In this moving episode of the Love is Greater Than Hate podcast, host Melissa Etzler sits down with Maricela, a licensed mental health clinician who shares her harrowing journey from surviving an armed robbery to finding her calling in helping others heal.
In 2010, while working as a supervisor at a CVS in Los Angeles, Maricela’s life changed in an instant when three masked gunmen stormed the store. What followed was a terrifying ordeal that left her zip-tied and traumatized, marking the beginning of a long, dark battle with severe anxiety, depression, and prescription medication dependency.
Maricela speaks candidly about the "hopelessness" of those years—the struggle to be a single mother while living in constant fear, and the frustrating process of finding a doctor who truly saw her as a person rather than a "guinea pig."
Ultimately, this is a story of divine orchestration. Maricela reveals how she advocated for her own health, found the right support, and eventually turned her trauma into a tool for service. Today, she uses her experience to offer authentic empathy to her own patients, proving that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Grab a copy of Maricela's book here: https://a.co/d/7nUK9Ma
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National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 (HOPE)
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