Break the Stigma with Noemi Gonzalez

Explicit content warning

10/30/18 • 44 min

Welcome to the second break the stigma episode of this season! Today we talk with an actress and mental health advocate, Noemi Gonzalez.

Noemí Gonzalez is a first-generation immigrant from Mexico and a first-generation actress from within her family. Noemi is best known in her standout role as “Soli Gomez” in the hit series East Los High on Hulu. You might have also seen her in films such as Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, The Vatican Tapes, Traces and recurring in television shows such as The Kicks, Rosewood, Gang Related and more. She has also been featured in theatre productions, several commercials, and was hand-selected to be an ABC Diversity Showcase Participant. Currently Noemi is making her daytime debut as Mia Rosales on The Young and The Restless.

Today, we dive into her story of strength as it relates to her family and experience with therapy. Noemi opens up about her older brother’s diagnosis with bipolar and schizophrenia, and her younger brother’s diagnosis with autism, and where they are all at now in life.

****TRIGGER WARNING: ABUSE (sexual)****18:22 and on.

She talks to us about her experience with her childhood religion and how her congregation took care of the sexual abuse she encountered as a minor. Noemi shares exclusively with us about the stigma and shame about attending therapy for those in the acting industry.

Here are the time markers:

5:42 is where Noemi’s background story begins

6:49 sidetracked by my wedding

8:20 begin to talk about her family’s view of mental health &

10:39 we talk about the effects of being parentified & how our culture sees someone as “functioning” when they do not have a diagnosis

18:22 growing up Jehovah's Witness & sexual abuse, DCFS & the start of therapy experience

22:42 my dog interrupts the interview briefly

23:50 Noemi talks more about experience and view of therapy

25:28 challenges of being an actress

27:33 the evolution of the stigma in the acting industry about therapy & the worries of being a high profile/celebrity client and being in therapy

30:16 advice for families experiencing a mental illness diagnosis

35:45 boundaries Noemi needed to maintain your mental health & examples

If you or a family member are struggling with your mental health, or have questions about it, contact the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email at [email protected].

If you’d like to reach out to Noemi, you can find her on Instagram @iamnoemigonzalez

Check out Latinx Therapy’s new website filled with resources! Follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook: @latinxtherapy

If you are a therapist that works with the Latinx community, and are in private practice, be sure to sign up to become an official member of Latinx Therapy.

Welcome to the second break the stigma episode of this season! Today we talk with an actress and mental health advocate, Noemi Gonzalez.

****TRIGGER WARNING: ABUSE (sexual)****18:22 and on.

Here are the time markers:

5:42 is where Noemi’s background story begins

6:49 sidetracked by my wedding

8:20 begin to talk about her family’s view of mental health &

10:39 we talk about the effects of being parentified & how our culture sees someone as “functioning” when they do not have a diagnosis

18:22 growing up Jehovah's Witness & sexual abuse, DCFS & the start of therapy experience

22:42 my dog interrupts the interview briefly

23:50 Noemi talks more about experience and view of therapy

25:28 challenges of being an actress

27:33 the evolution of the stigma in the acting industry about therapy & the worries of being a high profile/celebrity client and being in therapy

30:16 advice for families experiencing a mental illness diagnosis

35:45 boundaries Noemi needed to maintain your mental health & examples

If you’d like to reach out to Noemi, you can find her on Instagram @iamnoemigonzalez

Check out Latinx Therapy’s new website filled with resources! Follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook: @latinxtherapy

If you are a therapist that works with the Latinx community, and are in private practice, be sure to sign up to become an official member of Latinx Therapy.

Previous Episode

Una Experiencia AfroLatinx

En este segmento, hablamos de lo que se significa ser AfroLatinx, ejemplos de discriminación y micro-agresiones, y los varios efectos de la salud mental con este tema. Ser AfroLatinx significa ser negro/a o de afrodescendientes, y de un país de Latino América. Para otros, se significa ser uno de los países AfroLatinx como República Dominicana, Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba, Haití, Puerto Rico, o Guatemala.

Conocemos a Jersey Garcia: Ella es una consejera familiar y de parejas, Coach de Relaciones, y mediadora familiar, que vive en el sur de la Florida, y disfruta ayudando a mujeres y parejas afrodescendientes y latinxs, a navegar la experiencia humana de relacionarse desde un espacio de honestidad, felicidad y conexión. Su pronombre preferido es “ella” y las 5 cosas que generalmente le traen una gran sonrisa a su cara son: acurrucarse en la cama con sus hijos; podcasts; onomatopeyas dominicanas; reggaetón; y mangú con queso frito.

Recursos:

Visiten la página de Jersey para saber más sobre sus servicios: www.jerseygarcia.com

Un articulo del 2017 de el ser Afri Latino (via Al Día News): http://aldianews.com/es/articles/culture/el-ser-afro-latino/45509

Next Episode

My Teen Pregnancy Story- Part 1

Teen pregnancy is defined by someone who has a child between the ages of 13-19. About 750,000 teens get pregnant each year, mostly between the ages 17 to 19 (Kost, et al., 2010).

While Latinxs currently have the highest teen birth rates, they have also had a dramatic recent decline in rates. Since 2007, the teen birth rate has declined by 58% for Latinx, compared with declines of 53% for African Americans and 47% for Caucasians.

In this solo episode, I share my personal experience with getting pregnant at age 19 and becoming a single mother during my undergraduate schooling in Santa Barbara, CA. I discuss general and personal mental health effects, cultural beliefs and common mentalities that Latinx teens and their parents experience.

I also explore the barriers to sex education, such as family beliefs, shame, and Catholicism. I provide advice to young girls, parents and therapists.

Next time I will continue with my story and talk about the collectivistic views with family postpartum adjustment and the high status that is achieved with childbearing in the Latinx culture.

Resources:

Teen Line https://teenlineonline.org/ : 310-855-4673, or text TEEN to 839863

Birth Control Methods: https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/structured-content/#/Health_Topic_Birth_Control_Choosing_a_Method.xml

Tool- Find the Right Method That Works for You: https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/birthcontrol/#/

Find Various Program for Parents & Teens: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/promoting/parenting/pregnant-teens/

WIC in CA for Free formula, diapers, healthy food, lactating classes & more: https://wicforfamilies.org/

Statistics were referenced from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_01.pdf

Kost K, et al. (2010). U.S. Teenage pregnancies, births and abortions: National and state trends and trends by race and ethnicity. Guttmacher Institute.