Therapy for Anxiety
Are you ready to:
☑️ Clear blocks that prevent you from establishing nourishing self-care routines?
☑️ Mold your inner critic into a compassionate inner coach?
☑️ Learn powerful and sustainable ways to ground your nervous system?
Therapy for Adults
Whether it’s trauma- based or the result of the demands of our personal world, today’s stress levels can be difficult to hold on our own. This stress can lead to memory problems, sleep issues, sexual difficulties, chronic pain, relationship problems and more. Our experiences leave stress in our systems, whether it’s on a psychological and/or somatic level, which is why I use evidence-based, body - oriented approaches such as mindfulness techniques, somatic therapy and brain spotting in addition to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Together as a team we will work on your goals so that you may live a fuller, more empowered life. I’m here to celebrate every step with you and honor the courage you bring to this life transformative work.
Therapy for Children and Teens
In my work with children, I utilize a play-based approach to engage them in the work and help children to increase their ability to express their big feelings. I strive to ensure that children feel comfortable in the therapy environment and while some children can talk openly about their feelings many children have a hard time using words to share how they feel. Together we'll use play to talk about our feelings (or play about our feelings!) in a gentle and subtle way that will make therapy feel fun and encouraging. I also want therapy to be a space that invites caregiver involvement so that they can continue to share their feelings outside of our sessions and throughout their lifetime. With older kids, we may move away from play and more towards talking with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); I help them to look to their existing supports and their loved ones to help them cope with stressful moments in life. I train the family when possible in the “Tool Box” for stress so that the family can learn the same language, making it easier to implement these different coping mechanisms and experience a better supported nervous system.
“Maria possesses a calm and peaceful demeanor that is zen-like. Just talking to her brings a soothing calmness over me. When we met her, her personality and approach gave us hope. Maria has a natural ability to make people feel safe. My daughter has a hard time trusting others and struggles with vulnerability. Yet with Maria, she shared a special connection that allowed her to open up which is what she needed- someone she could really trust and this was sacred to my daughter. Maria was the first person my daughter felt truly safe with. My daughter learned how to better manage her anxiety through therapy. She started talking about her feelings more and got along better with her sister.”
- K.V., Sacramento, California
“Maria worked with both of my children during a time of crisis and then continued to work with them post crisis. She did a great job of connecting and supporting each of the kids in unique ways. In addition to the excellent therapy, I always felt that Maria went above and beyond to make sure that my kids felt exceptionally supported. I definitely observed both short and long term reductions in anxiety in both my children as well as increased self-confidence and ability to deal with challenges. I would highly recommend Maria as a therapist.“
- A.S., Davis, California
“Maria is the only therapist I have ever worked with. I expected the first session to be awkward but it wasn’t because of how Maria explained her therapeutic approach and immediately held space for my feelings. Thanks to therapy, I can now manage stress much better and am able to manage my inner critic in a new way. Working with Maria had a huge impact on my attachment style. My anxious attachment style has changed and now I can have conversations with my husband that are more vulnerable than ever. Even my husband is less avoidant now as a result of these conversations. I also appreciated how Maria let me lead the sessions, providing gentle nudges when I was avoiding difficult topics and goals. Therapy helped me create and commit to better self-care routines that help my self- esteem. Therapy helped me realize how strong I am. It changed my life.”
-A. H. Sacramento, California
“I appreciated Maria’s sense of humor, clarity and flexibility. With Maria’s help, I learned different techniques to better listen to and support my daughter who struggled with anxiety after being bullied at school. Maria and I worked as a team together to boost my daughter’s self-confidence. She is back on campus now after being homeschooled. My daughter will carry Maria’s techniques with her into her future. I would definitely recommend Maria to anyone looking for a therapist.”
-W.O., Brentwood, California
“Our family was going through a difficult time when we started working with Maria. She was able to break down the issues to help my husband, adult children and I understand each other and increase our empathy toward one another. She also provided powerful tools to help de-escalate feelings when triggered by longtime unresolved issues. She is a great communicator, is deeply knowledgeable about the field of psychology and brings deep compassion to her daily practice."
- The Garcia Family , Sacramento, California
“Maria is the queen of fun.”
-R.M., 9 years old, Oakley, California