For years, Ana, a parent of three Para Los Niños students, struggled to respond to her children’s emotional needs. From a young age, Ana endured unimaginable hardships. As a mother, she worked tirelessly to build a home that would not replicate those hardships.

However, despite her best efforts the trauma she experienced as a child impacted her relationship with her children. Knowing she had to address her underlying issues to better support her children emotionally, Ana sought help from PLN’s Mental Health team where she was connected to Daibelis Yerena, MFT. Through her sessions with Daibelis, Ana worked on regulating her emotions, building her communication skills, and developing a more positive approach to parenting.

“My whole life, truthfully, has been challenging. My life has been challenging because my mother died when I was one year old. [My childhood] affected me because, without realizing it, I wasn’t very loving [to my children]. I was one of those moms who didn’t hug her children, the kind that thought it wasn’t necessary because I didn’t have it.”