Aging with Purpose and Passion

Healing Through Pain: Blanca Rodriguez on Overcoming Addiction and Abuse

• Beverley Glazer • Episode 116

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In this episode, we dive into the powerful transformation of Blanca Rodriguez, from a life marked by trauma and addiction to one of empowerment, healing, and purpose. Blanca’s journey serves as a beacon of hope for anyone looking to break free from their past and embrace personal growth. Her story emphasizes the vital role of self-care, education, and breaking the silence around mental health.

We’ll explore:
• Blanca’s traditional upbringing and the struggles with self-worth that shaped her early life
• The profound impact of childhood trauma and loss
• How seeking change through massage therapy education became a turning point
• The crucial process of building self-compassion amidst addiction and struggles
• The importance of breaking the cycle of silence surrounding abuse and mental health
• Motivational insights on aging, reclaiming your purpose, and pursuing personal growth
• Empowering messages to help you reclaim your power and seek the support you deserve

This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to transform their life, heal from past wounds, and step into their fullest potential.

If you've enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy #98 and #101 for similar stories of overcoming addiction and trauma.  

And you may also enjoy “Older Women & Friends”  a podcast that dispels the myths and explores the many contributions older women make and the wisdom they have earned. 

Resources:

Blanca Rodriguez 

blanca@woundedhealer.us

http://www.woundedhealer.us https://www.facebook.com/Woundedhealer/1965

https://www.instagram.com/woundedhealer.blancae

https://www.threads.net/@woundedhealer.blancae

https://www.tiktok.com/@woundedhealer.blancae?

 Beverley Glazer:

https://reinventimpossible.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverleyglazer/

https://www.facebook.com/beverley.glazer

GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenover50rock

https://www.instagram.com/beverleyglazer_reinvention/

Schedule a conversation with Bev: https://calendly.com/reinventimpossible/15min

Send us a text

👉 Free checklist to go From Stuck To Unstoppable - to break free of old habits that you want to change

Have feedback or want to be a guest on the show? Contact us at info@Reinventimpossible.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Aging with Purpose and Passion, the podcast designed to inspire your greatness and thrive through life. Get ready to conquer your fears. Here's your host. Psychotherapist, coach and empowerment expert, Beverley Glazer.

Beverley Glazer:

Therapist coach and empowerment expert, Beverley Glazer. What if everything you've been through, every challenge, every scar, every little problem, can become a catalyst to your own transformation? Well, welcome to Aging with Purpose and Passion. I'm Beverley Glazer and I'm a coach and I'm a therapist and I help women achieve the success they know they deserve in their lives and in their careers. And you can find me on reaventimpossiblecom and you can also send me a text which would be in the show notes below. And you can also send me a text which would be in the show notes below. Blanca Rodriguez is the owner and CEO of Wounded Healer and her mission is to help others improve their quality of life, no matter what age they are. From a traditional Puerto Rican home where women were silenced, suffering childhood trauma and years of abuse and addiction, this story will make you rethink what's possible for you. Welcome, blanca.

Blanca Rodrigez:

Welcome. Thank you so much for having me, Beverley. What a joy and an honor for me it is to be here.

Beverley Glazer:

You're going to have a wonderful story to give others. Blanca, you grew up in a traditional Puerto Rican family. Describe what that was like just growing up as a girl back then.

Blanca Rodrigez:

I am the youngest of three siblings and just by being the youngest sibling, it will be always, most of the time, the phrase of oh, she's a little girl, she doesn't understand, and she's a little girl she doesn't know. She doesn't know, and I heard that a little bit too much in my childhood. I come from, of course, a Puerto Rican family. My father and my mother moved to New York City in search for the American dream. This was back in the late 50s, early 60s, and with a lot of hard work and dedication, my father definitely conquered the American dream. He became a business owner, not only for a poncho, but he became an owner of a jewelry store and the building where we used to live at in New York City as well.

Blanca Rodrigez:

And yes, I come from a very traditional Roman Catholic Puerto Rican background of women staying home, attending to the kids.

