Exploring Life & Business with Aixa Fretts Mulero of Bilingual Counseling of Florida

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aixa Fretts Mulero.

Hi Aixa, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story began in 2017 when I decided to move from Puerto Rico to Tampa due to Hurricane Maria, which was category five and devastated Puerto Rico. Facing the difficult situation, the desire to live in Tampa and help Hispanic population, all of these led me to be the founder of Bilingual Counseling of Florida, LLC (BCF).

I grew up in Puerto Rico with my mom, grandma, aunts and two siblings. I had a lovely childhood. I was loved.

My experience has been as a Doctor in Psychology and Consulting, I completed my bachelor’s degree in Social Science, a master’s degree in Psychology and Human Resources and a Doctorate degree in Psychology. I completed my Postdoc in Tampa, Florida.

As a professional, I worked over five years at the Health Professionals Board in Puerto Rico. I also worked for ten years in the Government of Puerto Rico in different positions.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As a psychologist, I recognize the importance of the acculturation process that the Hispanic population goes through when we leave our countries of origin or when we are born and/or raised in the US by Hispanic parents. I also recognize the therapeutic alliance that develops when we are receiving services in an environment that identifies us as a culture. For this reason, I was committed to providing high-quality psychological services at an affordable cost such.

It was hard to make Bilingual Counseling of Florida, LLC possible. I was committed to provide affordable prices to the Hispanic population so that they could have mental health services but the operational costs, among others, was so hard. But the doors kept opening until offering affordable prices to the Hispanic population was possible. We currently participate in television programs in Tampa helping the Hispanic population with mental health issues.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
In Bilingual Counseling of Florida, LLC, our client focus are children, teenagers, adults and elderly. We provide individual therapy, couples therapy, family therapy and premarital counseling.

We specialize in helping individuals with depression, anxiety, divorce, grief, low self-esteem, ADHD/ADD, domestic abuse, behavioral issues, anger management, parenting, family and marital issues.

We have provide Psychological Evaluations for Transplant Clearance, In Vitro Fertilization, Pre-Adoption, Bariatric Surgery, Gender Affirmation Clearance, Emotional Support Animal. Psychometric evaluations (Intelligence test ), gifted testing, Psycho-educational Evaluation for a student’s cognitive, academic, and socio-emotional functioning.

Any big plans?
BCF’s future plans are to offer mental health services not only to people who speak Spanish and English but also to people who speak Portuguese.