Healing Relationships Counseling Services, PLLC

09/18/2026

When 'Echándole Ganas' Isn't Enough

Échale ganas. Put in the effort. Push through. Many of us heard this our whole lives, and it carried us through real hardship. It's a value worth honoring.

But here's the tender truth: echándole ganas was never meant to be a treatment for depression, anxiety, or trauma. You cannot willpower your way out of a nervous system that is overwhelmed. That's not a failure of effort it's simply not how healing works.

When you're struggling, and the old advice to "just work harder" stops working, it doesn't mean you're weak or malagradecido. It means you've reached the edge of what effort alone can do. That edge is precisely where support begins.

Asking for help is not the opposite of echándole ganas. Sometimes, reaching out is the ganas.

09/17/2026

How bad does it have to get before you give yourself permission to ask for help?

I think this question matters, particularly in communities where we may have learned to keep going, take care of everyone else, minimize what we are experiencing, or tell ourselves, “Other people have it worse.”

But therapy does not require a crisis.

Sometimes the signs are quieter. You’re functioning, but everything requires more energy. Your patience is shorter. You feel disconnected from yourself or the people you love. You’re carrying something that keeps taking up emotional space.

Instead of only asking, “Is this severe enough?” Consider asking:

“How much is this affecting the way I live, feel, connect, and show up?”

You don’t have to prove that you are struggling enough to deserve support.

I’m Liliana Baylon, a bilingual, bicultural licensed marriage and family therapist providing telehealth across eight states (AZ • CO • FL • IA • NV • NM • TX • UT).

If you’re considering therapy, you can learn more about working with me through the link in my profile.

What messages did you grow up hearing about when it was “okay” to ask for help?

09/16/2026

You're Allowed to Take Up Space in Therapy

If you grew up in a Latino household, you may have learned early that being fuerte strong, dependable, and self-sacrificing was how you earned love and belonging. You learned to put la familia first.
To not complain.
To not be dramática.
To carry things quietly.

That strength is real, and it is beautiful. Y también, it can make therapy feel strange at first. Sitting in a room where someone asks, "And how do you feel?" can be disorienting when you've spent a lifetime asking that of everyone else.

Here is what I want you to know: in therapy, you are not a burden.
Your feelings are not demasiado.
You do not have to earn your place in the room by being okay.

Taking up space is not selfish.
It's the beginning of healing, and often, it's how you become even more present for the people you love.

09/16/2026

You hold dreams that are not only yours.
Family sacrifices. Cultural narratives. Unspoken pressure.
Therapy creates space to honor where you come from while choosing how you want to live.

Now welcoming new clients.
Book a consultation at healingrelationshipscounseling.com

09/14/2026

The More You Chase, The More They Shut Down.
And neither of you is the problem.

Do your arguments keep ending the same way?
One of you wants to talk about it. Now.
You ask more questions. You explain again. You get louder. You follow them into the other room because you need some sign that they hear you and that this relationship matters.
And your partner?
They get quieter.
They shut down. Avoid eye contact. Say, “I don’t know.” Maybe they walk away.
So, you pursue harder.
And they withdraw further.
Before long, you’re no longer trying to solve the original problem. You’re reacting to each other.

In Emotionally Focused Therapy, we often call this a pursue–withdraw cycle.

Here’s what I want couples to understand:
The cycle is the problem. Not your partner.

The person pursuing may be fighting for connection:
“Please hear me. Please show me that I matter.”

The person withdrawing may be trying to protect the relationship:
“I don’t know how to fix this. I’m afraid anything I say will make it worse.”
Two protective strategies.
Two very different moves.
And a cycle that leaves both people feeling alone.

What would change if, during your next argument, instead of asking, “What is wrong with you?” You asked:
“Are we in our cycle again?”

At Healing Relationships Counseling Services, we help couples recognize what’s happening underneath their conflicts, understand the cycle they’ve created together, and build a different way of reaching for each other.

Save this for the next time you find yourselves in the same argument.
Share it with your partner if this feels familiar.
www.healingrelationshipscounseling.com

09/14/2026

In many cultures, parenting was never meant to be done alone.
Aunts, grandparents, neighbors, and shared care mattered.

When that village is far away or unavailable, the loss can feel quiet but deep.

Therapy steps in as part of the village, offering steadiness, guidance, and connection.

Offering telehealth in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.

www.healingrelationshipscounseling.com

09/13/2026

09/09/2026

Slowing down can bring discomfort instead of calm.
That reaction often comes from long periods of vigilance and responsibility.
Therapy helps your body relearn what safety feels like.

Now accepting new clients.
Schedule at healingrelationshipscounseling.com

09/07/2026

In families navigating stress, migration, or uncertainty, children often sense more than adults realize.
They watch closely.
They worry quietly.
They try to help.

Carrying adult concerns is not a failure of parenting.
It is a sign of how deeply children are attuned to their families.

Therapy helps restore space for childhood
so children can play, grow, and feel safe being young.

Offering telehealth in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.

www.healingrelationshipscounseling.com

09/06/2026

What actually makes a marriage last?
Decades of research, distilled.
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by Dr. John Gottman & Nan Silver gives couples practical, proven habits for friendship, repair, and lasting love.