Dr. Mercedes Samudio, LCSW

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Dr. Mercedes Samudio, LCSW

AfroNerd | Scholar | Founder of & | Host of | Empowering Black families with mental wellness!

Advancing through innovative research and clinical practice

12/30/2025

Happy 4 year anniversary to my Brainspotting journey!

Four years ago, I wrote this:

“The most excruciating part of healing is getting back into your body after years of it holding the abuse and the trauma…

…but the beauty of all this for me has been realizing that in facing these hard truths, by looking at what defined me, I am allowing myself the opportunity to find the new me…

…the me who can love myself wholly and authentically…”

I’m now trained all the way to Phase 4, with Intersectionality & Social Justice as well as Expansion in my toolbox as well.

And I’m an approved consultant so I can support folks working towards being certified!

This journey has been beautifully uncertain and tbh, a breath of fresh air!

12/28/2025

Wellness isn’t a job; it’s a practice.

I’m Dr. Mercedes Samudio, and I’m not just a renowned psychotherapist

I’m also in possession of tools that can turn your mental chaos into mental calm.

Let’s get started.

As Director of Mental Wellness and Representation I’ll make the most emotionally draining moment feel like a lesson in intimacy and expansion.

Y’all need me. Trust me.

12/23/2025

Dr. Mercedes Samudio

Auditioning for the part of Director of Mental Wellness and Representation at Marvel Studios

12/20/2025

For anyone who willing and ready to listen…

…here’s why I don’t support using holidays or special occasions as punishments for children:

As a child of physical & emotional abuse that was hidden, erased, and rewritten to protect my abuser, it’s unfortunate that we’ve decided that a man-made holiday, or other similar celebrations needs to be used to teach values, morals, or even good character.

These are experiences that can be damaged in a single instance but take decades to undo once done, and all in an effort to teach or guide.

However, we all, as humans, learn best when we’re safe and our systems aren’t activated.

Parents are often taught that they must “toughen children up” for the real world…

…but research and lived experience suggest the opposite is more protective:

Children need caregivers to be a cushion they can return to after encountering the world’s harshness.

While tough love is often framed as a way to build resilience, it misunderstands how resilience actually develops.

Our relationships with our children are built on an emotional foundation that children rely on for physical care & for emotional safety and regulation…

…when that emotional availability is withdrawn to “teach a lesson,” children don’t learn independence; they learn that emotional support is conditional or undeserved.

This absence of emotional safety turns into defensive coping strategies that harden into our adult defense mechanisms; the very ones parents are now trying to undo in themselves.

Most parents do not intend to cause this harm, but tough love frequently backfires because it disrupts the emotional foundation that resilience depends on…

…which is what makes using Christmas (or any emotionally charged holiday) to punish a child teaches them conditional safety.

When holidays are used as leverage (“no gifts,” “Christmas is canceled,” “you ruined it”), the lesson a child absorbs isn’t accountability…

…it’s that love, belonging, and warmth are earned and revocable.

Resilience grows when children know they can return to us after the world is harsh.

Shame grows when the very spaces meant to cushion them become the punishment.

12/07/2025

Forgiveness is…

…going up all hope for a better past!

12/06/2025

it’s tough, and requires a lot of you.....for folks raising Black tweens it’s even more important to stop cycles of oppression and discrimination as well as empower them to love themselves and their Blackness!

11/26/2025

The things James Baldwin said…

…they true tho!

11/24/2025

Hey y’all…

…it’s your friendly neighborhood MCU mythologist here to let y’all know my chapter in a new anthology about the psychology of the MCU is finally published!!!

It’s titled: “On Your Left: Resilience, Legacy, Mentorship, and the Psychological Evolution of Secondary Characters in the MCU”

And guess what?!

It’s open access so you can read it digitally (and purchase the hard copy if you’d like)

Check it out here: https://playstorypress.org/books/the-psychgeist-of-pop-culture-marvel-cinematic-universe/

My chapter starts on page 176 in the digital copy!

11/08/2025

I HAVE LIVED. It means you have a past, and it got you here.

I AM LIVING. It means you are currently living, which means you got here.

I WILL LIVE. It means you will continue to live, which means you’ll move from here.

05/01/2025

As a healing person supporting others healing, I appreciate this month as it highlights how important our mental wellness is and will always be!

I’ve survived trauma and abuse. I live with depression. I experience suicidal ideation and thoughts. Sometimes my emotions overwhelm me and I need to take a break. I live a full life, with folks who care for me. I speak up about mental wellness because it’s a life or death conversation for me, and many others.

11/29/2024

Embracing inclusivity & learning from folks is more important than ever…

…the idea of being Woke is becoming a term that brands folks who are progressive, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and culturally expansive…

…for my part, I’ve been bringing folks over to the WokeSide: where we believe that everyone’s knowledge and experience contributes to the tapestry of humanity, and it’s in those uniques experiences and ancestral knowledge that we find the oaths to heal together…

…in other words WOKE = Welcoming Our Knowledge & Experiences

This acronym reflects a mindset that values cultural expansiveness (a combo of humility, competence, and awareness), community building & connectedness, and a respect for for the historical and ancestral wisdom we all possess...

…in a sense, if you’re tired of being, tired of hearing, tired of seeing the revolution that is being WOKE, then you might want to check in with yourself because you’re part of the problem…

Research shows that cultural expansiveness is a lifelong process of reflection & (un)learning: a practice of mutual respect that bridges cultural gaps, especially in healthcare, to create equity (Foronda et al., 2016)…

… community building & connection also require being WOKE: embracing the attitudes, knowledge & skills to navigate across cultures (Deardorff, 2015; CDC, 2023)…

…TL;dr: Being WOKE is part of the work!™️

Allowing ourselves to evolve into cultural expansiveness aligns with the WOKE mindset…

…it empowers us to build meaningful connections & champion equity by understanding and honoring the diverse narratives that shape our communities…

…in a sense, we do this because it’s how we thrive; when we remain WOKE, we foster a world where every voice matters, every story is valued, and every experience is a chance to grow.

✨ Follow .mercedessamudio for all things Black family, parenting, mental health, Black health equity, and AfroNerd realness! ✨

11/22/2024

When raising healthy Black tweens, it can feel like they’re at a level to understand and process a lot…

…but in actuality, they’re coming online cognitively and emotionally while also learning how to connect with those around them.

As they’re learning let’s remind ourselves to do…

…LESS: teasing, shaming, labeling, enabling, and blaming…

…and MORE: listening, honoring, noticing, supporting, and understanding.

✨ Follow .mercedessamudio for all things Black family, parenting, mental health, Black health equity, and AfroNerd realness! ✨

Address

1510 W Whitter Boulevard , Ste 95
La Habra, CA
90631

Telephone

+17147585988

Website

https://solo.to/dr.mercedessamudio

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