IE therapist helps heal Latino community through social media

The content we consume can impact our mental health. But what if that content was designed to actually help us?

Jackie Garcia, a licensed therapist from the Inland Empire, is helping the Latino community every day on her social media page. She hopes to remove the stigma of seeking mental help. 

“That was really the purpose,” Garcia said. “Like, how can I utilize this space so we can collectively heal together?”

That space is called TherapyLux, founded by Garcia in 2020. 

“We were going through a pandemic and I wanted to also utilize my voice and provide a platform where, you know, the Latinx and the Latinos felt seen,” Garcia said. 

Garcia’s videos are about understanding cycles of generational trauma in the Latino community. 

“Many truths can coexist at the same time,” Garcia said. “Our parents did the best they could with the resources that they had, and sometimes they didn’t meet our emotional needs.” 

While much of social media is a highlight reel, Garcia takes a different approach. 

“I think what has worked has been like when I share about my life and my own struggles and how not only am I a therapist, but I’m also a therapist who goes to therapy,” Garcia said. 

Garcia has been going to therapy since she was 14 years old. She was born in Orange County and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, until the age of 12. 

“And those 12 years as a family, we faced many, many adversities together,” Garcia said.

The struggle only continued when her family moved back to Southern California and tried to adjust to their new life in Moreno Valley. 

“I was in middle school and all of my behaviors and symptoms started showing,” Garcia said. “My dad was the brave one who said, ‘I think we can’t do it alone — we may have to seek professional help,’” Garcia said.

Garcia said that her father started “breaking the cycle” — one that is not easily broken. 

“I went no-contact with my parents and I was running away from that home,” Garcia said. “To find out this year, this year I was like, ‘Dad, I need you — Dad, I need you.’”

Those who have tried know that healing can be a rollercoaster. After years of therapy, Garcia has decided to pay it forward by becoming a therapist herself. 

She wants others in the Latino community — her primary clientele — to understand that “when you work on yourself and you implement change, your whole environment tends to change with you.”

“It’s OK to not be OK. It’s OK to not have it figured out. It’s OK to cry,” Garcia said. “And you can go to therapy even if you just want to get to know yourself and to know your self-discovery journey. It doesn’t have to be a crisis, right?” 

Garcia is grateful to her parents for starting her own healing journey, one that she believes she will always be on.

“I love them and they’re rooting for me right now,” Garcia said. “Love you, mom. Love you, dad. Gracias."