Epi#4 Reclaiming What Was Taken Mixed Identity, Family, & the Work

Sometimes the hardest place to belong isn't the outside world — it's your own family. Host Itzel Yagual talks with Lydia Puricelli, a transcultural psychotherapist and advocate whose heritage doesn't sit in one lane: Indian, Punjabi, and Hindu on her mother's side; Irish, Italian, and English on her father's; and from the age of ten, raised inside her stepmother's Mauritian Creole family — a third thread that shaped her as much as either side of her biological line. This episode goes into the realities of colorism and silence inside families, the tangible and intangible costs of reconnecting with heritage after it's been fractured, and why culturally competent mental health support isn't a luxury — it's essential. Lydia also shares how reclaiming heritage doesn't require grand gestures; it happens in small, daily practices. If you've ever felt like belonging had to be rebuilt from scratch, this conversation is for you. 🎧 Also available on Spotify, Amazon Music, and iHeart Share this with someone still doing the work of reconnecting with where they come from. Comment below: what's one small practice that's helped you reclaim a piece of your heritage?