I bring evidence-based knowledge to my therapy coupled with personal experience. I believe you will feel comfortable and not judged at all when working with me.

My communication style may be described as lax, as I feel this allows for the client to be comfortable. I pride myself in being allied with LGBTQIA2 and identify as a Black woman.

Feeling stuck in your relationship? Grieving a loss that others don’t seem to understand? Or struggling with anxiety that’s quietly hijacking your day-to-day life? You don’t have to face it alone. I help individuals and couples navigate anxiety, grief, and relationship conflict with compassion, clarity, and direction. My approach is rooted in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and systems-based counseling, which means I don’t just look at symptoms, I help you identify strengths, shift patterns, and build new ways forward. Whether you're in the middle of a crisis or just feeling numb and disconnected, therapy can be a space to reset. I use evidence-based techniques, paired with a healthy dose of empathy and occasional humor, to help clients feel both seen and supported. I believe healing happens when we feel safe enough to be real, and I create an environment that allows just that. Clients often come to me when they’re overwhelmed by relationship tension, family challenges, personal loss, or internal pressure to "keep it all together." Together, let's explore what’s working, what’s not, and what new choices are available to you. I’m licensed in Maryland, Virginia, Florida, and Connecticut, and I offer virtual therapy for busy professionals and couples who want expert support without commuting or rearranging their lives. If you’re ready to move from surviving to thriving, whether in your relationship, your grief, or your inner world, let’s work together to build connection, clarity, and healing. Book a free consultation or visit my website to learn more.

Working with you, alongside you, and for YOU, to take care of the emotional wellbeing that defines YOU. Life can present some difficult challenges. With the right support, these can be an incredible opportunity to grow. I offer deep empathy and active listening skills. I meet you where you are, and assist you in developing strength based techniques that you can use in reaching your goals in a non judgmental environment. I am also offering group counseling and workshops online that will assist you in taking care of your mental health.

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!

Life can present you with difficult situations which are hard to process and move past. These challenges are not on your timeline and affect everything. Having worked in many healthcare settings, I am familiar navigating life-changing events and grief. I understand the territory of encountering loss, coping with trauma, the complexity of the medical system and living with illness. Together we will face any changes, fears, anxiety and emotions you are experiencing, allowing you to gain more grounding and peace. I will work with you from an integrative, holistic approach to determine together what is needed for your coping, healing and self-care.

Psychotherapy can help you claim and enjoy more in your life. We can all use help in finding our way at different times in our lives. You may be ready for more happiness in your life, more satisfaction, creativity, success, confidence, peace, friendships - or greater depth to your relationships. You may not have been able to find it on your own. I have experience, training, compassion and a mindful approach that can help you develop traction on the path that is truly yours. My focus is on helping you develop your ability to see yourself, your circumstances and your challenges with a fresh eye, allowing your to create the changes in your life that you really want. To the work that we can do together, I bring over fifteen years of experience as a psychotherapist, plus a depth of understanding from my experience as a husband and father and from my experience as a firefighter and paramedic. The work that I do is not about being broken or ill; it is about being more alive: * Shifting away from negative anticipation and belief in powerlessness, toward actualizing your own authentic power and vitality * Increasing creativity in your life * Living a life infused with clarity as to the abundance available to you, on place of an expectation of scarcity * Discovering the relief and pleasure in living authentically, honestly, as the "real you" * Feeling your feelings, all of them, more fully and with less fear * Finding the pleasure of taking relationships to a deeper level; enlivening friendships and reinvigorating relationships gone stale * Moving beyond the pain of the past - physical, emotional, spiritual or otherwise; letting go of outdated, limiting ideas or beliefs about yourself and finding joy in being alive. You can do this. We'll work to get you there.

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.

I assist clients that have endured trauma and stress. Are you looking to find relief through compassionate and effective treatment? If you are interested in finding relief from conditions that have affected your mood, your relationships, your work, andor your habits in a negative way, call or email me now. Together, we can walk the path of recovery together until you have reached your imagined destination. Let's work on overcoming intimate partner violence, anger, toxicity, infidelity, addiction, self-hatred, codependency, shame, isolation, fear, neediness, grief, etc... ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

If we could think our way into the life we wanted, we would already be there. But healing and growth is not simply about thinking. It is about attending to our feelings, accepting ourselves where we are, and believing in possibilities. The Four Corners Counseling & Well-being way of therapy, practiced by the founder, Hetty Barnett, and all associates: For Thinking Women (and Men, too): Are you struggling to feel better about yourself and your life? If you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, if your relationships are causing pain or confusion, we can help. We know from hard-earned experience that being an intelligent "over-functioner" does not mean we can easily soothe our emotional pain and create a balanced life. My associates and I can help you tap into your inner wisdom and strength to create the life you desire. For couples on the brink: At Four Corners Counseling & Well-being, we believe that couples deserve a safe space and a competent therapist to help them navigate their relationship, and move beyond problems to possibilities. This work is sacred, and couples who seek our help are doing so not only for themselves, but for the benefit of their children (if there are any), for their families, and for future generations. We have no pre-determined expectation of how a relationship will unfold. We do firmly believe that any work the members of a couple do to speak for their feelings (not from them) and listen to their partner from a grounded sense of self can reap many benefits in the future, no matter what the outcome. People can grow; people DO grow as they work with me. It takes a village to raise a relationship, and we want to be part of that village. Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy: We are trained in IFS, the fastest growing therapy model today. As a clinical treatment, IFS has been rated effective for improving general functioning and well-being. In addition, it has been rated promising for improving phobia, panic, and generalized anxiety disorders; trauma resolution; physical health conditions; personal resilienceself-concept; and depression and depressive symptoms. Internal Family Systems can help clients learn ways to better relate to themselves, and move toward the 8 C’s of Self-Leadership: calmness, curiosity, clarity, compassion, confidence, creativity, courage, and connectedness.

I help individuals with issues such as depression, anxiety, relationships challenges, childhood trauma, stress, and families navigating behavioral issues. I teach my clients communication skills that improve their relationships. Those skills boost my clients' power and voice, as well as their intimacy with their significant others. I rely on a number of approaches, including Gestalt, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, somatic experiencing, and experiential dynamic psychotherapy. I help clients dealing with traumatic stress reduce panic, pain, numbness and hyper-arousal in response to life and relationships difficulties. I combine calming and relationship skills to help children, adolescents, and young adults reduce family discord and ADHD, and increase self-efficacy. I help my clients navigate their behaviors, emotions, cognition, and physiology. I help couples and individuals explore the ways that small changes in attitudes and stances can nurture new ways of feeling, thinking, and being in the world. I help my clients find new solutions so they can connect with a sense of joy and competence.

I understand how heavy life can feel when you’re living with depression or anxiety. You may find yourself stuck in cycles of worry, self-criticism, or exhaustion, unsure how to move forward. I offer a safe, supportive space to slow down, make sense of what you’re experiencing, and begin to reconnect with yourself. My approach is gentle and collaborative. Together, we’ll explore your patterns, thoughts, and emotions that may be contributing to your distress while developing tools to help you find relief and balance. Over time, therapy can help you feel more grounded, confident, and hopeful. Therapy isn’t just about addressing symptoms—it’s about growth, healing, and discovering new possibilities for how you live and relate. It’s a collaborative process that supports you in becoming more present, authentic, and at ease in your life. Therapy with me will provide a compassionate space for you to slow down, reflect, and gain a deeper understanding of yourself. If this sounds like what you are looking for, contact me via email or phone to schedule an appointment today!