Today, we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Lee Romero.
Hi Amanda, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hi there! My name is Amanda Romero. I am half Taiwanese (my father is from Taiwan) and half American (my mother is English, Swiss, and French), a mixed bag, so to say. I grew up in Singapore but am originally from Philadelphia, and I am known to be a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan.
Currently, I work as an LMHC in Coral Gables. For those who do not know, that is a fancy way of saying I am a therapist! I started as a therapist over 13 years ago at the University of Miami. I always knew psychology fascinated me; I loved people, but specifically, I loved helping people.
I went through my own mental health struggles in high school after my best friend was killed in a traumatic car accident. Therapy saved my life, quite literally. I was young and in a dark place. After that, I went to college and started to pursue psychology and landed at UM in the graduate program. I finished school, graduated, and started working doing Intensive In-Home Therapy through the court system in Miami. This was a wild time for my career.
Essentially, I worked with the Department of Family and Children on court-ordered cases of abuse and neglect, working to reunite families with their children. As you can imagine, this was an intensive role for a 24-year-old fresh out of graduate school, but I truly loved the position and grew a lot, both professionally and personally, from it.
After about a year in this role, my husband and I found out we were pregnant with our first child. It was then that I decided to move to private practice, more for safety than anything. When I had my second child 2 years later, work definitely took a seat on the back burner. I would see a few clients a week, but the children became the core focus.
Fast forward through COVID, obviously a very challenging time for humanity as a whole, and I ended up divorced and figuring out life. That is a story for another time. However, after my own therapy and journey post-divorce I realized how passionate I am about empowering and uplifting women. Divorce is hard. Marriage is hard.
Motherhood is hard. Being a working mom is hard. No one prepares you for any of it, and most women struggle in silence. Most women feel the pressure to smile and pretend everything is okay, when in reality most women/mothers/wives are not.
I started working again in private practice and have shifted my practice to now focus on working with women to empower themselves. What does that look like? Finding themselves after motherhood, prioritizing themselves, working through marital issues, and so on. I also work with couples to help them work through the inevitable struggles that arise during marriage. If the unfortunate outcome is divorce working through that with them, however, is always the last result.
I truly believe that everyone deserves to be happy, fulfilled, and content with the life they live. No one ever should suffer in silence and settle for a life that doesn’t fill them. I believe that women in society have been taught to be silent and that speaking up or making changes makes them “crazy” or “dramatic.”
The tides are definitely shifting but we still have a long way to go. My goal is to work to empower not only the current women but the future generations to come.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh boy, it definitely has not been a smooth road. Obviously going through a divorce during COVID is no walk in the park. Divorce is not easy; you grieve a death, and it takes a part of you with it. Then figuring out how to create your own business while also being a full-time mom, is far from easy. There were times I was unsure I could do this on my own and make it.
Balancing work with motherhood, all while facing the constant pressures we as women face to be perfect every day. It is exhausting. I think America Ferrera’s quote from Barbie hits the nail on the head perfectly. “It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.”
You have to be thin but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time.
You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged.
So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory, and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.
I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know.” – America Ferrera, Barbie
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work as a therapist, specifically with women and couples. I work on empowering women. Giving them confidence. Giving them the tools to have control in life and create the life they want. Giving them the validation that it is okay to take time for themselves and that it is healthy to do so. Giving them a voice!
I am most proud of the many women I have helped get their power back. When I receive texts or emails expressing their gratitude and then seeing how far someone my clients have come brings me such joy and truly makes me feel so proud of being a part of the process of getting them there.
I think what sets me apart from others is that I have so many life experiences and have lived all over the world that I have a unique ability to find ways to relate to almost everyone I encounter. Which develops a feeling of trust and security. I also practice what I preach- or try to do every day. I am far from perfect, however, I try to be everything I work with my clients.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Empathy and ability to connect: I think my life experiences of growing up all over the world have allowed me to find ways to connect with almost every individual I encounter.
I have never been in a bubble of only living in one place or being exposed to one culture, which really allows me to understand the clients I work with regardless of age, race, religion, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/amanda-lee-romero-coral-gables-fl/207264
- Instagram: @mandsleeromero3
Image Credits
Melissa Guerrero
