especially in
- 1:01:05light of your explanation about what a boundary
- 1:01:07really means. It's not to keep somebody out.
- 1:01:09It's actually to. create the connection, which
- 1:01:12is so good. Okay. So what are three actionable
- 1:01:16takeaways that somebody could put into effect
- 1:01:20in their lives today or this week to start breaking
- 1:01:25this intergenerational trauma and really moving
- 1:01:28forward to a happier life? Yeah. First thing,
- 1:01:31name it. You have to name it. If you don't name
- 1:01:34it, you don't know. And I think a lot of people
- 1:01:36live a life where we don't really want to know
- 1:01:41or we don't want to address it. So naming it
- 1:01:45is so important. So what is it? What are you
- 1:01:46struggling with on a day -to -day? Why are you
- 1:01:49struggling? Why are you struggling with anxiety?
- 1:01:51What is the root of it? So naming the root of
- 1:01:54it is important. So that's step one. Step two
- 1:01:57would be... getting like what do you want out
- 1:02:00of this right so for myself like the childhood
- 1:02:02abuse i don't want to pass this on so in order
- 1:02:04not to pass this on i need to do something so
- 1:02:07i took parenting classes i took parenting courses
- 1:02:09i even went to one of my friend's house so she
- 1:02:13she's the same age as me but she has um she had
- 1:02:16kids earlier than me so she was the mom first
- 1:02:19and whatever so i had to go to her house and
- 1:02:21watch her play with her kids. Like I never had
- 1:02:26my parents play with me. So I don't know what
- 1:02:28playing with kids mean. I hated kids before I
- 1:02:30had kids. So it's like you need to learn from
- 1:02:33the ground up. You need to, you know, the nitty
- 1:02:36gritty. You cannot lie to yourself anymore. You
- 1:02:38need to be really honest with yourself. So whatever
- 1:02:41that is, take accountability and do that. What
- 1:02:44direction you want to do with the trauma, right?
- 1:02:49And then the third one is taking accountability.
- 1:02:51What can we do to take accountability for this
- 1:02:54trauma? What can we do to break this so that
- 1:02:57we don't pass it on? This is something that we
- 1:02:59can control, so we want to control that. That's
- 1:03:02fantastic. I think if somebody can put those
- 1:03:06into effect, they're going to see a major shift.
- 1:03:10Yes. And I think their overall happiness, frankly,
- 1:03:13I think it's actually that important. Right.
- 1:03:15I think I always say life is too short to live
- 1:03:20in your own BS. Yeah. We have a lot of excuses.
- 1:03:24We have so many of our own BS that we tell ourselves,
- 1:03:27you know. Of course. But the BS is what's keeping
- 1:03:30us from feeling true to ourselves, being honest
- 1:03:33with ourselves, you know, living a true life,
- 1:03:36like a very authentic life. I wear fur coat to
- 1:03:39the gym. Do I care? No. Because you like it.
- 1:03:42Because I love it. And if you do, that's what
- 1:03:44you should do. Right. Absolutely. Who cares about
- 1:03:47what other people think, right? Because I love
- 1:03:50it. I think I look good in it and I feel good
- 1:03:53in it. So that's all that matters is that what
- 1:03:55you feel about it and take accountability for
- 1:03:58that as long as you're not hurting other people.
- 1:03:59Sure. I think it's funny you mention that. A
- 1:04:03lot of times I'll get from people because I wear
- 1:04:05suits a lot. Yeah. Like, oh, don't you just hate
- 1:04:07having to wear a suit every day because you're
- 1:04:08an attorney? And I was like, actually, no. I
- 1:04:11actually really like wearing suits, truth be
- 1:04:13told. Right, right. I wear suits when I don't
- 1:04:15have cord. I wear suits because I like wearing
- 1:04:17suits. Yeah. It makes me feel fancy. It makes
- 1:04:19me feel professional. And I like the way it makes
- 1:04:22me feel. Yes. And so I like wearing suits because
- 1:04:24of that. And that's authentic to you. That's
- 1:04:27why it makes you feel good because it aligns
- 1:04:29with your value. Right. So I think that's so
- 1:04:31important. Aligning your life with your values.
- 1:04:34Yeah, no question. Well, I appreciate the conversation
- 1:04:37with you so much today. Thank you. Learned a
- 1:04:39ton about. intergenerational drama, trauma about
- 1:04:43boundaries, about creating connection from the
- 1:04:46boundaries as opposed to barriers. Really, really
- 1:04:49lovely conversation. I appreciate it. Thank you,
- 1:04:51Ryan. Thank you for having me. It was such a
- 1:04:53great movie to unpack. Yeah, for sure. My pleasure.
- 1:04:56Thanks. Thank you. As you lead this conversation,
- 1:05:00remember that yes, the past can hurt and you
- 1:05:03can either run from it or you can learn from
- 1:05:06it. So here's to learning. and finding joy in
- 1:05:09the journey. See you real soon.