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Sequoia Family Therapy

Individual Therapy

First-Generation Individuals

Being first-generation can mean being the first in your family to go to college, build a career in a new field, or grow up in this country. It often comes with pride, and with a lot of weight: translating for your parents, carrying family expectations, and moving between two cultures that don’t always agree.

Many first-gen adults feel caught in the middle, guilty for wanting something different or unsure they fully belong in either world. Those feelings make sense, and they deserve room.

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What it can look like

  • Feeling pulled between your family’s expectations and your own goals
  • Guilt about moving away, setting boundaries, or living differently
  • Being the family translator or problem-solver since you were young
  • Not feeling fully at home in either culture
  • Pressure to succeed for everyone who sacrificed for you
  • Stress or burnout that’s hard to explain to your family

How we work on it

We start with your family story: the sacrifices, the hopes, the unspoken rules, and the role you took on growing up. Understanding that story helps make sense of the pressure and guilt you may carry.

Using Emotionally Focused Therapy, we make room for mixed feelings, like love and resentment, or pride and exhaustion. Then we work on ways to honor your family while making choices that fit your own life, including how to talk with your family about what you need.

Sessions can be in English, Spanish, or both, whatever feels most natural to you.

Approaches we use

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
  • Systemic family therapy

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Wondering if this fits what you’re going through?

A free 15-minute consultation is a good place to ask. We’ll talk about what’s going on and whether we’re a good fit.

Book your free 15-min consultation