2. Rising from the Ashes of Burnout and Embracing Your Therapy “Style” (ft. Alason Polanco, LPC)

Today we’re talking with Alason Polanco. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas and a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She is currently working for a company that specializes in the treatment of eating disorders and mood disorders as a Travel Senior Primary Therapist. While she is primarily Austin, Texas based, she is also working on getting her counseling licenses in both Washington and Maryland.  With Alason we discuss her experience growing up in a Hispanic immigrant family where emotions and mental health were not discussed, how she learned about setting personal and professional boundaries the hard way, and what it was like to white-knuckle her way through active depression and untreated ADHD while attending college. We talk about neurodivergence, the minority experience in eating disorders, and founding a queer teen group in a small Texas town. We discuss her passion for advocating and standing up for yourself along with the importance of therapists going to therapy, making friends in grad school, and taking every minute of your PTO. Resources mentioned:  PBS video-short series “Decolonizing Mental Health”: https://www.pbs.org/show/mysteries-mental-illness/specials/  Institute of Chicana/o/x Psychology and Community Wellness: https://www.razapsych.org/  One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez  The Giver by Lois Lowry  River City Advocacy's LGBTeen program: https://rivercityadvocacy.org/  OutYouth: https://www.outyouth.org/  Fiesta Youth: https://www.fiesta-youth.org/  RAICES Texas: https://www.raicestexas.org/about    Thank you so much for listening! Follow us on social media:  Facebook: Therapy Tea Podcast https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552953196482  Instagram: @therapyteapod https://www.instagram.com/therapyteapod/    Thoughts? Questions? Email us at [email protected]    Disclaimer: All statements made on this podcast by hosts and guests are their individual personal perspectives only and are not necessarily shared by anyone else. The hosts and guests on this podcast are not speaking on behalf of all mental health professionals or the profession as a whole. This podcast is not therapy and does not establish a professional, therapeutic counseling relationship.