Colors Out Loud: Unfiltered Mental Health Conversations for BIPOC Communities

Colors of Austin Counseling, PLLC
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Mental Health

COLORS OUT LOUD is for anyone who's ever left a hard conversation wishing they'd said more — the ones holding multiple identities, doing the internal work quietly, and craving mental health conversations that don't feel like a lecture or a demographic checkbox. If you're BIPOC, in therapy, thinking about therapy, or just tired of wellness content that skips the nuance, COLORS OUT LOUD is for you. Hosted by the therapists of Colors of Austin Counseling, this weekly mental health podcast brings clinical insight out of the therapy room and into your ears. COLORS OUT LOUD brings unscripted conversations beyond the therapy couch with a healthy dose of joy, because healing doesn't have to be heavy to be real. Each week, expect a mix of solo clinician takes, guest interviews, and roundtable conversations on grief, identity, burnout, relationships, and the mental health topics — plus recurring segments like *Ask a Clinician* and *One Next Step*, so you always leave with something to try. DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for therapy or crisis support.

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    The Ceremony Ritual and the Sacred: Rebuilding Ground After Religious Harm

    Have questions? Send us a DM! In this episode, Roy Mong, LPC-Associate (supervised by Marissa Rivera, MA, LPC-S), and Lina Guerrero, MPA, LCSW, LCDC, get personal about spiritual and religious trauma. Roy shares how he came to faith in high school, and how his career in evangelical missions turned into spiritual abuse. And Lina talks about growing up Catholic, the rituals and community that held her together, and the rigidity and hypocrisy that pushed her to start asking questions. DISCLAIMER: This episode is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for therapy or crisis support. This conversation explores religious and spiritual trauma and spiritual abuse, and includes some strong language. Both hosts come from Christian traditions, and their stories reflect that lens. In this episode: (00:00) Intro(03:00) Catholic and evangelical upbringings(04:21) When faith served us and when it didn't(10:02) Growing up Catholic: ritual, community, and youth group rigidity(19:43) "Pray harder": single-cause thinking, guilt, and shame(29:46) Healing, agency, and the right to self-determination(35:15) Decentering whiteness: Christian nationalism and the historic Black church(42:42) Ceremony and finding the sacred outside religious spacesMore from Colors of Austin Counseling: WebsiteInstagramBlogFind a therapist for you in Austin, TX

  2. Sep 29

    Backrooms Through a Therapist's Lens: Role Play, Race and the Rescuer Trap

    Have questions? Send us a DM! Chris Martinez, LCSW, EMDR Trained and Jene Gutierrez, LMFT, both therapists at Colors of Austin Counseling, launch a new series inside Colors Out Loud: therapists breaking down how movies portray therapy and mental health. First up is Backrooms, Kane Parsons' film that grew out of an internet creepypasta. The film features a therapist who follows her client into an endless maze of rooms, which the film uses as a stand-in for his mind. Chris and Jene unpack the film's odd role play session and the power dynamics between a white therapist and her Black client, the only Black character in the film. They talk about how the mental health field has treated Black men's anger as pathology, and about white saviorism. They also get into how easily "helping" can turn into control, and why therapy only works when you actually want to change. DISCLAIMER: This episode is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for therapy or crisis support. It contains full spoilers for Backrooms, brief references to alcohol use and psychosis as shown in the film, and some strong language. In this episode: (00:00) Intro(01:28) What Backrooms is, from creepypasta to feature film(04:54) The role play: replaying the same loop versus practicing a new path(09:00) Power dynamics and the pathologizing of Black men's anger(13:32) Therapist bias, who's in the therapy room and white saviorism(20:30) Therapists as rescuers and martyrs(24:07) Curiosity versus enmeshment when you enter a client's world(28:39) When a client doesn't want to change and a therapist works harder than the clientMore from Colors of Austin Counseling: WebsiteInstagramBlogFind a therapist for you in Austin, TX

  3. Sep 22

    "You Can't Have ADHD, You Have a Master's Degree": Diagnosing ADHD as a BIPOC Adult

    Have questions? Send us a DM! Roy Mong, LPC-Associate (supervised by Marissa Rivera, MA, LPC-S), and Lina Guerrero, MPA, LCSW, LCDC, sit down to chat about ADHD — specifically what it looks like within social location and cultural context for BIPOC communities. Both Roy and Lina share their own late-diagnosis stories (Roy still early in his journey, Lina diagnosed as an adult in 2021) to unpack the model minority mask, the difference between inattentive and hyperactive presentations, and why so many people of color get missed by a diagnostic system built around one narrow stereotype. From "Hurricane Lina" meltdowns to Roy pacing his childhood bedroom rehearsing conversations out loud, this episode traces how culture, gender, and systemic bias all shape who gets seen — and who just gets told to try harder. In this episode: (00:00) Intro(04:30) ADHD within social location and cultural context(12:02) The "model minority mask" and underdiagnosis in Asian American communities(14:28) The three types of ADHD — and the "Ferrari brain with bicycle brakes" metaphor(21:02) Emotional dysregulation as a core (and overlooked) part of ADHD(26:44) Growing up misunderstood and the cultural messages that shape diagnosis(32:16) The westernization of ADHD — colonization, capitalism, and why the U.S. makes it harder(41:51) What it means to "try softer" instead of harderMore from Colors of Austin Counseling: WebsiteInstagramBlogFind a therapist for you in Austin, TXMore from Colors of Austin Counseling: WebsiteInstagramBlogFind a therapist for you in Austin, TX

