Life & Work with Paulina of Pasadena/Boyle Heights

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paulina.

Hi Paulina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My path to becoming a therapist was not exactly a straight line. I’m a generation 1.5 immigrant from Mexico, a wife, and a mom of four, so my work has always been shaped by culture, family, and real life.

I began my career supporting parents and caregivers, where I saw the impact of helping someone feel genuinely seen and understood. I later earned my master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy with a specialization in trauma and Latinx family systems. After working in community mental health with children, families, adults, and Latine and LGBTQ+ communities, I joined Her Space in 2025 and became a licensed therapist in 2026.

Today, I provide therapy in English, Spanish, and Spanglish with a style that is warm, direct, culturally responsive, and very human.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not. I balanced school, work, motherhood, and raising four children while building my career. There were pauses, changes in direction, and plenty of moments when I questioned whether I would ever get here.

Working in community mental health was meaningful but demanding, and it taught me how important it is to serve others without completely losing myself. I also learned that pausing or changing the plan does not mean you failed—sometimes success is simply continuing to show up while quietly wondering why everything has to be so damn hard.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a bilingual Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in trauma, perinatal mental health, motherhood, neurodivergence, anxiety, grief, burnout, and major life transitions. I’m especially passionate about supporting Latine, BIPOC, first-generation, immigrant, Perinatal and LGBTQ+ clients.

I’m known for being warm, direct, culturally responsive, and very human. Therapy with me may include deep emotional work, humor, Spanglish, and the occasional well-placed cuss word. What I’m most proud of is creating a space where clients feel safe enough to stop minimizing their experiences, understand the patterns that helped them survive, and begin trusting themselves again.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memories are of spending time at my abuelita’s house with my cousins. Nothing elaborate—just being together, laughing, playing, and feeling surrounded by family.
There’s this particular picture in which we are all dressed as witches during Halloween time. It’s meaningful because my abuelita was a seamstress and the dresses were made with scraps our moms found in her shop. Halloween continues to be one of my favorite days as an adult, and a day that is super fun and special with my kids and husband now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://herspacela.com/about-paulina
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paumft?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsi=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==