Dr. Yamalis Diaz (@Dr.Yamalis) is a Clinical Assistant Professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine and a licensed clinical psychologist at the NYU Child Study Center at Hassenfeld’s Children’s Hospital, where she specializes in behavioral therapy for children with ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders. Dr. Diaz also serves as the Department’s Diversity Ambassador, working closely with the Office of Diversity Affairs to develop and disseminate training and recruitment guidelines and practices that will help increase diversity in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and across the medical center. 

Outside of this work, she is also the co-creator and professor of an NYU course titled "Twentysomething" that's dedicated to unpacking the typical American emerging adulthood experience. Introduced to her impact as an educator through Kyra who's a former student of hers, in this episode we have the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Diaz to talk about her experiences, her thoughts on generational differences of emerging adulthood, and any advice she has for current emerging adults. From social media pressure and navigating a wide variety of life choices to imposter syndrome and healing from failure, our conversation includes some tips for navigating this life phase in the 21st century.

More on Dr. Diaz; she received her B.A. with a double-major in Psychology and Sociology, and a Certificate in Criminology, from Rutgers University, New Brunswick and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship and a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Rejection is defined as the dismissal, turning-down, or nonacceptance of a proposal/idea. As human beings, it is not in our nature to actively seek out this feeling because let's be real...rejection sometimes hurts! But what if we were to transform this misconception? What if we tried to actively seek out ways to be rejected within our daily lives? 

Today, we're breaking down the TED Talk "What I learned from 100 days of rejection" by Jia Jiang. By seeking out rejection for 100 days — from asking a stranger to borrow $100 to requesting a "burger refill" at a restaurant — Jiang desensitized himself to the pain and shame that rejection often brings and discovered that simply asking for what you want can open up possibilities where you expect to find dead ends.

How do we find fulfillment? And who is to say that what we do with our lives is meaningful? In this episode centered around the context of Disney & Pixar’s Soul (2020), we break down the concept of self-actualization and the hierarchy of steps we take to get there a.k.a. Maslow’s Theory. And although this is easier said than done, we as twenty-somethings have to meet our basic needs first before we can be driven by passion and purpose.

There's a lot of emotional instability impacting emerging adults right now. Dating doesn't look the same and singles dealing with affection deprivation are confronted with taking a chance or feeling uneasy about their reality, asking "How and when will I be able to build meaningful connections?" and "Am I feeling loneliness or solitude?" On the other hand, some people may want to take advantage of their alone time and work on themselves outside of a relationship or grind culture, asking "How can I learn more about myself and be still in the midst of chaos?" In this episode, Skye and Kyra expand on last week's conversation and share their own experiences while discussing how the pandemic has impacted dating, singleness, and the relationship with self.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to live closer together with some people, further apart from others, or even alone. And this type of isolation impacts us more than we might be able to put into words. There’s a reason why all the technological connections we’ve been making lately still leave us feeling like something’s missing. For some of us, it’s a nice, warm hug. And for others? It’s alone time and leaving people on ‘read’ without feeling guilty. In this episode, we tackle the struggle of maintaining and even confronting relationship dynamics.

Welcome to the first episode of Still Loading! 

Tune in as your hosts Skye Daru and Kyra Williams introduce you to the world of 'Emerging Adulthood.' According to psychologist Jeffrey Arnett, who coined this fairly new life stage, emerging adulthood speaks to the unique challenges of those who are between the ages of 18-29: identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling in-between, and having infinite possibilities. Several studies have shown that people are better equipped to make major life decisions within this age range, yet there is no playbook on how to maximize this period.