If you want to know a little about me: I live in California with my long time partner. I enjoy a foggy morning walk and my cat, Harry, often tries to say hello to my clients in zoom sessions. I genuinely love the peer support coaching work I get to do. It is a privilege and joy to get to collaborate with clients. As a CPTSD survivor myself, I come to this work with decades of experience as both a fellow traveler and as a support professional.

Our work together: Most of my clients initially reach out because they are looking for responsive, compassionate and personalized support around abuse recovery, relational challenges, grief, chronic illness, complex trauma recovery, and/or they are feeling stuck in a specific area of their life. About 1/3 of my clients meet for interim support while on a weeks or months long waitlists for a specialty therapist their insurance covers. About 2/3 of my clients reach out after years or decades of traditional therapy support approaches were not an optimal fit for them. My style is trauma responsive, non-hierarchical, deeply attuned and neurodivergence embracing. I do every thing I can to keep costs accessible to as many as possible. This way we can take our time building trust and then, at a pace that feels ok to you, we can explore and tend to your specific goals. For many who reach out, the traditional 45 min session has not felt great, so here at Vital Journey, we have the option of 60 and 90 minute sessions. We will focus on and personalize session to your specific goals. While I have trained in many modalities and approaches, I find it is best for us to get to know each other in the relational space of sessions and then tailor sessions to your needs and goals. I tend to be a collaborative fit for many who are looking for support around: cptsd, religious trauma recovery, audhd, building toward secure attachment, nervous system care practices, CSA recovery, chronic illness clients and/or people quite understandably existentially struggling with that state of things. I offer both zoom and phone sessions. I am committed to offering financially accessible sessions to as many clients as I can. Community access rates are guaranteed through January 2025. We all get through together.

My professional background: I started as a hospital advocate for survivors of SA in 2010 with Tarrant County’s Women's Center and have been in the work of collaborating with abuse, assault and trauma survivors in various roles since that time. After graduate coursework in counseling theory, counseling skills as well as specialized training in trauma recovery, relational attachment, CPTSD, nervous system care supports, somatic therapy, parts work and more, I began working with clients 1:1. If you want to know more about my formal education, ongoing training and qualifications, I’ve included that information below.

I am happy to answer your questions and I look forward to connecting with you.

Warmly, Maria