Good Neighbor Podcast: Orange County

Healing Anxiety And Self-Doubt With EMDR

• Rachel Fyffe & Cristina Deneve

Share episode

Ever felt the split between what you want and what your culture expects? We sit down with therapist Cristina Deneve of Empower U Bilingual EMDR Therapy to unpack how that inner tug-of-war can fuel anxiety, guilt, and relentless self-doubt—and how EMDR can help you finally feel the truth your mind already knows.

Cristina explains that EMDR therapy is not only an approach for treating trauma and complex trauma - it’s also effective for anxiety and depression. EMDR helps the brain reprocess difficult memories so they lose their emotional intensity, allowing you to develop more accurate and empowering beliefs about yourself. She shares her unexpected journey from engineering to psychotherapy, revealing what happens when a life that looks perfect on paper stops fitting. Together, we explore common myths about therapy, why seeking help isn’t a sign of being “broken,” and how a compassionate, nonjudgmental space makes it possible to rewrite stories shaped by transgenerational trauma and inherited expectations.

If you’re an adult child of immigrants navigating pressure to excel, fear of disappointing loved ones, or the weight of always being “the strong one,” this conversation offers a grounded path forward. We talk through practical ways EMDR helps release old patterns like perfectionism and people‑pleasing, why bilingual access matters for emotional nuance, and how freedom can look like setting boundaries, choosing aligned goals, and feeling at home in your own skin. Cristina also shares how clients find her practice and the simple routines—time outdoors, movement, community—that support a regulated nervous system.

Visit: https://empoweruemdr.com/

Press play to learn how EMDR can turn insight into embodied change and help you live a life that honors your roots without losing yourself. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.

SPEAKER_02:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Rachel Five.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Now, are you torn between what you want and what the culture you come from tells you to do or be? Or do you experience anxiety, self-doubt, or guilt and are looking for a therapist? Well, this resource is closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Christina Denise, with Empower You Bilingual EMDR Therapy. Christina, how is it going?

SPEAKER_00:

Hi, Rachel. Thank you so much for having me. It's going great, thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, wonderful. Well, we're really excited to learn about your practice. So tell us about your therapy practice.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, well, Empower You is an online psychotherapy practice where I help adult children of immigrants who feel anxiety, self-doubt, and um guilt and shame. And I use my main approach, which is EMDR, because it's more effective than talk therapy. And if you want, I can explain a little bit more about EMDR. Would that be okay? Okay. Yeah. Yeah, EMDR is very effective. You know, it helps integrate what we logically think and what we experience emotionally. Like, for example, if you feel if you think about, oh, I know I'm good enough because I have done this and I have done that, I am this person, but sometimes emotionally it's not there, the feeling, right? So what in the art it's integrates that logical experience with the emotional experience that you not only know it, but you feel it.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, how did you get into this type of business?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, um, well, it all started, you know, when I was an engineer. I I studied engineers first, and then everything looked on paper. I was um I had a good career, I had stability, but deep down I felt miserable. So for some years it worked and until it didn't, because I had put that part of me away, and all of a sudden, um, you know, I knew something had to change. So I switched careers to psychology and I started to do my own therapy, and you know, I realized that I wasn't connected to myself, I wasn't living the life that I that I wanted to live because I didn't even know what I wanted. So this whole self-discovery process started, and that's what brought me here.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, what do you think are maybe some myths or misconceptions in your industry?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, well, you know, sometimes um I hear a lot that you go to therapy because there's something wrong with you and then you're broken. And you know, and what I, you know, what I think is that therapy it helps you to get to know yourself at a different level, to understand what happened to you and the impact that that had in your life. And when you find a not judgmental place, you can um be honest with yourself and you can start making different choices in your life to live uh a life that is more aligned with what you are and who you are.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, okay. Yeah, okay, so now um, yeah, we know you know we know marketing is really the heart of every business. So, how are you binding your patients to your therapy practice?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, you know, it's different ways. I think mostly is uh words of mouth, right? When my clients uh recommend other people, and um I do also uh you know marketing, I have my Facebook account, I have my Instagram account, I post sometimes, and uh other therapists refer me. Uh, and also I'm in some directories, so that also, you know, those are my sources mainly.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast by any chance?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I have thought about it. Definitely, definitely. I I think that's something that I have in mind, and I definitely it's something I want to work in the in the near future.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Now, um, outside of work, Christina, what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I you know, I love being outdoors. I feel like being outdoors does something magic for me. I love hiking, rollerblading, paddleboarding, um, you know, and I I love connecting with friends and spending time with my family.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, Christina, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about empower you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, uh definitely like empower you. Um, you know, it's it's a therapy practice that can help you to heal, you know, trauma, transgenerational trauma, and use E in VR. The goal is to help you feel free from all patterns, from self-doubt, and free uh from expectations, so you can leave that the life that you want that is more aligned with who you are.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, how can our listeners learn more about empower you?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, they can visit my my website, which is um empower and the letter you, and then embr.com. And also I have my Instagram account, which is empowery.embr, and my Facebook account, which is Christina Denise.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, Christina, I really appreciate you being on the show, and we wish you and your practice really the best of luck moving forward and much success.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, Rachel. Thank you for having me. My pleasure. It was a pleasure. Thank you.

unknown:

Bewet.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnporgecounty.com. That's gnpoangecounty.com or call 714 941 2882.