§ · ESSAYS

Essays from the therapist's chair.

Long-form writing on generational trauma, Mexican American masculinity, and the reading list that actually helps. No newsletter hooks. No five-step lists. Written the way I'd say it in the room.

By Francisco Castillo, LMFT Updated · April 2026

07 · Essay 8 min read Fatherhood

Aguántate: what the first year of fatherhood costs the men who were taught not to feel.

Most new fathers look fine for a year. Then the silence they have been storing starts collecting interest. From the therapist chair: what men are actually carrying into fatherhood, and what it costs to keep silence from becoming the family language.

Read essay →
From the series Vol. 03 · Embracing the S.U.C.K. Vol. 05 · The Language That Raised Us
01 · Essay 9 min read Generational trauma

Why generational trauma keeps repeating — and how to read the loop.

The patterns your family runs were installed before you could speak. How inherited coping becomes identity, why willpower alone won't end the cycle, and the first move that actually works.

Read essay →
From the series Vol. 01 · The Generational Algorithm Vol. 05 · The Language That Raised Us
02 · Essay 11 min read Latino masculinity

Mexican American men and the emotional inheritance nobody names.

On machismo, silence at the kitchen table, and what gets passed from father to son when nobody has the vocabulary. A licensed therapist on the specific grammar of Latino masculinity — and what starts to loosen it.

Read essay →
From the series Vol. 02 · Mijo: We Bend, Not Break Vol. 05 · The Language That Raised Us
04 · Primer 6 min read Generational trauma

What is generational trauma?

A plain-language definition. What it is, what it isn't, what the research actually says, and the quiet tells that you might be carrying it without calling it by its name.

Read essay →
From the series Vol. 01 · The Generational Algorithm
05 · Essay 6 min read Inherited patterns

Seven signs you inherited trauma you never asked for.

The tells don't look like trauma from the outside. They look like personality. They look like loyalty. They look like just the way I am. From the therapist chair, the quiet patterns that almost always turn out to be inherited.

Read essay →
From the series Vol. 01 · The Generational Algorithm Vol. 03 · The Relationship Advantage
06 · Essay 7 min read Latino mental health

Generational trauma in Latino families — what it actually looks like.

The research talks about it in general. I'd rather talk about it specifically. On migration, machismo, silence, dichos, and the stories we weren't supposed to tell.

Read essay →
From the series Vol. 02 · Mijo: We Bend, Not Break Vol. 05 · The Language That Raised Us
03 · Reading list 8 min read Books

Books on generational trauma a therapist actually recommends.

Not a listicle. A short, opinionated reading list of the books I hand clients most often, in the order I'd read them — plus a few widely-recommended titles I'd skip.

Read essay →
From the series Vol. 01 · The Generational Algorithm Vol. 06 · The Untrained Therapist