Hi! I’m Stephanie Abrenica. I studied nursing at Dominican University of California and continued and completed my Masters in Health Administration at University of Southern California. I am currently a registered nurse at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland and Nursing Supervisor at Bay Area Healthcare Center. I am a registered nurse, mental health advocate, and survivor who believes healing is both personal and collective.

My journey into nursing was shaped not only by clinical training and education, but by lived experience—and by growing up in a culture where mental health was rarely named, discussed, or validated. In many Filipino families, emotional pain is often minimized, spiritualized, or dismissed altogether. You’re taught to be strong, grateful, and resilient, even when you’re hurting. I know firsthand how deeply that silence can impact someone who is struggling and how isolating it feels when your pain isn’t seen or understood. That experience fuels my commitment to advocacy, education, and compassionate care.

As a nurse, I’ve seen the gaps in our healthcare system: where people fall through, where stigma replaces support, and where silence does real harm. As a survivor, I’ve also seen what’s possible when we replace judgment with empathy and information with empowerment.

This space exists to remind survivors that they are not broken, not alone, and not defined by what they’ve endured. It’s for survivors who were never given the language for what they were feeling, and for those who were taught to endure instead of heal. My goal is to help bridge clinical knowledge with real-life understanding, creating conversations that are honest, accessible, and rooted in hope. I also aim to create a space where mental health is acknowledged, respected, and humanized.

Mental health awareness isn’t just my profession—it’s my purpose. And advocacy, to me, means standing beside others as they reclaim their voice, their strength, and their sense of self. In addition, advocacy means challenging silence, honoring our stories, and reminding others—especially within our own communities—that seeking help is not weakness, but courage.