#30 Dr. Carmen Román: Bridging Cultural Perspectives on Burnout, Self-Care, and Finding Balance

Dr. Carmen Román shares her journey growing up in a poor neighborhood in Guadalajara to becoming a bicultural clinical psychologist with three decades of experience. Drawing from her practice in both Mexico and the United States, she offers a unique perspective on how cultural differences impact our approach to mental health, work-life balance, and family dynamics. Her experience with burnout led to her specialization in helping others prevent and recover from it, and introduces her book "10% More Selfish" which promotes balanced self-care. Silicon Valley's achievement-oriented culture often neglects true self-care but finding purpose through helping others contributes more to happiness than pursuing accomplishments alone.Connect with Dr Carmen Román:Website: www.emotionsinharmony.orgEmail: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/EmotionsinHarmony/Pinterest: https://ar.pinterest.com/c4510317f2fc1736c1528758e9df2f/_created/linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18600765/YouTube Español: www.Youtube.com/c/ArmoniaEmocionalYT English: https://www.youtube.com/@EmotionsinHarmonySpotify: open.spotify.com/show/6HKW92hIlagDDwxBjEQ6tIAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/dracarmenromanInstagram Español: https://www.instagram.com/dracarmenroman/IG English: https://www.instagram.com/emotionsinharmony/X: https://twitter.com/DraCarmenRomanInspirame: http://inspirame.buzzsprout.com/Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/carmenromanAE Telegram: https://t.me/armoniaemocionalApple podcast English: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emotions-in-harmony-dr-carmen-roman-conversations-to/id1229738882AP español: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/armonia-emocional/id1497379930Whatsapp: https://wa.link/y6i51uAbout Federico Ramallo:Software Engineering Manager | Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | Connecting U.S. teams with top nearshore LATAM engineers.- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io- ✅ https://prevetted.aiPreVetted Podcast:- 🎙 https://prevetted.ai/podcastCHAPTERS00:00 - Introduction to Dr. Carmen Román and her extensive psychology background01:54 - Carmen's journey from Mexico to the US and having to restart her psychology career03:26 - How Aikido practice influenced her approach to psychotherapy05:02 - Early influences: how her parents' community work inspired her career path06:36 - From aspiring software engineer to psychology student in Guadalajara07:25 - Growing up in Polanco, one of Guadalajara's poorest neighborhoods08:01 - Experience with burnout that led to her specialization09:40 - Deciding to stay in Mexico to raise her son versus moving to California11:44 - Cultural differences in parenting and raising multicultural children13:06 - Motorcycle travel analogy: experiencing life without protective barriers16:48 - Recognizing and addressing burnout: acknowledging personal limits19:28 - The importance of addressing specific burnout symptoms individually21:32 - Why complete cessation of work isn't always necessary for recovery22:18 - Cultural differences: US achievement culture vs. Mexican balance24:28 - Contrasting suburban life in the US with community life in Mexico27:44 - Helping multicultural families navigate cultural clashes in therapy30:57 - The challenge of balancing family involvement in Latino culture32:45 - How the pandemic affected young people's ability to make friends34:54 - Why engineers often struggle with socializing and work-life balance36:54 - Dr. Román's book "10% More Selfish" on balanced self-care38:04 - Finding the middle ground between neglecting and obsessing over yourself41:44 - Why having purpose through helping others creates greater happiness than achievement alone44:29 - True happiness vs. temporary pleasure: the margarita on the beach analogy46:35 - Closing thoughts