Meet Marta Iglesias | Mental Health Counselor (therapist)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marta Iglesias and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marta, what role has risk played in your life or career?
We will need to define risk first. The word risk, for many of us, is like a “threat”. Is it really a threat?
How did you learn to walk, which is the most basic and necessary achievement in life?
You did it by taking the risk of falling. Standing up and trying an infinite number of times.
How were you capable of doing it?
Knowing unconsciously that you were safe and supported by family members and most importantly, you had hope that you were going to achieve it.That safe space is called comfort zone.

I am pointing this out because this is what I do in therapy, I show you that I care for you, that you are in a safe space. I normalize your context and teach you that in order to grow or improve you will make mistakes, you will feel uncomfortable but that will get you and achieve what you are looking for. That is the role of a therapist. Showing you that you are not perfect, that there is not an only way of achieving things, if one way works for you, I support you.

Risk for me is defined as a challenge. Challenges happen every day in our lives. It could be facing talking in public, starting a relationship, moving out… everything is a challenge, and in order to move forward we take risks, the risk of the uncertain. Where not everything in under our control.
I always say I am an “adrenaline addict”, because I love exposing myself to uncomfortable situations. I love challenging myself to learn about what I am capable of doing. In the comfort zone we don’t learn, “we stay”, but out of the comfort zone, we “are”. The comfort zone is needed of course, to prepare us, to explore our needs, and go for it. We need to be comfortable in some areas to jump and take a risk in another one. Let’s not underestimate the comfort zone.

I want to share with you my story. I am sure many of you have being stigmatized in your childhood by demeaning comments as; you won’t be.. you can’t do… you are not good at.. you won’t achieve this…
In my case this made me doubt about myself constantly in my childhood. This impeded me from passing exams and getting good grades for many years. After seven years of frustration, of being compared to my academically brilliant sister, (as you know academics is what defines us when we are younger), emotionally I reached my limit.
I decided psychologically to stop proving others that I could do it. I started choosing the path of acceptance. I allowed myself to rest and take a step back from this situation by going to my comfort zone in order to take the path of challenging myself the way I wanted.

How did I do it? Redefining the labels that I had. I felt so much pressure to meet society standards and family expectations. Was that pressure real or my interpretation of reality?
In order to take a risk and face those barriers I had to be in a comfortable place, without psychological pressure. After that stability I talked to my mother and made her part of my goals and plans. I told my mother that I didn’t mind the results of school or if I failed, I wanted to take the last year of high school in two years so I would have the opportunity to do it calmly and learn, instead of just doing things to pass exams.
My mother, which I thought she was one of the reasons I felt pressured, told me:
“It is your life, you make your own choices and I will support them”.
That answer really hit me. I finally realized that I was the one creating that pressure in my mind, I was the owner of my life, I had control of it. Emotionally, I felt so released, I was free of pressure.

-When we have so much pressure, and the pressure is bigger than us, our mind interprets that as a real threat, our body becomes paralized, we don’t have tools to face it. It becomes a real fear. This happens to everyone in different scenarios and the emotional consequences so many times are panic attacks, or anxiety, or even depression, it is like if we were stuck in a hole and not knowing how to get out.-

In spite of that, I did high school in one year as all my classmates did, no one could believe that based on my background, I realized I was capable, I just had to find tools to face my psychological barriers. In that moment I knew that my purpose in life was going to be, giving tools and support to people to face barriers and live free, achieving their goals and growing.

I decided to study psychology and eleven years later, I am living in another country, with my masters in Mental Health Counseling and my own business.
There have been enormous risks that I had to face later, using the tools I developed back then and learning new ones. Another risk was studying a Masters Degree in the US without being able to communicate in English, but this is another story.

In conclusion, everyday is a challenge and knowing it makes you ready. This is super important to become an entrepreneur, knowing that everyday is uncertain. If you are reading this, find your right support and comfort zone to jump and face those challenges. Those challenges will make you realize how strong, confident, you are. You will appreciate yourself more, your identity will be super strong and you will be living your life instead of what others want you to live.

“We don’t pursuit our dreams many times because we came from an stigmatized world”

Forget about them, think about you, challenge yourself and find out if what they are saying about you is real, prove yourself first if you want to believe them.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business provides individual therapy with personal development. I truly believe the importance of believing and trusting yourself to heal and grow.

I provide e-learning and workshops as well as individual therapy to companies.
Being an entrepreneur is a lonely journey, where you have to learn many things from scratch, you need to love challenge and being ok with uncertain. Many things are not going to go the way you expected, that is part of the process.

I decided creating my own business because I found a real need of personal development in companies. I have my own way of helping others and it really work. I needed to put that in practice my own way, with less stipulated processes that as an employee you could have.

In conclusion, I help the client understand their psychological barriers and unhealthy beliefs to create a healthy way of interpreting their life and their decisions. Allowing them to be the expert of their own life and have control of their emotions in order to face their challenges.
I truly believe that “After every challenge we develop a new strength”

“I will help you through a wellness model to connect and understand your emotions, by looking into your achievements and strengths that will build your self-confidence, in order to be ready to accept your past experiences, enjoy the present and be ready to focus on your goals to face the future”.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Miami is a very cultural diversity place, as a tourist you need to enrich your self by learning from other cultures. I will always bring you to Little Habana, a Cuban area, where you could see their music, dances, typical food and hobbies.
They have an area with very strict rules, as if you where in Cuba, where they play Domino and chess. That place is amazing!

Wynwood is another area where you will see many differences on people, you will feel as a free spirit, there ir art, walls painted, is wonderful.

These two areas are mandatory, as well as ocean drive where many people go to do beach sports and activities, and enjoy the beach.

I do kitesurfing as well, there is a spot in Key Biscayne, Crandon Park, where you could immerse yourself in the nature, go for a walk and see the skyline and water views at the end of the walk. Miami has amazing hidden places, that you have to discover by yourself.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Everything that I have achieve in my life until now is because of my family life example, my husband, my friends that are like family, and one incredible professor Dr. Casani that believed and admired me. I want to thank everyone that has been part of each of my journeys. They have taught me many things by their supporting messages and their knowledge.

Website: https://mi-counselor.com/

Instagram: @micounselor

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martaiglesiasgomendio/

Image Credits
@flotographya she is an incredible photographer.