Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Después de la terapia, noto un cambio emocional positivo en mi vida diaria. - After therapy, I notice a positive emotional change in my daily life.

But when you say “after something,” you normally must say después de + that thing.
So después la terapia and después terapia are ungrammatical here; they’re missing the de.

Why does it say la terapia and not just terapia?

Spanish uses definite articles (el, la, los, las) more often than English, especially:

when talking about general activities that are also countable events:
la terapia, el trabajo, la escuela, el gimnasio
when the context suggests a specific series of sessions (my therapy, the therapy I’m going to)

Después de la terapia suggests:

the therapy I’ve been doing / the therapy sessions I go to.

You could sometimes say después de terapia in very casual speech, but después de la terapia sounds more neutral and standard, and is very natural in Latin American Spanish.

Why is it noto (present tense) and not noté (past) or he notado (present perfect)?

All of these are possible, but the nuance changes:

Noto = I notice / I am noticing (right now, in general, as an ongoing situation)
- Después de la terapia, noto un cambio…
  → In general, since I started therapy, I (now) notice a change.
Noté = I noticed (at a specific moment in the past)
- Después de la terapia, noté un cambio…
  → Right after therapy (or at some point), I noticed a change.
He notado = I have noticed (focus on the result up to now)
- Después de la terapia, he notado un cambio…
  → Up to now, I have noticed a change.

The original noto presents this as a current, ongoing observation about your life, not just a one-time realization.

What is the difference between noto, siento, and me doy cuenta de?

All three relate to perception, but they’re used differently:

noto (from notar) = I notice, I perceive
- Often about something you observe or become aware of.
- Noto un cambio emocional positivo.
  = I notice / I can tell there’s a positive emotional change.
siento (from sentir) = I feel
- More about internal, emotional or physical feelings.
- Siento un cambio emocional positivo.
  = I feel a positive emotional change (I feel different inside).
me doy cuenta de = I realize / I become aware of
- Often a bit more cognitive, like a realization.
- Me doy cuenta de que hay un cambio emocional positivo.
  = I realize that there is a positive emotional change.

In this sentence, noto emphasizes that you perceive or notice this change in your daily life, which fits very well.

Why is it un cambio emocional positivo and not un cambio positivo emocional?

In Spanish, adjectives normally come after the noun, and when you have two adjectives, their order usually goes from more inherent / objective to more subjective / evaluative.

cambio emocional positivo
- emocional: describes the type of change (emotional, not physical, etc.)
- positivo: evaluates that change (it’s good, beneficial)

So the natural order is:

cambio emocional (emotional change – type)
cambio emocional positivo (positive emotional change – evaluation)

Un cambio positivo emocional sounds off; native speakers almost never say it that way.

Could I say just un cambio positivo instead of un cambio emocional positivo?

Yes, but it wouldn’t mean exactly the same thing.

un cambio positivo = a positive change (in general; we don’t know in what area)
un cambio emocional positivo = a positive change specifically in the emotional sphere (my feelings, emotional state, etc.)

The original sentence is more precise: it makes clear that the change is emotional, not, for example, financial or physical.

Why is it en mi vida diaria and not something like de mi vida diaria?

Spanish prepositions work differently from English, even if the English is “in my daily life.”

Here:

en mi vida diaria = in my daily life / in everyday life
- en is used for locations, contexts, spheres:
  - en mi casa – in my house
  - en el trabajo – at work
  - en mi vida diaria – in my daily life

If you said de mi vida diaria, it would suggest something more like “of my daily life,” which doesn’t fit the meaning “in my daily life” here.

So en mi vida diaria is the natural prepositional phrase to express that the change shows up in the context of everyday living.

Are there other common ways to say mi vida diaria in Latin American Spanish?

Yes, some very common alternatives are:

mi vida cotidiana – my everyday life
mi día a día – my day-to-day (very common and colloquial)
mi vida de todos los días – literally “my life of every day”

Examples:

…en mi vida cotidiana.
…en mi día a día.
…en mi vida de todos los días.

All of these would sound natural in Latin America with slightly different style levels (some more formal, some more colloquial), but mi vida diaria is clear and standard.

Why is it un cambio (masculine) but emocional doesn’t change to show gender?

Because:

cambio is a masculine noun → el cambio / un cambio
emocional is an adjective that has the same form for masculine and feminine:
- un cambio emocional (masculine)
- una reacción emocional (feminine)

Adjectives ending in -al, -ar, -ible, -ente, etc. often do not change form for masculine vs. feminine; they only change for singular vs. plural:

singular: emocional
plural: emocionales
- cambios emocionales positivos

Can I move positivo or emocional before cambio, like un positivo cambio emocional?

Grammatically, you can sometimes put adjectives before the noun in Spanish, but this:

un positivo cambio emocional

sounds very literary or rhetorical, not like normal everyday speech.

In normal, neutral Latin American Spanish, you would say:

un cambio emocional positivo (most natural)
un cambio positivo en mis emociones (rephrased)

So for everyday conversation or writing, keep both adjectives after the noun:
un cambio emocional positivo.