Community Highlights: Meet Luis Resendez of Vida Emotional Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Resendez.

Hi Luis, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I began my career in the mental health field in 2004 as a residential counselor at a boy’s home in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. I later moved my career westward in Los Angeles County providing in home behavior support for families for a community-based agency in Pasadena. I decided to take a career leap as a therapist and began my graduate studies to pursue in M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy at Pacific Oaks College in 2006 and later graduated in 2010 after completion of a self-paced study program. From 2010 – 2012 I began my work as a community based pre-licensed therapist working with children and families throughout Los Angeles County, before venturing out back to the eastern San Gabriel Valley where I started a therapeutic community gardening program (that is still up and running to this date) for an agency based in Pomona. I later started a Cognitive Remediation Therapy program for the same agency in 2015. In 2016 I answered my career calling and opened Vida Emotional Wellness and began my career as a full-time private practice therapist/owner. I specialize in men’s / paternal mental health and trauma which I am very passionate about.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
In starting my practice, it has been a challenge, especially in the beginning when I took the full plunge and left my full-time job to start my practice. A year prior, I laid the groundwork by marketing my practice (which I was working on a part-time basis) and networking with communities based entities/partners whom were potential referral sources. Despite these promising efforts, nothing in entrepreneurship is ever guaranteed as any business owner will tell you. Referrals in therapy practices are also ebb and flow in that you’ll have months of steady consistent referrals, followed by others of sporadic interest from potential clients that often don’t pan out. I experienced this the first year in practice and it had me wondering if I would have to abandon my efforts and return to community-based work. Thankfully with a lot of patience, perseverance, and ongoing networking I never had to contemplate that possibility anymore.

As you know, we’re big fans of Vida Emotional Wellness. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Vida Emotional Wellness is a Southern California based therapy practice specializing in men’s / paternal mental health and trauma. We have been in business since 2016 and are based in the cities of Upland and Riverside. Men’s and paternal mental health are two mental health treatment focuses that get little attention which in turn makes me believe that is one of the reasons men and fathers do not seek help. Simply put, if we aren’t talking about men’s and paternal mental health then those issues must not exist….right? Vida Emotional Wellness seeks to change that narrative while also deconstructing toxic masculine norms and practices which truth be told, are one of the reasons men deal with emotional distress. Services are available not only to Southern California residents but to residents all throughout the state of California via virtual / internet video.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I feel being one of the very few providers specializing in men’s / paternal mental health has allowed me to bring attention to treatment areas that garner very little attention has allowed me to grow within my service niche. Having nearly 20 years of experience in the mental health field and more than 40 years (I just aged myself…..hahaha) of general life experience has afforded me a wisdom that has helped my clients see things in the grander scheme of life. One thing I’ve shared in my work with clients is that although the distress that brings them to therapy is real and often very painful, it is a mere small blip in the bigger picture of their lives which can be put behind them. This in turn can help them get to a place of finding peace and fulfillment in life. Being a male of color has also allowed me to connect with men of color clients and bring them into the fold of healing. Mental health services are heavily stigmatized amongst men, in particular men of color.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: vidasocal.com
• Instagram: vidaemotional
• Facebook: Vida Emotional Wellness
• Youtube: Vida Emotional Wellness