I strive to create a space where clients feel accepted and understood, no matter their thoughts, feelings, or experiences. My goal is to provide a safe and supportive environment.

I create a comfortable and casual environment while we discuss some of the most challenging concerns you bring to therapy.

Are you uncertain about your relationship? Perhaps trust has been broken, feelings have shifted, or another connection is calling your attention. These doubts can feel overwhelming, isolating, and confusing. Take a step today—explore your feelings, clarify your values, and navigate your decision-making process. Begin your path to insight, peace, and understanding. You don’t have to face this alone.

It can be daunting to make the decision to reach out and contact a therapist. Just by doing this, you are already taking the first step towards reaching your goals. Whether you are seeking counseling for yourself or for your child, taking the initiative can be scary. I work to create a positive and supportive environment in order to alleviate some of those fears. I believe that therapy should not be a space where you have to worry about being judged. As a counselor, I believe it is my role to give you unconditional positive regard. This doesn’t mean that I will never challenge you or give you a dose of reality, but instead that I will never judge you for simply being who you are. Going to therapy and opening up to a stranger can be scary, but together we can work towards getting you to where you want to be. In addition to individual and couples work, I also work with preteens, teens, and their families to develop effective communication while also focusing on your teen’s growth, identity development, thoughts, and emotions. Being a teenager can be an exciting, confusing, and scary time. The support of a trained therapist allows for a safe, nonjudgmental space for teens to process life's hardships, learn more about who they are, and gain the skills they need to navigate the future. I believe that empathy and building the therapeutic relationship is the biggest factor in the work we can do together. While I bring a person-centered approach and mindfulness into almost all of my sessions, I don’t believe therapy is one-size-fits-all. This means that I will always take into account individual situations and preferences to make sure our time together is focused on your or your teen’s unique needs and goals. I am trauma-informed, LGBTQIA+ allied, sex-worker allied, and multi-culturally focused.

Searching for a therapist to guide you on your journey towards healing, change, and empowerment can be time-consuming and daunting. Everyone has the right to quality and affirming care, and that starts from the first moment you reach out to me. I will strive to always provide a safe, open, and non-judgmental atmosphere that will foster the positive therapeutic alliance needed to help you achieve your goals. My approach is not one-size-fits-all, and I only see a limited number of clients, which allows us the opportunity to set a focus and the pace you require along your path.

Our world continues to change, with its weight sometimes growing overwhelming and crushing. You are not alone. Together we’ll explore your feelings & thoughts while comprehending patterns in your history and life experience that have shaped you up to this moment. We’ll find a new space that feels more authentic, free, and connected through this work. We’ll manage and reduce your feelings of anxiety, depression, and other distressing thoughts. It is never too late to take control and redefine yourself in a controlled, safe, and open place. Whether this is your first time or you've decided to return to therapy, this is a strong data-backed investment into yourself and your future. You’ve already taken the first step by searching for a therapist. While reaching out to me can be difficult and anxiety-provoking, it can also empower, potentially defining the next chapter of your life. After advanced psychoanalysis training in NYC, I moved to Washington, DC, where I've lived and worked for over eight years with a broad and diverse variety of patients just like you. Together we'll create a space in which you’re fully heard and seen, where we start the process of uncovering exactly how you show up in your life. Thank you for taking the time.

Are you experiencing a wide range of emotions? Are you going thru a difficult transition at this time in your life and find it hard to get your needs met? These experiences can cause anxiety and or depression. Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who can give you some much-needed empathy, offer some insight and and relate to what you are going through. I am willing to guide you through the storm and assist you with finding some peace of mind. I am a Psychotherapist specializing in transition issues, anxiety, depression, and relationship conflict, as well as codependents involved in a narcissistic relationship. My philosophy is to meet my clients where they are using an eclectic approach and to help them understand their behavior patterns, gain insight into their past and current challenges and help them feel empowered in their daily life. I am also a Life Coach focusing on transformation, self-esteem and self-sabotage, mind-body balance and productivity. Change is hard. Chronic stress can sneak up on you. I've been there too. If you are feeling overwhelmed or unsure of the next step to take, don't hesitate to reach out for a lifeline. You don't have to stay anxious and or depressed. Therapy and coaching have been around for a long time. An abundance of clinical research shows they are a proven method of helping to create change, positivity and, most importantly, a meaningful life.

If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with one of our therapists, please use the contact form on our WEBSITE www.imaracounseling.com and a member of our intake team will be in touch with you within 24 business hours. Unlike many other practices you reach out to, we will respond and do our best to schedule you with someone who can assist you.

I offer compassionate counseling services that help you to access greater wellness and connection in your life. I enjoy supporting my clients in navigating a range of life stages and transitions. I believe deeply in the healing role of an authentic and warm therapeutic relationship. I have a passion for helping my clients to gain new levels of insight, collaborating around creative and compassionate ways to address personal and professional concerns, facilitating a safe space to explore important identities and cultural experiences, as well as supporting my clients' development of healthy relationships with others that can foster long-term growth. If you have any questions about my practice, I am happy to answer! Please don't hesitate to reach out and we can schedule a brief consultation to determine possible fit in working together.

Be the best version of yourself. Through our partnership, I work with you to start living your best life now. 2025 is the year for you to explore, experience, and embrace the BVOY. Becoming the best version of yourself 'BVOY' is within your reach. An awareness that you deserve to live a life filled with purpose and being the BVOY is step one. The next step is unpacking your baggage and identifying, exposing, and working through your stuck points. Stuck points manifest in many ways, such as negative self-talk, self-doubt, self-sabotage, depression, anxiety, anger, stress, unresolved grief and loss, fears, and holding on to past hurts, disappointments, or toxic relationships. The BVOY is within you.

Hello, I'm Maria, a marriage and family therapist trained to help you and your relationships thrive. Couples you are my specialty! I have advanced training to help you with any type of problem you may be facing. I have 20 years of experience in helping people heal both relationally and individually. I graduated from Virginia Tech, where there was an on-site clinic and the best training for resident students. My approach is through a systemic and attachment perspective. I specialize in marriage and couples counseling, and have advanced training in emotion focused therapy, which is recognized as one of the most effective approaches to resolving relational distress. I also work with families and individuals to help reach the goals you want for yourself so that you can achieve inner healing, process attachment wounds and learn how to live a healed and prosperous life. I am also trained in cognitive behavioral therapy, solution focused therapy, emotions focused individual therapy, and internal family systems. I am a board-approved clinical supervisor and I help other therapists on their journey of becoming a professional, clinical therapist. I understand how difficult reaching out for help can be and how hopeless or fearful you can be. Help is here. Reach out for a free consultation to see if I'm the right fit for you. I can't wait to meet you!

It's time now to genuinely feel and function better. In order to do that, it's essential to pay close attention to your internal responses to the difficulties and patterns that have been cropping up in your closest relationships, your work, and with respect to your own self-concept, and to do so with someone who can help you see things differently and perhaps more accurately. Together, we will create an open, accepting, safe space, where you also will feel helpfully and persistently challenged to know yourself much better from the inside out, and as quickly as possible.