The Impact of Emotional Connection I Anxiety Therapist Los Angeles Ca

Many adults who grew up in families without an emotional language experience this frustration in relationships as they get older. Have you been searching for something different to feel heard and calm? You are not alone - Learn more from an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles, Ca who specializes in helping others get to a place to feel heard and peaceful.

Emotional Connection and First Gen: Insights from an Anxiety Therapist in Los Angeles

Throughout your life, there’s been a constant, nagging feeling of emptiness. No matter how many relationships you've had, something has always felt missing. You’ve often looked to those around you, especially your parents, to fill that void, to provide you with the emotional closeness and connection you long for. But as an adult, the hope remains that one day, you’ll receive this closeness and connection you’ve craved from your parents. You’re not alone in this.

Struggling to Trust Emotional Connection

You may find yourself wondering where this emptiness comes from, why it feels so difficult to connect, and whether genuine emotional connection is even possible. I work with so many individuals, especially from BIPOC and Queer communities, who ask the same questions and yearn for understanding. As an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles, CA, I understand the roots of these struggles and how they often connect to deeper, intergenerational issues and cultural expectations.

Anxiety Therapy in Los Angeles, CA: Understanding Emotional Intimacy

It starts with understanding how your relationship with your parents, or lack thereof, have shaped your ability to experience and give emotional intimacy. Emotional intimacy is often first learned through our parents or primary caregivers, but it’s not always taught in ways that serve us as we grow. BIPOC and Queer individuals are taught to suppress or minimize emotional needs — both within families and in larger societal systems. I work with many of these clients as a therapist for anxiety therapy in Los Angeles who have experienced similar struggles, I help them untangle how cultural and family dynamics shape their relationships with emotional intimacy. Just like for them, I want to help you uncover the roots of this pain and show you the possibility and choice you have towards beginning your healing journey.

The Role of Parents in Shaping Emotional Connection

Lindsay Gibson, in her book Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents, outlines the profound impact emotionally immature parents can have on their children. This emotional immaturity often looks like avoiding emotions, being dismissive, or even using love and affection as a form of control. If your parent(s) struggled with emotional intimacy or never provided a safe space for vulnerability, you may have learned to distrust your own emotional experiences or avoid emotional closeness altogether.

This pattern doesn’t only affect childhood; it reverberates throughout adulthood, especially in relationships with friends, romantic partners, and even within our own families. Looking at the larger picture — especially for BIPOC communities and Queer folx — shows that these struggles aren’t isolated experiences. We have all shared them. They're woven into the fabric of intergenerational trauma, cultural expectations, and the social conditioning that teaches us to suppress our emotions in the name of survival.

Intergenerational Trauma and It’s Impact on Intimacy

The struggle of pushing down the innate feeling of connection with oneself and others, is not in isolation. Community can be healing as adults especially if you have not experiences it as a kid. Many are too scared and play what ifs preventing them from forming connection with others. I am there with you in this journey as an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles, CA.

Talking about emotional intimacy, means we also need to touch on intergenerational trauma. This trauma is passed down through families and communities, and its effects are often felt long after the original events have taken place. For many in the Latinx community, the experience of migration, displacement, and systemic oppression can create deep emotional wounds that are carried across generations. These wounds often show up as anxiety, emotional detachment, and difficulty forming close connections.

Intergenerational trauma can shape the way we interact with others and how we perceive emotional intimacy. In families where emotional needs were unmet, children often internalize the belief that their emotions are not valid or worthy of attention. This internalized belief can carry into adulthood, leading to the same emotional distance and anxiety that was present in childhood.

Breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma requires a willingness to examine the past and the courage to make different choices moving forward. It requires learning how to honor your own emotional needs, set healthy boundaries, and trust that emotional intimacy is not only possible but essential for healing.

Cultural Conditioning and Emotional Connection for First Gen Adults

For many Latinx individuals, emotional intimacy can be a complex and multifaceted issue. In families where survival is prioritized, emotional vulnerability often takes a backseat. Many first-generation adults, especially those in immigrant families, are taught to be hyper-independent, to push through difficulties without asking for help. Emotions are often seen as a luxury or weakness, making it difficult for individuals to connect with themselves, let alone others. In Latinx communities, the focus on providing for the family can sometimes lead to emotional neglect, creating an environment where emotional intimacy becomes a foreign concept.