Blanca Rodrigez:

The men go to work to provide for the family, and most likely it was a world of I have a brother, the world of I have a brother.

Blanca Rodrigez:

So my brother was put much more on the pedestal than us girls did and it was a traditional cultural way of being. It was just the way we were brought up in those times and definitely I saw my brother is like okay, he is the favorite of the house and I'm the ugly duckling and that really didn't take me to the best path there was, because it took me to a world where my word didn't really matter, where I was shamed, where I was bullied. Here we go again with oh, you're the little girl. She doesn't understand, she doesn't know anything. And I really get to believe in many moments of my life that it was absolutely true and thankfully I was wrong. I definitely discovered who the true essence of myself was later on in life and it took me very dark seasons of my life, going down to very deep, dark rabbit holes, to understand that there is a way out, there is a way to renew my life.

Beverley Glazer:

And before we even go down any rabbit holes, you know, because there are quite a few. Yes, there was this little girl that didn't have a voice, absolutely, and you went from Puerto Rico to America. Yes, mm, hmm, what was that transition like?

Blanca Rodrigez:

Oh, absolutely. Well, I was born in New York City and then we moved back to Puerto Rico when I was seven years old, actually. Yes, yes. And then many years later, back in 2003, I moved back to the US. I always knew in my heart that somehow I would end up moving to the US again. I was. I knew that there was so much more for me than staying in Puerto Rico for the rest of my life. And that's when I packed my bags with two little kids and I moved to Florida and even though it was full with rocks, stones, ups, downs and all around it was a rollercoaster ride. It was the best decision that I ever made. I'm very grateful to it to this day and forever grateful.

Beverley Glazer:

For sure, but your mom had to save the family. Your father died when you were eight years old, and that was the reason that she went back to her homeland, so that time of your life must have been so traumatic. You were only a child. You were eight years old, you're eight years old, you're living in America. This is all you knew, you know. And then it's like I have to get out, I have to go back to America. Yeah, and that took so much strength here. You went now back to America with two little children. What happened next?

Blanca Rodrigez:

Well, I was involved in a very codependent, addictive relationship with the father of my kids. We were on and off, we were in and out, we were abusing each other, literally. He was a drug addict until the day he died. I have an addictive personality. I had many issues with drugs and alcohols during my younger years, my 20s and my younger years, my twenties and my thirties. And when my kids came to my life, I really didn't give life to them. They really brought me back to life and they really gave me another chance to make it better for myself and for them and to realize that my life had a bigger purpose than the one of being everybody's victim and falling over and over into that redundant, vicious cycle of being everybody's victim, pity party, low self-esteem, feeling sorry about myself for everything and it was time for a change, definitely.

Blanca Rodrigez:

And that the start of my adult life in the US it was full with bumpy roads? Oh yeah, absolutely, because I was in an addictive in a house plague with domestic abuse and addictive personalities, which was my ex-partner and myself as well. But the miracle came of me walking away. No, I didn't walk away. I ran away, actually, from this environment and I understood that there was something much better in my life, and that was discovered through the form of becoming a licensed massage therapist. That I was. That, that was yeah.

Beverley Glazer:

Yeah, what was that turning point? Cause that's so important. I mean you're going through addiction and I'm that's so important. I mean you're going through addiction and I'm glad you mentioned that, because I mean, what you said was exactly the kind of thing I hear from so many many women. You know, I'm caught in this cycle. I want to get out. I want to get out for the sake of my children. I want to get out for the sake of my children. I want to get out for the sake of Very often they don't even say for the sake of myself, because you feel so worthless. And so it's like wow, what was that turning point that said there has to be something better for me. When you were abused throughout your childhood, you weren't worth it. And now, in your marriage, you're not worth it and you're telling yourself I'm not worth it Every time you take the drugs and alcohol. What was that?

Blanca Rodrigez:

turning point? Yes, definitely. I grew up in an environment of violence. My father was killed violently, my mother had chronic untreated mental illness and she was a very violent woman as well. So I was going through this generational trauma and I was the next generation of going through violence, abuse, et cetera, et cetera. And when I went to school for massage therapy, I wanted to.

