She's Trying to Close the Emotional Gap with Papí

Kelsey and her Guatemalan dad had a distant relationship during her teenage years, but as an adult she wants to get to know him better, and strengthen their father-daughter bond. And, psychologist Gabriela Livas Stein returns to the show with strategies for deepening our relationships with our parents while navigating normative family roles.

Kelsey Milian Lopez is the author of the poetry collection The Sociology of a Miami Girl. 

Featured Expert: 

Our expert this week is Gabriela Livas Stein, Associate Professor of Psychology at University of North Carolina in Greensboro. She received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology with a specialization in child and family psychology from UNC Chapel Hill in 2007. She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship at University of California, San Diego/VA Consortium followed by a postdoctoral fellowship position at Duke University. Broadly, her research uses developmental psychopathology and cultural-ecological frameworks to investigate the impact of culturally relevant factors on the development of psychopathology for minoritized youth and their families. Dr. Stein’s program of research revolves around three themes: (1) understanding the role of familial cultural values in Latinx families and their impact on the development of Latinx youth, (2) identifying individual risk and protective processes for Latinx and other minoritized youth when facing cultural stressors (e.g., discrimination, acculturative stress), and (3) improving mental health treatment access for Latinx families in community mental health. She is also the principal investigator at CAMINOS Lab. Learn more about her work here.

Learn more about her lab here. If you loved this episode, be sure to listen to When Familism Hurts and Still Yearning for His Father's Love.

We’d love to hear your stories of triumph and frustration so send us a detailed voice memo to [email protected]. You might be on a future episode! Let’s connect on Twitter and Instagram at @TalkToMamiPapi and email us at [email protected]. And follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.