Digame: Chicana Therapist Cynthia Magaña is Helping Us Heal through Ancestral Practices

Cynthia “Cyn” Magaña (@thechicanatherapist) is a queer intuitive and Chicana therapist, yoga teacher, and sound practitioner. She blends Internal Family Systems (IFS), Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), and ancestral practices to support queer and trans communities, Latine cultura, and people of the global majority in healing. Through decolonizing and anti-oppressive practices, her work encompasses somatic, relational, and spiritual healing. She’s also a HipLatina contributor who has written about the value in ancestral practices and how our community can reconnect with their roots through these practices. Here she shares the importance of the work she does as a therapist helping her community heal, the Latinas and queer leaders that inspire her, and how her familia helps her stay connected to her roots.

Which Latina(s) have had the greatest impact on your life and why?

To be honest: each of my abuelas and my primas who have shown me the importance of familismo, kindness and ways connecting spirituality. I’m very lucky to share that I have supportive elders in my life who have watched me grow and supported a non-traditional path into adulthood.

I want to also to give a mention to the queer Latinas who unapologetically embrace the idea that gender is drag and self-expression is where it’s at, the creative Latinas redefining creative spaces, the small business owner latinas whom are so innovative and part of the fastest growing group of business owners entrepreneurs in the US, and the Latina mamas breaking generational cycles.

I am inspired by latinas who are balancing tradition, disrupting roles and aesthetics of what it means to be a “Latina”.

If you could meet a Latina icon who is no longer alive, who would it be and why?

Hear me out, I’d love to have a pozole night and listening party with Gloria Anzaldúa, a lesbian Chicana writer and thinker, Nancy Valverde, the first Chicana butch lesbian from East LA who challenged the LAPD’s anti-cross-dressing laws in the 50s, and [trans rights activist] Sylvia Rivera of the Stonewall Riots. I’d like to talk about the evolution of queer and trans rights, wisdom from elders who were on the front lines, and how we sustain ourselves and our future generations in activism and community building. And of course, it’d be a mix of chismeando and a very wholesome evening over the kitchen table with our favorite music playing in the background.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

As a therapist and small business owner, two things I continue to carry:

1) It’s not just what you know, but it’s also who you know. I mean this in a way that is not about social climbing, but rather thinking about alignment and working along folx who see YOU. The peers, mentors, and collaborators who root for you will speak your name in rooms you haven’t entered yet. They’ll share your work, uplift you, and celebrate your wins.

2) You can be really good at multiple things, or you can focus on one thing. As a social worker I have learned I am good at balancing multiple things at a time, pero, I also recognize that I have the areas I really shine in and that has been supportive in building a sustainable business on focusing on what I am really good at rather than striving to put my hands in many pots. Building and crafting take so much time!

What was the scariest part of pursuing your career goals and how did you push through?

Moving to New York was bold and life changing. Coming from the California State University system, where tuition was more accessible, the leap to NYU’s Silver School of Social Work felt huge. Primarily because I focused on my merit scholarship both years and Grad PLUS Loans. While I know this is a huge privilege it is also a huge financial responsibility and reality that I have funded my way through my entire college career.

My mentor, Dr. Lyssette Trejo, always encouraged me to go after what I wanted and reminded me it would work out. I gave myself two years to figure out my next step after graduating with a B.A. in Psychology from CSU Long Beach to choose the path I wanted to pursue. I ultimately chose social work because it offered flexibility and purpose. I had visited New York often and felt at ease there like I could exist differently. That feeling guided me and continues to guide me in my career decisions when I’m exploring my growth edge and pacing in my career.

I returned to California when I turned 30 and helped build a social work department rooted in values I deeply believed in from developing content, leading training, building partnerships with social work schools and mentoring others. Now, five years later, I run a full-time private practice where I offer therapy, immigration evaluations, and holistic healing all through a lens of trauma informed space holding, liberation, and decolonization.

How do you stay connected to your cultural roots?

Well I think it’s important to know the origin of your roots. I ask questions. I practice. I integrate. I continue to learn and learn from elders who teach us the roots of the work and continue to find my own pace of decolonizing.

I took Hood Herbalism course to learn fundamentals of herbalism and engage in plant play learning different methods of connecting with plants. It was a really cool experience and container that kept me in conversation with the land and fuels my love for gardening and connection to my grandma.

Another helpful resource was meeting a dear colleague, Michelle Mojica, who hosts training connecting mujeres and gender expansive folks to connecting with the four elements and ongoing practices of decolonizing mental health in ancestral healing.

Cooking is a major love language for me. I made tamales for the first time in 2020, calling my tía and my grandma for guidance. Each had her own version of the recipe, even though they came from the same source. I found that really endearing. My grandma recently crossed over into the spirit realm, and now I’m anticipating the connection of making her chile rellenos and New Mexico–inspired salsa made with Hatch chiles.

What do you wish more people understood about what you do?

Therapy is so much more than listening and validating. The work I do is much deeper than that. Internal Family Systems can be compared to the ancient practice of soul retrieval helping people reconnect with the parts of themselves that have been hidden or protected. It takes patience, presence, and trust

As a yoga teacher and sound bath practitioner, we really are the anchor for the class. The energy and confidence truly transcends and can be felt. I really focus on slow process integrating, inviting cues that help bridge out emotions and deep release.