Blanca Rodrigez:

When I, when I moved to from Puerto Rico to the U S, I decided that I wanted a total change in my life and it started with going back to school for something that really meant, something important to me, that gave, that will give me more purpose in life.

Blanca Rodrigez:

Because I was a secretary and I wasn't fulfilled with that profession. It was like, okay, I had a job, but I wasn't happy with my job. So, at 38 years old, with two kids involved in a home plague with domestic abuse, I went back to school and it was the biggest blessing that I had in my life because it taught me a lot about mind, body and spirit. It taught me a lot about looking at life with a different lens and it was the door that I really needed to see that I opened, and it was a big. I mean, to this day. It's one of the big, the best investments I have ever done, because when we are going go in student mode, there's a big investment that we can do on ourselves, and going through my massage therapy school really helped me change my mindset and understand that, yes, I got these two kids to live for, but if I want them to be in a better environment, they got to start with me. And yeah, oh, that was a catalyst there for me. Yes, absolutely.

Beverley Glazer:

Absolutely. How did you develop that self-compassion? You know people were telling you you're not worth it, you're just that girl. You know your husband, the abuse and all this. Like yeah, it's for you. How do you develop that self-compassion after being battered for so many years?

Blanca Rodrigez:

Yes, definitely.

Blanca Rodrigez:

It started with when I was in school for massage therapy, I was introduced to other students that we were in the same mindset.

Blanca Rodrigez:

I was I mean, so to speak, I was one of the oldest, the older generation, because I went back to school at 38 years old and everybody was in their 20s Young, intelligent people, that go-getters. They knew what they wanted. I said, hey, I have always something to learn from someone, no matter what age they are, and I mean they were a huge inspiration for me to say, okay, I am not doing this for anybody, I'm doing this for myself, and it was the door that I really needed to open so I could step in and start discovering other things within the massage therapy industry, because it's not only about taking care of the patients. It started with taking care of myself as well. So that was the beginning of something really beautiful, this beautiful journey that it takes me all the way to this day and for many years to come, and you built a successful business Absolutely, and that successful business really helps others, and that's your mission today.

Beverley Glazer:

Yes, how did your own experiences influence that?

Blanca Rodrigez:

My own experiences. I didn't even know that life will take me to this path, definitely. But all of these experiences, all of this darkness, all of the seasons of being of feeling neglected, rejected, having a mother that unfortunately she was emotionally unavailable in my life because she was dealing with so many demons, all the silence that I endured for so long, all the silence that my poor mother endured with chronic, untreated mental illness there was the days that mental health was never spoken of, it was demonized. And all of these experiences that I know where all of this comes from and where it is today. This is my inspiration.

Blanca Rodrigez:

This is my biggest inspiration, because I saw it firsthand, not only with my mother but with many family members, that they had mental illnesses and it was the era of one size fits all and one pill fits all, and the pill was a horse tranquilizer because they were either zombies or they were out of I mean, they were out of whack. And there was never a happy medium of let's have a prosperous life even though there's mental health issues going on. That was non-existent. And to fast forward all the way to this day and see that you can have mental health challenges but you can still be productive, you can still have a harmonious life, still have a joyful life. It's a beautiful thing to see, so that definitely is my biggest inspiration for what I'm doing today.

Beverley Glazer:

You also co-authored a book. Yes, what was the mission in that?

Blanca Rodrigez:

The mission with my book was getting out of my shell and speaking up, breaking my own silence. Yes, I broke a huge cycle of silence when I wrote this chapter on my book. It was 45 years of silence, 45 years of not even my closest friend knowing what was I mean deep within myself, the biggest secrets that I have, all of these situations that took me down to many rabbit holes, all the numbing because, let's face it, you know, I know from experience that all of my drug and alcohol abuse was because I wanted to numb myself, I wanted an escape and it was always an escape because that was what I was always doing and I was so-called functional, because I still went to school, I still had a profession, I had a house, I had an apartment and that was the facade. I had a facade that I had it all put together, but underneath it was all the sorrow, it was all the suffering, it was all this trauma that was never dealt with, because and that side of me definitely it is to be used as inspiration, because if I got out of that hole, of that cave that I saw a never-ending darkness for so long, it was not only through my massage therapy career.

