At LA Mission College, Spanish speakers find the right words to improve their mental health

Therapists say that giving speakers of other languages mental health vocabulary in their own language is a first step toward better mental health. This month, Los Angeles Mission College launched a series of five weekly mental health workshops, open to the public, in Spanish. It’s the first time the college has provided workshops like this in a language that’s commonly used by the people who live around the campus in the north San Fernando Valley. “[Spanish speakers] have a stigma about mental health … it’s important for our community to hold these events because they’re in their language. We need for them to understand this topic in their language, in terms they can grasp,” said Magaly Rojas-González, the basic needs coordinator at L.A. Mission College and the event organizer.