“Children [/people] deserve to have panic attacks in their native language” is something that came across my screen while scrolling social media back in March of 2026 (I believe credit is due to @Latinxparenting for the post, but I haven’t been able to locate the exact one) and I have been learning Spanish as best I can ever since.
Those words hit me in the heart. Because of course they do.
I did not grow up speaking Spanish nor am I Latina, and though it is incredibly vulnerable and challenging to learn a new language as an adult, I am trying to learn for the purpose of supporting those I work with in therapy. Even if I am never fluent, I’d like to be able to help even one more person in their healing by expanding my own vocabulary.
For any other mental health professional who is interested in the same, here’s eight emotions in Spanish to get you going!
Eight emotion words in Spanish:
Abrumada / abrumado - overwhelmed
Duda - doubt
Celosa / celoso - jealous
Esperanza - hope
Soprendida / soprendido - surprised
Miedo - fear
Avergonzada / avergonzado - embarrassed
Desprecio - contempt
Happy learning,
Dr. S