This emotional detachment often shows up as hyper-independence — the belief you must handle everything alone because others can’t be trusted to meet your emotional needs. In adulthood, this can look like difficulties around emotional vulnerability with people in your life, due to fearing judgment or rejection if you were to share your true feelings. And yet, this very need for emotional intimacy persists, creating a painful tension that many in the Latinx community carry with them throughout their lives.

As an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles Ca working with First Gen Adults, I witness the impact of this cultural conditioning regularly. Many of my clients are BIPOC and Queer folx, navigating the intersection of cultural expectations, trauma, and the desire for emotional connection. The struggle to break free from these patterns, and the longing to heal intergenerational wounds, can be a profound and empowering journey. This journey is about learning to give yourself permission to feel, to trust that your emotions matter, and to find the courage to create deeper connections with those around you.

 How Anxiety Fuels Emotional Detachment

In many cases, emotional intimacy struggles are deeply intertwined with anxiety. Anxiety often manifests when we are unable to manage overwhelming emotions or when we fear that our emotional needs will be dismissed or misunderstood. For those who have experienced emotional neglect or detachment in childhood, anxiety can become a coping mechanism to manage the uncertainty of emotional connections.

When you try to connect with others — in friendships, romantic relationships, or family — it can feel like you’re pushing against an invisible wall. That wall is often built from fear and past experiences where your emotional needs were ignored or dismissed. You may feel as though no matter how hard you try, the emotional bond with your parent(s) or others will never be fully realized.

The cycle of anxiety can perpetuate itself, especially when it’s coupled with emotional detachment. When we’re anxious, we tend to withdraw, pushing others away to protect ourselves from the perceived threat of rejection or judgment. But this withdrawal only deepens the feelings of loneliness and isolation, reinforcing the belief that emotional intimacy is not safe or achievable.

Stepping into yourself; getting to know why everything you have tried has not worked and you decide enough is enough and begin googling therapist near you — can begin to feel freeing after the first session. Meet with a therapist in Los Angeles, CA who specializes anxiety therapy around helping others get to a place to feel heard and peaceful.

Moving Toward Healing: A Journey of Self-Discovery

As you begin your healing journey, it’s important to approach yourself with compassion and patience. Healing isn’t linear—it's a practice of learning to feel seen, safety, and worthy of emotional connection. It’s also about breaking old cycles. If you’d like to explore more about what that journey looks like, check out my post on What First-Gen Anxiety Feels Like in Los Angeles—a place where we unpack how survival strategies can shape our emotional lives. It takes time, and it requires a willingness to face uncomfortable emotions, to confront past wounds, and to take small steps toward vulnerability and connection.

A crucial part of this process is identifying and challenging the beliefs that have kept you stuck in patterns of emotional detachment. This involves examining the ways in which your upbringing, cultural background, and experiences with family have shaped your views on intimacy and emotional connection.

As you work with a therapist, particularly in anxiety therapy Los Angeles Ca, you can begin to uncover the roots of your struggles and create new patterns of emotional connection. Together, we can explore the impact of cultural expectations, societal pressures, and past trauma on your ability to connect with yourself and others. Through this process, you’ll gain insight into how to create the emotional intimacy you’ve always longed for.

Anxiety Therapy Los Angeles Ca — Moving Beyond the Void

The feelings of emptiness you’ve experienced throughout your life are not a reflection of your worth or your ability to form meaningful relationships. Instead, they are a signal that your emotional needs have been overlooked or suppressed. The process of healing involves giving yourself permission to feel and to be vulnerable with others. It’s about recognizing that emotional intimacy is not a luxury — it’s a fundamental human need.

Together, we can explore the roots of anxiety, emotional detachment, and intergenerational trauma so you can build the emotional connection you deserve. I am here to guide you through this process, offering a safe space for you to explore, heal, and transform your relationship with yourself and others.

If you’re ready to step onto the journey to create more connection, I invite you to learn more about my approach as an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles, CA here.

Contact me today for your free consultation at (323) 493-6644 or Book Here.

Wishing you peace and clarity on your journey to finding the right anxiety therapist in Los Angeles—and the healing you deserve.

Ligia Orellana, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist 122659