#59 - La salud mental no es perfecta con María Sotres

What happens when therapy stops helping you? How do you know if you need to continue therapy or if it's time to move on with your life? And why have we turned "healing" into an endless quest? In this episode of Between Sisters, we welcome María Sotres, psychologist, therapist, and specialist in contextual therapies, Gestalt therapy, trauma, and human development, to challenge many of our current ideas about mental health and therapy. In a deeply honest conversation, we discuss how social media has romanticized the therapeutic process, why not everything needs to be analyzed, and how, sometimes, true growth consists of letting go of the search for a "better" version of ourselves. Together with our hosts, we reflect on the difference between going to therapy to navigate life and turning therapy into an obsession with "fixing" ourselves. María shares the case of a patient who, after more than fourteen years in therapy, taught her one of the most important lessons of her career: there is also a time to close chapters, leave the office, and start living again. We also talk about childhood, the famous "inner child," adolescence, the body as a fundamental part of mental health, and why our emotions are never separate from our physical health. María explains how she integrates movement, breath, and body awareness into her therapeutic processes, reminding us that well-being doesn't happen solely in the mind. She also opens her heart to share one of the most difficult experiences of her life: her father's neurodegenerative disease and how watching it physically transform also transformed the way they both understand life, vulnerability, movement, and spirituality. A deeply moving testimony that reminds us that the body changes, but the capacity to find meaning remains. During the conversation, we also addressed topics such as couples therapy, the importance of seeking help before reaching a crisis point, self-care for those practicing psychotherapy, and the profound loneliness many people experience today, even in our hyper-connected lives. Perhaps mental health isn't always about healing, but about ceasing to carry the burden of life entirely alone. This episode is an invitation to question everything we think we know about therapy, to stop chasing an impossible perfection, and to remember that being human also means making mistakes, feeling, asking for help, and learning to live with more compassion for ourselves. In this episode, we discuss: • Why therapy can also end and how to know when to close a process. • The difference between accompanying life and obsessing over "healing." • How social media has romanticized therapy and mental health. • The importance of Gestalt therapy, working with children, adolescents, and all stages of life. • The relationship between mental health, emotions, the body, breath, and movement. • The role of yoga and somatic practices in emotional well-being. • How therapists experience their own processes and why they also need therapy. • The importance of couples therapy before a crisis occurs. • The story of Maria's father's neurodegenerative disease and the lessons that transformed her entire family. • The collective loneliness we currently experience and why connections remain the best tool for support. 🎧 Press play and join us for an honest conversation about therapy, mental health, relationships, vulnerability, self-care, and the importance of letting go of the pursuit of a perfection that has never existed. If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications, and share it. Perhaps someone close to you needs to hear that asking for help doesn't mean there's something wrong with them, but rather that they no longer want to carry the burden of life alone. Discover more at @marthadebaylenetwork. Visit our site: https://marthadebaylepodcasts.com/