The therapist who's lived the pattern.
High-school dropout. Twenty years in the U.S. Navy, retired a Chief Petty Officer. Licensed marriage and family therapist. Author of six books on generational trauma, masculinity, and Latino identity — including an International Impact Book Award winner. If your stage, show, or audience needs someone who's done the work and holds the license, let's talk.
From the engine room to the therapist's chair.
Audiences don't need another expert reading slides. They need someone who's been on both sides of the pattern — and can name it in clinical language.
Hollister, California
Left high school without a diploma. Enlisted in the U.S. Navy young — carrying every rule about manhood he'd been handed.
Twenty years at sea
GED, then a B.S. in Psychology, then a master's — earned on active duty, one deployment at a time.
The license
Retired as a Chief Petty Officer in 2019, completed clinical hours, and opened a private practice in Hawai'i as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist — working with veterans, couples, and Latino families.
The work now
Six books, an award, a TV segment, and a growing body of work on one idea: the emotional code families run on can be rewritten.
Four conversations I'm built for.
With clients, audiences, and readers, it's always the same central question: what gets passed down, how do we recognize it — and what do we do once we see it?
Inherited emotional patterns
Why families run on software installed long before we were born — and how to rewrite it in one generation. Draws on The Generational Algorithm and the DECODE method.
Masculinity, vulnerability, and Latino identity
Fathers, sons, and the language we were taught about being men. From Mijo: We Bend, Not Break and The Language That Raised Us.
Relationships without performance
How couples stop running inherited scripts and start writing something honest. Grounded in clinical work with hundreds of couples.
From the Navy to the therapist chair
Dropping out, twenty years at sea, and finding the work at 40. A strong fit for veteran, mental health, and education audiences.
See how it plays on camera.
A 16-minute segment with Emmy Award–winning broadcaster Logan Crawford on inherited emotional code and the 90-day plan for rewriting it.
What readers say back.
This book didn't tell me I'm broken. It helped me understand that I'm patterned — and that patterns can be changed.— Shipra Arora · ★★★★★ Goodreads
I felt seen. It wasn't asking what's wrong with me. It was asking what I learned to survive.— Shannon D. · ★★★★★ Goodreads
A blueprint for ending cycles — one aware choice at a time. It refuses to assign blame, and that's its quietest power.— AuthorHood · ★★★★★ Goodreads
Francisco doesn't just talk at you, he talks to you. A manual for breaking chains.— Jessica Miller · ★★★★★ Goodreads
Three doors. One inbox.
Speaking & keynotes
Keynotes, workshops, and panels for organizations that want the pattern named plainly.
- Veteran & military organizations
- Universities & educators
- Mental-health & community orgs
- Workplaces & leadership teams
Podcasts & media
A guest who arrives prepared — one-liners, fast facts, and pre-drafted questions on request.
- Home studio · Riverside, Zoom, SquadCast
- English & Spanish interviews
- TV-tested · Spotlight Network segment
- Hawai'i Standard Time (UTC-10)
Private work
A limited number of private engagements — for men, couples, and families doing the generational work in earnest.
- Serious inquiries only
- Begins with a short email conversation
- Fit and availability decided together
The practical details.
Tell me about your room.
The form goes straight to my inbox. Booking on a deadline? My team's direct lines: speaking — andrea@chavezpr.com · press — stephen@chavezpr.com.
Thank you.
Your message reached the inbox. I answer most within a week — if it's time-sensitive, follow up by email or Instagram and I'll move it up the stack.