VIVA NOLA APRIL MAY 2023
Bilingual variety magazine - Connecting the Latino community to New Orleans, Louisiana, and beyond. Learn about the unique culture of New Orleans and relevant topics.
Bilingual variety magazine - Connecting the Latino community to New Orleans, Louisiana, and beyond. Learn about the unique culture of New Orleans and relevant topics.
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Mental Health in the<br />
Latino Community<br />
By AnaGarcía<br />
@anag1928<br />
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Speaking about issues relating to mental health has long<br />
been considered taboo in many societies, and in certain<br />
cultures, reaching out for help is unacceptable, regarded<br />
as a weakness, and talking to a mental health professional is not<br />
a priority.<br />
Experts in the mental health field have been trying to normalize<br />
accessing professional services from counselors, psychologists,<br />
and psychiatrists to help people understand that it is necessary in<br />
many cases. For example, in New Orleans, there is a counseling<br />
institution led by two Hispanic professionals who, with their<br />
dedication and passion, have made a difference in serving the<br />
community and changing the perception of mental health as a<br />
taboo by educating and helping those who need it most.<br />
The New Orleans Multicultural Institute for Counseling (NOMIC)<br />
was founded in April 2018 by Dr. Jasmine Hernandez and<br />
Naomi Dugar. Dugar had the idea to open a counseling center<br />
while working at a school with Hernandez. They knew opening<br />
up a private practice demanded lots of time and dedication.<br />
Since Hernandez was busy pursuing her PhD., Dugar kept<br />
her dream alive and waited for the right time, and as soon as<br />
Hernandez finished her thesis, they opened NOMIC. “The best<br />
thing about us is that we complement each other. Her strengths<br />
are my weaknesses, and vice versa. And that’s what makes this<br />
teamwork,” said Dr. Hernandez. “We got lucky; it is a perfect<br />
combination,” adds Dugar.<br />
NOMIC’s goal is to provide services to low-income individuals.<br />
While working in different schools, Hernandez and Dugar realized<br />
that Spanish-speaking students lacked access to mental health<br />
services. “We just wanted to come up with something open to all<br />
cultures and genders, where they would get the much-needed<br />
mental health services.” Their idea was to be culturally confident<br />
and add a multicultural component to reach underserved<br />
populations.<br />
NOMIC, located in Gretna, Louisiana, offers specialized services<br />
in different areas of counseling, such as individual, couples,<br />
and family counseling in areas of specialty, including anxiety,<br />
depression, trauma, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. In<br />
addition, they can also perform mental health assessments and
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