Today we’d like to introduce you to Antonio Hernandez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a former school psychologist and director of special education. During my time working in schools, I quickly realized that there was a huge gap in services and representation. Together with my wonderful wife, we set out to create an environment that covered all the areas that we found healing in- culture, community, creativity, and mind-body connection. My wife brings her rich Filipino heritage alongside my ties to my Mexican roots, and we also each bring our own experiences with mental health diagnoses. We signed our lease in January of 2021 and went through the licensing process, which took us about 6 months. We had our grand opening in July of that year, and we were finally licensed in August. Soluna Wellness is a primary mental health, holistic outpatient program. We are licensed by the state of California and address mental health through a holistic lens.
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?
It has not always been a smooth road for us. After about 4 months of being open we got a phone call December 12, 2021, 8:57 am. Our building was on fire… Smoke coming out the windows, the street closed down with more than 5 fire trucks, our dreams went up in flames. The reason I share this is because this is part of the fabric that makes Soluna Wellness. We had a decision to make. It was far easier to let Soluna Wellness go after the fire, quite frankly many people shared that they expected us to, but we had a story to tell. Before the fire, we personally understood how mental health can affect your decision-making and interactions with the world. After the fire, we understood that we were going to continue because of the amount of support we received from our community, both from people we knew and people we hadn’t met before. They believed in our mission. We had a decision to make, so we met with friends, family, mentors, prayed a lot before deciding to continue. We have had tons of hurdles that seemed impossible to overcome, but our community lifted us up to be able to step over the obstacles. We have now been open for a year and a half in our current location in Hillcrest. Since we reopened, we have received a national accreditation by the Joint Commission, which is the golden standard for our field. In addition, we have become in network providers for many of the major health insurance companies but more than anything, we have been able to continue helping people. We are thrilled to continue sharing our success stories from our clients and look forward to helping more people. If you, or anyone you know have mental health concerns, check out our website, social media or give us a call. Aqui estamos para serverless.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Soluna Wellness is unique outpatient program that specialize in a holistic approach to wellness. We are the first of its kind in San Diego! We approach mental health through the connection of mind and body, creativity, culture, and community. This means that we are able to support clients’ mental wellness journey through art, yoga, sound healing, meditation, creative writing, lyric analysis, nutrition/wellness as well as individual therapy, group therapy, case management, and more! Our multidisciplinary team specializes in supporting individuals with mild to severe mental illness and co-occurring behaviors., including major depressive disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), ADHD, ADD, dissociative disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). We advocate for the underrepresented community suffering from these mental conditions to receive the same quality and length of care previously only reserved for substance abuse disorders. Healing from mental illness takes time. However, when it is done correctly with a caring staff of professionals, the positive effects reverberate and spread throughout the community. Our goal is to come together as a community to heal. Let’s make a better tomorrow for ourselves and our future.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Nobody knew how much the pandemic would affect everyone’s mental health. With a spike in anxiety, depression, stress, and trauma-related incidents, we knew that we had to make an impact in the community in regards to mental health, and fast. With such uncertainty of when the world was going to reopen, many of us had to rely on others and seek for help in the community. To see all the support being offered around us to family, friends, neighbors and strangers, we knew that we wanted to make just as a big of an impact in the underrepresented community. During the crisis, we learned how huge of an impact the community around had to those we loved and cared for, and for some, strangers. So, it was easy for us when we decided to implement “Community” as one of the 4 C’s into Soluna’s mission. Here, we strive to make a difference while supporting the underrepresented through the connection of mind and body through community, culture, and creativity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://solunawellness.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solunawellness.sd/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-hernandez-a2315b215
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@soluna.wellness
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/soluna-wellness-san-diego?osq=soluna+wellness
- Other: TikTok: @solunawellness.sd
Image Credits
Mitzi Martinez