Healing is layered, intentional, and relational. I enjoy a slow exhale as a former and sometimes still anxious eldest first born daughter.

And as a small business owner, people sometimes misunderstand marketing. For us, visibility is part of service, it’s how we connect with the people. It’s about creating pathways for community and care. It’s really making people remember your messaging, what you do and how community building is essential in business creation.

What motivates you?

I get to walk alongside incredible humans. Watching their growth, resilience, and glow-ups is such an honor. When the time comes to close our work together, it often feels reparative like something has been rewritten in both of us.

Beyond my work, I’m motivated by my friends, my senior dog, Kuya, my partner, my father, and my almost three-year-old twin nephews. Each one centers on kindness, hard work, and playfulness.

And by the spaces I create, like Yin Out: A Queer & Trans Yoga Practice and my sound bath offerings where people remember that they are their own medicine. Learning from my mentors and decolonizing my spiritual practice continues to teach me how to confide in my intuition and find answers through stillness, vibration, and imagery.

How did you end up on the professional path you’re on now?

I always knew I’d major in psychology. As a first-generation college student, it felt like a path that offered clarity and purpose. From there, everything unfolded through community, mentorship, and a willingness to take risks. If I hadn’t followed this path, I would have loved to explore art school. I’ve always felt that being an artist and being a therapist share a lot in common. Both are about connection, creativity, and helping people see the world in new ways.

What is your greatest professional achievement so far? Personal achievement?

Professionally, I’d say being trusted to share my voice whether through podcasts, collaborations, or writing for platforms like HipLatina feels huge. I was always told I was a good writer, and it’s something that connects me to my mom, who used to write as a way to express emotion and honest reflections.

Personally, my biggest achievement has been deepening being a first gen college graduate and my learning about financial literacy + wellness. As a first-born, queer daughter, independence is essential. There’s something transformative about looking at your money story with compassion and learning how to refine, grow, and thrive within a capitalist world while staying rooted in your values.

Often we are the only Latinas in the room or one of a few. What has it been like being a Latina in your field?

I am very lucky to be in a profession where I get to see fellow Latinas especially in private practice, do amazing things! It honestly has felt very isolating counting 3,000 hours into licensure. There was a lot of “rule” and “compliance” by institutions that sometimes halt us from really doing community based liberatory care work. There is also this idea that leaving behind community care work is selfish or you’re somehow letting the community down. It’s been quite liberating to offer care work and still be connected to my values and roots through sliding scale opportunities, donation based yoga classes and offering immigration evaluations.

One of the reasons why I started my instagram, The Chicana Therapist, was that I felt very alone in my identity as a queer Mexican-American social worker in New York and also experiencing moments of being homesick for California. I have been able to connect and meet other latina therapists from around the world!

What pop culture moment made you feel seen as a Latina?

Watching Mi Vida Loca for the first time with my tía. I could literally see my primas and tías reflected and it felt so cool to see Chicana sisterhood on the big screen. Later, in my pre-teen era I remember Shakira performing at the early 2000s VMAs, I remember recording it on my VCR and practicing her moves on the daily. That moment was pure joy and iconic!

How do you practice and prioritize self-care?

As a therapist, I really do have to practice self-care to be present. I try not to over schedule. I really look at my capacity. Once a month, I plan a weekend with no schedule just going with the flow.

Community care is self-care. I surround myself with people who are reciprocal in friendship building. I try to move my body and release energy by going to cycling class, walk around the park and having my own yoga practice. I keep my own therapy consistent and make sure I have time to find flow through looking for new music, reading a book and exploring cities that I call home.

Quick Fire:

Shoutout a Latina’s IG account that could use more love and tell us why you’re a fan:

Julie Piñero (@shmoooolie), who created Delejos after the tragic loss of her former partner, José, outside a Brooklyn bar in 2019. Her project, which won a Tribeca Film Award for Best Audio Nonfiction, explores love, loss, and art as transmutation. There’s a moment with her father that had me sobbing, it’s grief alchemized into storytelling at its purest form and completing Jose’s project Delejos.

Michelle Mojica (@mariposaancestralpractices) is a therapist who has been a guide for me in reconnecting with Indigenous and Mexica practices. She’s Long Beach–based, and if you’re seeking a Limpia or grounding in your roots, she’s the one.

Shoutout your favorite Latina owned business and why:

Jacqueline Andrade, a Mexican-American SoCal native and dear friend I met in fashion class turned her love for music into a full on music label that specializes in physical releases in the post-punk, darkwave, shoegaze and synth pop genres based out of Los Angeles called à La Carte Records (@alacarterecords).

Los Angeles: Bar Flores a queer, Mexican-owned cocktail bar in Echo Park led by Karla Flores-Mercado, whose drinks and atmosphere are as vibrant and welcoming as her spirit.

New York: Hellbender a Chicana-owned restaurant in Ridgewood, Queens, serving memorable bites by Chef Yara Herrera who is a Los Angeles born Mexican-American chef.

Sacramento: Pilax Pilates is owned by a Latina mental health advocate. I host sound baths there occasionally and the vibes are amazing and feel like you are getting ready with your friends with all their music to get your body moving, but you’re actually at a pilates studio putting in hard core work! It’s so awesome to see many latinas to find a place where they can be their best selves, work out and have fun!