  4. Sep 15

    Being Mexican: Identity, Colorism & Generational Privilege

    Have questions? Send us a DM! Therapists (and real-life friends) Lina Guerrero, MPA, LCSW, LCDC, and Claudia Hernandez Vargas, LCSW sit down for a conversation about what it actually means to be Mexican — as women, as clinicians, and as descendants of both the colonized and the colonizers. They trace how "first-gen" status, colorism, indigenous ancestry, assimilation, and generational privilege show up in their families, their names, and their own sense of belonging — and get into the grief (and the joy) that comes with exploring where you're from. DISCLAIMER: This episode is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for therapy or crisis support. This conversation includes a brief reference to alcohol use and personal recovery. In this episode: (00:00) Intro(06:49) What "first-gen" actually means — and why the label is more complicated than it looks(09:34) Names, language, and the cost of assimilation(10:42) Colorism inside one family: indigenous roots on one side, "hella Spaniard" on the other(18:52) A trip to Spain that turned into an existential crisis about being descended from both the colonized and the colonizer(22:37) Who "counts" as Mexican — race, nationality, and belonging(30:32) Growing up as one of few Mexican kids, and reckoning with proximity to whiteness(37:34) Solidarity, privilege, and anti-Blackness within Latinx identity(44:04) Why this identity work led them both into becoming therapistsMore from Colors of Austin Counseling: WebsiteInstagramBlogFind a therapist for you in Austin, TX

  5. Sep 8

    Unfiltered Mental Health Conversations for BIPOC Folks: Meet the Founder of Colors Out Loud

    Have questions? Send us a DM! Welcome to Colors Out Loud! In this first episode, Vanessa Flores Newton, LCSW-S, CDWF, shares the story of why Colors of Austin Counseling exists — and why she decided to build a room that didn’t exist. She takes y'all back to 2018, when she was a solo practitioner with a waitlist that wouldn't stop growing, and walks through what it took to build a team of therapists who actually look like the clients they serve. She also gets personal — growing up in a Mexican border town where mental health wasn't part of the conversation, the trauma that pushed her into social work, and why she believes these conversations need to happen outside the therapy room too. This is the founding story of Colors Out Loud. In this episode: (00:00) Building a room that didn’t exist(01:48) Having a waitlist and what it meant for those who needed a therapist that looked like them(02:31) Scaling from solo practice to a team of 15 clinicians, "who also held marginalized identities"(04:25) Why this podcast exists — getting the work happening behind closed doors out to BIPOC folks who need it most(06:32) Growing up in McAllen, Texas, where "you better buckle up" and rest wasn't an option(08:27) Her path into social work — growing up in a single-parent household with an abusive father(09:37) Here "unfiltered" means: real talk about shame, money, family, faith, and racism in healthcare — "the stuff that gets said in the car afterwards"(12:44) Where to find supportMore from Colors of Austin Counseling: WebsiteInstagramBlogFind a therapist for you in Austin, TX

  6. Trailer

    Welcome to Colors Out Loud!

    Welcome to the Colors Out Loud podcast, where unfiltered mental health conversations happen.  We know that the most useful and life-changing mental health conversations didn't happen in a therapy session. I'm a therapist, but I also know that they usually happen in the car, at dinner, or even at 1 a.m. when you find yourself asking, "Wait, is this normal?" So we wanted to bring those conversations that happen beyond the therapy couch to your ears. Colors Out Loud is for anyone who's ever left a hard conversation wishing they'd said more. The ones holding multiple identities, doing the internal work quietly, and craving mental health conversations that don't feel like a lecture or or a demographic checkbox. If you're BIPOC, in therapy, thinking about therapy, or just tired of wellness content that skips the nuance, Colors Out Loud is for you. Colors Out Loud will drop a new episode every week, so be sure to subscribe or follow the podcast so that you never miss an episode drop.  Can't wait to hang with you beyond the therapy couch  DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for therapy or crisis support. More from Colors of Austin Counseling: WebsiteInstagramBlogFind a therapist for you in Austin, TX

  • 1 Trailer
    5 Episodes

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

COLORS OUT LOUD is for anyone who's ever left a hard conversation wishing they'd said more — the ones holding multiple identities, doing the internal work quietly, and craving mental health conversations that don't feel like a lecture or a demographic checkbox. If you're BIPOC, in therapy, thinking about therapy, or just tired of wellness content that skips the nuance, COLORS OUT LOUD is for you. Hosted by the therapists of Colors of Austin Counseling, this weekly mental health podcast brings clinical insight out of the therapy room and into your ears. COLORS OUT LOUD brings unscripted conversations beyond the therapy couch with a healthy dose of joy, because healing doesn't have to be heavy to be real. Each week, expect a mix of solo clinician takes, guest interviews, and roundtable conversations on grief, identity, burnout, relationships, and the mental health topics — plus recurring segments like *Ask a Clinician* and *One Next Step*, so you always leave with something to try. DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for therapy or crisis support.

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