Amanda Hildebrant’s Spanish Speaking Services
Moving into a group practice, for me, is synonymous with more clinical creativity and also a chance to hone in on what matters most. Providing therapy services in Spanish at Foundations Family Counselling is an important part of my personal mission to uphold my values from a social justice position. I had the pleasure of living for a few years in Montevideo, Uruguay where my friends and acquaintances gently, and sometimes quite bluntly, encouraged me on my path to fluency in Spanish.
When I returned to the United States in 2008, I was eager to begin my social work career. I was honored to have various jobs where I could provide my services in Spanish. Sometimes we assume, that as the person who spends time learning another language to provide services to a client in their own first language, that we are “doing the right thing”. As I reflect I think instead, that the clients who trusted me to try to meet them where they were at, were in fact the courageous ones. I can recall as my clients, who represented many different regions of Mexico and Central America, waited patiently as I caught up with their insightful and powerful views of emotions, beliefs, family, and culture. They waited patiently in my early years as I fumbled to find a word that matched my own intentions of what I wanted to communicate. Most of all, they bravely trusted me to try and understand some small piece of their reality.
To learn more about Amanda Hildebrant and her Spanish-speaking counseling services, click here.