Family Therapy - Gabriela Lopez - Latina Big Si... High Quality May 2026

Enter , a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) who is redefining the therapeutic space by blending evidence-based practices with the warmth, accountability, and intimacy of the Latina Big Sister .

“For the Latino community, a blank slate therapist is a suspicious therapist,” she explains. “If I sit there silently nodding, my clients think I am judging them or that I don’t care. They need to know I have vivido (lived) what they are living. I tell them: ‘I had an uncle who drank. I had a mom who worked three jobs. I’m not better than you, but I got out of the hole. Here is the ladder.’” Family Therapy - Gabriela Lopez - Latina Big Si...

Gabriela started the session by looking at Mateo. “Mira, Mateo. Tu mamá cruzó el desierto con tus hermanas en brazos. No cruzó para que terminaras en la calle. ¿Qué le dices a tu mamá?” (Look, Mateo. Your mom crossed the desert with your sisters in her arms. She didn’t cross for you to end up on the street. What do you say to your mom?) Enter , a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

By: Mental Health Journal Staff

“I saw teenage girls being told to ‘just set boundaries’ with their immigrant parents,” Lopez recalls. “That advice ignores the reality of our culture. You cannot tell a Latina daughter to simply walk away from her mother without addressing the sacrifice that mother made to get here.” They need to know I have vivido (lived) what they are living

For Gabriela, therapy isn’t just about sitting on a couch and dissecting childhood grievances. It is about sitting at the kitchen table, sharing a cup of cafecito , and having the honest, sometimes painful, conversation that only a hermana mayor (big sister) can have. When Gabriela Lopez began her career, she noticed a glaring disparity. Non-Latino therapists often misinterpreted the tight-knit nature of Latino families as enmeshment (a term describing a lack of boundaries). They viewed the high value placed on respeto (respect) and familismo (prioritizing family over self) as pathological.

If you are a Latina struggling to explain por qué you feel guilty for moving away from home, or a mother who cannot understand your American-born children—Gabriela Lopez wants you to know one thing: “No estás rota. Solo estás en la mitad del puente. Ven, te ayudo a cruzar.” (You aren’t broken. You are just in the middle of the bridge. Come, I’ll help you cross.) Disclaimer: This article is a fictionalized representation based on the search keyword provided. Always verify a therapist’s license and specialization before booking an appointment.