Trains are built in sections, each block designated for a specific destination. Mine was manufactured in Colombia and assembled in Venezuela, setting off for the United States on September 30, 1995—a date that initially felt like a derailment but ultimately marked the beginning of an incredible journey. This experience has given me a unique perspective on the challenges of being an immigrant, highlighting how generational trauma and unresolved childhood issues can affect our mental health and ability to achieve our goals, form healthy relationships, and recognize our inherent worthiness of love and respect. These lessons have shaped my identity and ignited a deep gratitude within me, along with a strong desire to support others on similar journeys. If your train has derailed, let’s work together to transform it into a remarkable journey.
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Susan Kleiner: Hello, and welcome to the Think Factory where we speak with industry insiders and leaders to learn more about their experience and gain their insight on pressing issues. My name is Susan Kleiner. I’m a partner with Outside General Counsel Solutions, and I’m the host of today’s episode. I’m happy to have here with me today Barbara Mosquera.
Barbara is the founder of Train Emotions Counseling, a team of skilled therapists that helps their clients uncover and heal past childhood trauma, attachment issues, and family wounds that hold people back from living their best lives. Train Emotions believes in the power of therapy to help people, especially women and men of color. So we’re super happy to have you here with us today!
Barbara Mosquera: . Hi, yeah, I’m happy to be here too as well.
Susan Kleiner: So listen, I wanna talk to you a little bit about Train Emotions Counseling and how it is that you got started. I’m curious, it’s an interesting name. How did you come up with the name? And tell me more about who you serve and why you started.
Barbara Mosquera: I like trains, I don’t know, just the idea of traveling in a train and how you stop in stations. And I have a quote from Pablo Coelho on my website regarding that life is not the destination, it’s the train. So we can be our own, we decide where to stop and how we stop and how everything lines up and we’re going to. And when a train is derailed, everything is just chaos, right?
Susan Kleiner: So Train Emotions is partially about the journey but I imagine that when we talk about training, we talk about practice, right? And so, you know, [it’s about] aligning our emotions, right? How to maintain our emotions when emotions can be chaotic, right? And when there’s chaos, you know, then we get derailed.
So tell me more about why is it that you started, you know, why and when did you start your counseling practice? And I’d love to hear some more about it, about the people who work there and what makes you special.
Barbara Mosquera: […] When I first started therapy, I was in my 20s, early mid 20s, and my therapist was white, most of my therapists have been white.
And then recently, a while, a few years ago, I started working with a black therapist and I saw the difference. Yeah. They were really good, they were great therapists, but there’s a difference when you connect with someone that looks like you, that understands you, that has similar, you know, a similar background. And I think it’s also important, right?
So I think it’s helpful to have somebody that looks like you, sounds like you, because it helps end some of the stigma and is normalizing therapy and mental health and mental wellness, correct? And also to serve as an example to future generations, that there is prosperity in being a therapist of color.
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