Blanca Rodrigez:

I went to counseling, I seek support and then I really braved up and I started writing a chapter and I said it all and it has been one of the most liberating growth experiences of my entire life and I'm grateful for the investment and I didn't know how far this investment will take me. And no, this, this, definitely this book making money out of it was never in my mind. It was so much powerful than that. It's so much more profound than that and definitely I said it all. My brother read it, my sister read it and they were like why didn't you say anything? And like why was I going to say anything? We grew up in an environment of you don't say anything, you don't talk about the dead, you don't talk about suffering, you don't talk. You got to keep this space. You got to keep on going and keep on going, and that's what we grew up with.

Speaker 1:

It's like I didn't know any better, but I do know any better.

Blanca Rodrigez:

I do a lot more better now, and it's a beautiful thing. I'm grateful, grateful for the lessons.

Beverley Glazer:

And what would you tell someone who feels that they're just too old or they suffered too much to have a purpose? What would you tell them?

Blanca Rodrigez:

So don't let age define who you want to be. It's never late for a new start. I started I mean my real schooling started when I was 38 years old and I'm still a student to this day. I am studying to be a neuroscience coach right now, and besides my massage therapy career, besides my fitness career, besides everything else that I do, don't let the dark seasons define the rest of your life. There is this powerful speaker. His name was Jim Rohn and he used to say the wounds are not our fault, but the healing is our responsibility. It's the biggest responsibility that we have, and the biggest investment that we have is the one for ourselves. And it's a beautiful thing to say. It's like wow, there's a lot of growth going on in there, no matter in my 40s, in my 50s, in my 60s, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what age we are. There's always a new opportunity for us to progress, because life is about progress, not perfection.

Beverley Glazer:

Thank you. Thank you, Blanca. Blanca Rodriguez is the owner and CEO of Wounded Healer. Her mission is to help others improve their quality of life, no matter what their age. She is an Amazon bestselling book author, a holistic life coach, motivational speaker, an educator and so much more. Here are some takeaways from this episode. Reinvention is not about becoming yourself. It's only about becoming yourself and not only about looking to someone else. Be yourself. To discover who you are, you must connect with your core values. It's right there. That's who you are, and healing, whether it's physical, emotional or spiritual, require both courage and self-love. If you're relating to this story, please take a moment and reflect on how you can reclaim your own power, whether it's through small acts of self-care, seeking support or simply just shifting your mindset towards healing and change. For similar episodes on trauma and addiction, please check out episodes 98 and 101 on Aging with Purpose and Passion. And, Blanca, where can people find?

Blanca Rodrigez:

you? Yes, absolutely. My website is wwwwoundedhealerus and you can find me on all social media platforms Instagram and Facebook woundedhealerblancae.

Beverley Glazer:

Perfect, because all these links also, if you didn't catch them, they're all going to be in the show notes and that's going to be on right below this episode, and on my site too, which is reinventimpossiblecom. And now, my friends, what's next for you? Are you just going through the motions or are you really passionate about your life? Get weekly self-coaching tips to empower you through your journey, and that link will also be in the show notes below. You can connect with me, beverly Glazer, on all social media platforms and in my positive group of women on Facebook that's Women Over 50 Rock, and if you're looking for guidance in your own transformation, I invite you to explore reinventimpossiblecom. I want to thank you for listening. Have you enjoyed this conversation? Please subscribe so you don't miss out on the next one, and send this episode to a friend. And always remember that you have only one life, so lead it with purpose and action, and action.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for joining us. You can connect with Bev on her website, reinventimpossiblecom and, while you're there, join our newsletter subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Until next time, keep aging with purpose and passion and celebrate life.