A family's mental health journey leads to a passion for advocacy
For years, Melissa Sosa and Raul Rico searched for an answer to the distress of their daughter Fatima. She was struggling to cope with stressful medical issues and faced bullying at school. Anxiety and panic attacks made daily life painful. Persistent requests to the school for help went unanswered.
Sosa and Rico knew Fatima desperately needed help. They just didn't know what that help looked like or how to find it — until Fatima's pediatrician referred her to Ohana, Montage Health's mental health program for Monterey County youth and their families.
That's where they were introduced to Julieta Ortiz, an Ohana social worker and family care manager who Sosa says has been a "light in the darkness." Ortiz started by addressing those calls for help that went unanswered at school.
"As soon as Julieta got involved there was a change in the way the school treated us," Sosa says. "They started listening to us and paying attention to our concerns."
In our culture, every time the word social worker is mentioned, it’s kind of a taboo. Going to a therapist is not normal. We don’t talk about it. But by not talking about it, I was damaging my daughter more than helping her. Let’s break these stereotypes because mental health is very important. Our children reflect our behavior. Let’s not normalize our behaviors if they cause emotional harm.
— Melissa Sosa, mother of Ohana patient
Sosa's persistent attempts to advocate for her daughter were finally being heard.
Working with the family's primary care doctor and an Ohana psychiatrist, Ortiz helped Sosa and Rico establish an individualized education plan for Fatima. That has made a big difference in quality of life at school, says Fatima, who is 13. At the same time, Sosa addressed Fatima's bullying issues. Meeting with school staff, they helped Fatima resolve her social issues one by one.
"At first I was afraid that people would call me a snitch or tattletale, so I didn't tell anyone I was struggling," Fatima says. "Thanks to Julieta we were able to communicate to the school about the problems I've had. It felt like a storm that had happened for a long time finally was gone and sunshine arrived. I can advocate for myself and handle a lot of my issues on my own now."
Ortiz helped the family find Fatima therapy services in the community, and since parents are also included in treatment at Ohana, Rico was able to receive support that addressed issues he had struggled with his entire life.
"Ever since I can remember, I've had issues concentrating and getting my thoughts together," he says. "Being an adult man, I felt ashamed to talk about it. But when Fatima got help at Ohana, that gave me the courage to get help, too. It felt like a load was taken off my shoulders."
Breaking the stigma
Fatima and her parents say their experience at Ohana has been empowering, and they are determined to lift others on their path toward mental health, resilience, and breaking stigmas about seeking help.
"Melissa is a fierce advocate and very passionate about breaking mental health stigma, especially in the Latinx community," Ortiz says. "She had all the ambition and drive to advocate for Fatima — I just helped her understand her rights and empowered her to use resources that enabled her to advocate and make her family’s voice heard. Now she’s helping other parents have their voices heard, too."
Still fresh on their own mental and emotional well-being journeys, they want to help others access the same support that made such a difference in their lives.
"In our culture, every time the word social worker is mentioned, it’s kind of a taboo," Sosa says. "Going to a therapist is not normal. We don’t talk about it. But by not talking about it, I was damaging my daughter more than helping her. Let’s break these stereotypes because mental health is very important. Our children reflect our behavior. Let’s not normalize our behaviors if they cause emotional harm."
Fatima calls her mom her hero.
"My mom has not only fought for me and my mental health but also for other people in the community," Fatima says. "I look up to her. To kids my age who are also struggling, don’t be afraid to get help. You don’t need to go through it alone. Just tell someone and get help."
Register for Ohana’s free parenting classes.
