What We Inherit. What We Keep. What We Choose.
We inherit far more than we realize: family expectations, cultural values, ways of showing love and handling conflict, often long before we're old enough to consciously choose any of it. This piece explores individuation and cultural identity, not as a rejection of where we come from, but as the ongoing work of deciding what to keep, what to release, and what to carry forward differently.
When Competence Becomes Protection
For some high performers, competence is more than a strength. It can be a form of protection learned early through family, culture, responsibility, or circumstance. A reflection on what happens when being the one who holds everything together becomes difficult to put down.
Rolling Lumpia, Building Roots: A Therapist's Reflection on Filipino American History Month
Learn how cooking lumpia and sharing family stories builds cultural identity in children. A therapist explores heritage, belonging, and raising resilient kids.
Neither Here Nor There: A Third Culture Kid's Search for Belonging
Third Culture Kids (TCKs), children of immigrants, global transplants, or multicultural families, often experience life in layers. At home, there are family expectations, traditions, and unspoken rules that reflect a different world. Outside, there’s the American culture, with its own pace, values, and definitions of success.
That “in-between” space can be beautiful, but it can also be confusing.