She was born and raised in Madrid, the daughter of an American father, from Washington D.C., and a Spanish mother, from Madrid. Her family history has always been marked by the encounter between two cultures: her paternal grandfather, an American military serviceman, met her Sevillian grandmother in Spain during his time at the American military base in Torrejón. Her entire paternal family, except for her father, who built his life in Spain, is settled in the USA.

For this reason, from a young age, travelling to the United States was not simply “going on holiday” for her, but rather returning to an important part of her history. Summers there meant reuniting with her American family, living with other customs and another way of relating to others. She remembers with special affection the 4th of July celebrations watching fireworks by the lake, the days spent wakeboarding and doing other outdoor activities. They were special, intense and highly anticipated summers, because they were also the time of year when she could be close to her family.

During her childhood, she also participated in Camp Hidden Meadows, in Virginia, with its campfires at night, s’mores with toasted marshmallows, songs around the fire, archery, climbing, capture the flag and living alongside children from different places, cultures and ways of being. In that environment, she learned something that she keeps very present today: when a safe space is created, differences stop separating people so much and people can meet from a much more human place.

At the age of 9, during one of those camps, she lived an experience that she remembers with special affection. She felt homesickness, with that mixture of sadness, fear and longing that can appear when one is far from home, from family and from what is familiar. The support of a camp counselor helped her calm down, feel accompanied and be able to enjoy herself again. Over time, Paloma has understood that it was there that one of the first seeds of her vocation was planted: discovering the value that a person who listens, accompanies and helps someone go through a difficult moment can have, without judging or minimizing what the other person feels.

Growing up between Spain and the United States also allowed her to become closely acquainted with the feeling of not fully belonging to a single place. Paloma has felt deeply connected to both cultures, but she has also lived that experience of feeling “different” in different contexts. One anecdote that she finds amusing is how people have often assumed that her red hair came from her American side, when in reality it comes from her Spanish family. For her, this type of experience reflects something very human: how sometimes others read us from a previous idea, a label or an assumption, without yet knowing our full story.

At the age of 16, she completed an academic year at John Champe High School, in Virginia, United States. She was offered the opportunity to move from sophomore year to junior year, and that experience allowed her to become very clearly aware of the differences between both educational systems. She was struck by a more experiential way of learning, the organization of subjects, the closer relationship with teachers and the importance of sports as an element of unity. She especially remembers the atmosphere of the football games supporting her team, the Knights, the energy of the school, the sense of belonging that was generated around the team and the fact of beginning the mornings reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, something that made her become aware of the very intense relationship that existed with national identity and community.

Living far from her family and friends, adapting to another culture, creating bonds from scratch and learning to manage in a different environment was an important challenge. It was also an experience that helped her gain autonomy, maturity and confidence. That stage awakened in her a very sensitive view towards adaptation processes, life changes, loneliness, the need to belong and the effort many people make to find their place.

Later, during her university years, Paloma studied Psychology and Criminology at Universidad Pontificia de Comillas and completed a semester at the University of South Florida, in Tampa. There, she immersed herself once again in her second culture, but from another life stage and in a very multicultural university environment. She lived with and created bonds with people from different countries, cultures and stories, and was able to observe how the environment, family, culture and previous experiences profoundly influence the way each person relates, expresses distress and faces their difficulties.

This interest in understanding the person within their context later led her to train in Systemic Therapy. This perspective occupies a very important place in her way of working. For Paloma, psychological distress does not appear in isolation, but within a network of bonds, experiences, learning, expectations and significant relationships. For this reason, in therapy she is not only interested in “what symptom appears”, but also in what story lies behind it, what function it serves, what relationships sustain it and what the person needs in order to begin relating to themselves and to others in a healthier way.

Throughout her clinical career, Paloma has worked with people going through very diverse difficulties, such as anxiety, depression, emotional regulation problems in the context of borderline personality disorder, self-esteem problems, work-related burnout, emotional regulation difficulties, stress, addictions, couple conflicts and family difficulties.

A particularly important part of her professional journey has taken place at Proyecto Hombre. Working in addictions taught her that a substance does not appear simply “just because” nor is it maintained only by a lack of willpower. Many times it serves a function: calming, numbing, avoiding, belonging, regulating an unbearable emotion or surviving a story that has not been able to be processed in another way. Hence the importance of asking, regarding the substance, “what purpose it serves”, “what pain it is trying to manage” and “what alternatives the person needs to build in order to live in a different way”.

In her work with couples, Paloma places great importance on creating a safe space in which both people can feel heard, without therapy becoming a trial or a search for blame. She is interested in helping couples understand what is activated in each person, what needs are not being expressed and what patterns repeat themselves again and again, even when both wish to do better. She considers it essential to be able to open conversations that are often difficult or uncomfortable, such as sexuality, desire, boundaries, intimacy, parenting, family expectations or cultural differences.

As a family therapist, Paloma works with special care so that each member can feel comfortable, respected and allowed to show vulnerability. She knows that many families come to therapy with issues they have been avoiding for a long time, or with the feeling that talking may hurt, generate conflict or break a fragile balance. For this reason, her goal is to create a space where difficult conversations can be addressed in a contained, respectful and safe way, helping each person express their experience without being singled out as “problematic”.

Paloma does not understand therapy as a rigid intervention or one that is the same for everyone, but as a process that must adapt to the history, pace, resources and needs of each patient. She integrates practical tools, emotional work, exploration of bonds, understanding of relational patterns and strategies oriented towards change, always from a flexible and respectful perspective.

She gives special importance to the therapeutic bond. Paloma firmly believes that asking for help is an act of courage and that therapy can become a space of trust from which to begin a process of change, growth and greater emotional well-being.