Q and A with Andrea from Guatemala City
“Compassion is the glue!”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I struggled a lot in the first years of my practice as a clinical psychologist. Getting clients was super hard, taking into account that we didn’t have social media back then, so the referrals were 100% through word of mouth. I struggled to understand how to price my sessions and all the business side of the practice. Now, 25 years later, I’ve learned a thing or two about how to run a business and start your practice, especially for those in the mental health field. I’ve always been passionate about teaching and mentoring others, so we can all work together to help others heal while thriving ourselves.
After working with a renowned clinical psychologist helping her to certify more than 600 coaches worldwide, I decided to help them get started, guiding them on how to set up their practice. I am also passionate about helping people collaborate with each other, contrary to competition, so we can all shine through our own uniqueness. This is why and how “The Helpers Tent” came to life.
Now, I have my practice as a clinical psychologist and also work as the CEO of The Helpers Tent. It’s a space of collaboration and community between therapists, coaches, and all helpers in the mental health field.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I was born in a small country (Guatemala in Central America). My family was pretty much conservative and pursuing higher education was the only expectation they had of my sisters and me. When I was very young, I spent all my lunch breaks drawing and painting, and I used to sell those to my classmates, so I think I was born with a business mind. I was also always the “mediator” between my friend’s conflicts and loved to read and learn about human biology, history, and evolution. I’ve always been just fascinated by human existence and interactions between one another. I am a seeker and an observer…a researcher.
My father is a doctor in economics and owns a company in the stock market field. He taught us how to fight for our dreams, and my mom supported each one of us in our own uniqueness. After graduating from high school, I went to college and started my minor in economics. I survived the first years, but then I discovered that my purpose was to become a psychologist and help others heal. So, I started my studies in clinical psychology…and boom! I was in my element.
I started to feel authentic and that everything I was learning resonated because it was already within me. Now, I combine my abilities and skills as a clinical psychologist with my innate and learned tools to make a business and The Helpers Tent come to life.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Learn to pay attention. Carefully and thoroughly. To yourself and to others. To open doors and opportunities. Once you pause and listen carefully, you can tap into your life’s North Star, which will lead you to your purpose and mission. Embrace your uniqueness; there is nobody like you or like me. Once we understand and embrace our uniqueness we start to collaborate, to feel safe, and instead of competing with each other and judging each other, we start to feel abundant in our interconnectedness. We are interdependent beings and in that interdependence, ABUNDANCE lies.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism involves a transformation of consciousness through the understanding of women’s history in the world so we can question and challenge our rights, roles, and position in society. Through this consciousness, we can embrace and understand the power of nurturing, caring, and our internal knowledge. We don’t need to enter the world wearing a masculine disguise, we need to honor and cultivate all those feminine energy assets that allow human beings to connect from love. This is why to me, feminism is not an ideology, it is a state of being. It is a conscious action that comes from awareness of how our struggles throughout history have allowed us to evolve and transform, to go from passiveness to activeness, to movement that can ultimately help us heal the world through compassion and radical actions from love.
MORE FROM ANDREA: The healing of our world will come from the integration of each human being. Integration of mind, body, and soul. Compassion is the glue! Once we are integrated, we can connect to each other as whole beings and love from abundance and not from needs and unfulfilled spaces that cause so much suffering in human relationships.
IG: @thehelperstent
FB: The Helpers Tent Community
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-gonz%C3%A1lez-b338baa/
Thank you for reading!
The Woman Wednesday Blog 
Excellent read keep up the good work.
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