Leidy´s parents are both Chinese, but she was born and raised in Spain. Therefore, she has encountered and experienced two very different cultures.

Her parents have educated and raised her in the same way as they were educated, following the values ​​of Chinese culture. On the other hand, having been born in Spain, she attended a Spanish nursery since little and lived in a neighborhood with a significant Spanish population. As a result, whenever she is asked if she considers herself Chinese or Spanish, she doesn’t know how to answer. Being a “Third Culture Kid” her culture, as she usually answers, is “hybrid” and this led to issues of identity and sense of belonging, which she had learned how to resolve them and can help others to do so. She considers herself lucky to have been able to know two cultures, and to “pick” from each one the parts, thoughts or values, way of being, living and/or behaving with which she has felt most at ease and identified. So she feels that she can understand better those who have had a history of migration and who have felt at some point like «the outsiders or the ones who didn’t fit in.»

For as long as she can remember, she has been able to speak both Chinese and Spanish. Since she was 5 years old, she went to a «Chinese school» every week. This has enabled her to communicate with natives without giving them the impression that Leidy grew up in another country. Moreover, from the age of 6 to 18 she attended a bilingual school, St Michael’s School, giving her an early exposure to English as well.

The decision to study Psychology and Speech Therapy, was influenced by her friend´s suggestion. They admired the way she listened and advised them. She is very thankful for this because throughout her academic journey, her passion for these two professions has only grown and, nowadays she still learns and enjoy them.

During her Double Degree in Psychology and Speech Therapy, she had the opportunity to do her speech therapy internship at the UCM University Clinic, focusing primarily on children and adolescents. She had the opportunity of observing and working with a wide variety of problems (language, speech, reading and writing disorders, dyslexia, atypical swallowing, Autism Spectrum Disorder, voice problems, etc.). Meanwhile, she completed her Psychology internship at the Arroyomolinos City Council´s Youth and Education Department, where she worked in the clinical, educational and social domains. This experience led to her decision of dedicating herself to the clinic, so she proceeded to study the Master’s Degree in General Health Psychology at the URJC (Rey Juan Carlos University). Throughout her various internships, she worked with adults aged between 18 to 65 who had depression, anxiety, breakup issues, social isolation, substance abuse issues with the goal of lowering consumption and preventing relapse, relationship problems… These experiences sparked her curiosity about trauma, attachment difficulties and dissociation, so she decided to take Level I of EMDR to gain other skills and offer higher quality care.

Leidy works from an integrative approach, relying mainly on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy but also applying other techniques such as ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), in order to adjust to each patient´s needs and address each area of ​​their life (emotional, cognitive, physical, behavioural…). However, the most important thing for her is not what approach is used, but rather to show active listening in order to understand, plan and work as a team for each patient´s well-being.