Therapinxy Bay Area
Chapter Lead Contact Information:
Chay Tanchanco, LMFT
Email: chayteatherapy@gmail.com
Bio:
Hi! I'm Chay Tanchanco, LMFT, and I'm the Founder of Reconnected Mental Health, focused on both therapy and education to bring us back to our authentic selves, our communities, and using technology with intention and compassion.
I'm honored to be a part of and supporting the Filipinx community as a Co-Lead for Therapinxy. My family is from Quezon City, Manila, and we have roots in Chinese and Filipino ancestry. I grew up in the Bay Area in a predominantly Filipino community and have lived most of my life in CA, along with a brief but immensely impactful 2 years in Memphis, TN. In my therapy work, I've supported my clients with a trauma-informed approach in healing from burnout, anxiety, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. I use a blend of ACT and IFS Level 1 Training with behavioral, decolonized, and psychodynamic frameworks. Many of my clients seek out a Filipinx or BIPOC provider who can honor their lived experience, especially when they were raised as high-achievers, and we learn together how to rebalance their lives.
I founded Reconnected because of my deep love for technology, as I grew up with computers, video games, and mobile devices as part of what formed my identity. In a world increasingly embedded with the Internet and digital devices, it is ever more evident that we need a major update in how we handle these
changes with our mental health in mind.
What does Filipino healing and wellness look like to you?
Connection to our whole Self; I find that we as Filipinos often feel fractured, like we have so many parts of us that endured colonization and oppression through many ancestral and current wounds. In order to heal and return to wellness, we reclaim our ability to choose who we are and what we stand for, seeing ourselves as individuals and as part of a collective with healthy boundaries in both areas. We take in holistic wisdom from our many parts and integrate them to create ourselves anew.
Chapter Lead Contact Information:
Jessica Hernandez, LCSW
Email: jessica@empoweredmindca.com
Phone: 925-257-0205
Instagram: @jessica.hernandez.lcsw
Bio:
Jessica Hernandez, LCSW is a clinical social worker and therapist with Empowered Mind Therapy Center who supports BIPOC and QTBIPOC folks with recognizing their own resilience, exploring intersectional identities, and navigating life’s stressors and challenges. Her identities as a mixed Filipina/Latina, bisexual, first-generation, Fat woman inform a therapeutic perspective of anti-oppression and celebration. She utilizes a mix of EMDR, somatic practice, and talk therapy to support folks with moving through trauma and grief, reintegrating their sense of self, and centering in their inner wisdom and joy. She also facilitates Bayanihan: We Heal Together, group therapy for Filipina/x/o adults looking to move through intergenerational trauma and negatively impactful family dynamics through the spirit of supportive community. She is so excited to be supporting Therapin*y's mission and vision as a Bay Area Chapter Co-Lead and being a part of this intentional movement towards intergenerational growth and healing.
What does Filipino healing and wellness look like to you?
Filipinx healing and wellness look like folks coming together, supporting each other, and lifting each other up. Having the hard conversations about colonialism and imperialism, and grieving together what we have lost (and might have never had in the first place). Fellow kasamas holding each other in our shared grief, rage, celebration, and joy. We are not meant to move through difficulties and change in isolation. Taking care of each other, utilizing our ancestral practices and bayanihan spirit, are what allow us to move into spaces of transformative healing.