Works with
- Anger
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
- Depression
How Maria works
Practical facts
- Credentials
- LMFT
- Licensed in
- California
- Years in practice
- 13
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Session format
- Online, through our partner platform
About Maria
Maria Ward is a licensed marriage and family therapist who focuses on practical help for people managing intense emotions and life changes. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, anger, depression, grief, addictions, relationship strain, parenting challenges, and related concerns. Sessions are offered in English and Spanish.
She draws on 13 years of clinical experience in California to offer straightforward tools and steady support. Maria treats trauma, mood shifts, and coping with transitions by helping clients identify what matters most and build small, usable skills.
Background and approach
She emphasizes the client as the expert in their own life while offering guidance and techniques that fit into daily routines. Maria uses a mix of approaches that aim to change unhelpful patterns and strengthen emotional connection. She helps people notice thoughts and feelings, practice new behaviors, and repair communication in close relationships.
Her work often includes strategies for handling anger, reducing anxiety, and addressing addictive behaviors. Therapy sessions are collaborative and paced to each person’s needs. Maria listens, reflects, and offers concrete exercises to try between sessions.
She supports parents with parenting struggles and people coping with mood disorders, bipolar symptoms, attention challenges, and compassion fatigue. People looking for bilingual care can meet with her in English or Spanish. Her practice accepts international clients and offers phone, video, live chat, and text-based session formats.
Taking the first step to ask for help is framed as an important, courageous move Maria will support.
What Maria works with
Everything Maria lists, in the therapist's own terms. Anger is the reason this directory exists; the rest tells you what usually sits alongside it in Maria's practice.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
- Depression
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Phobias
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Maria lists
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Gottman Method
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Therapeutic approaches and online care that fit your life
Maria blends Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help clients notice unhelpful thoughts, connect with what matters, and choose actions that match their values. ACT focuses on accepting difficult feelings while committing to meaningful behavior changes, which can help with anger, anxiety, and coping with life changes. CBT targets thought patterns and behaviors directly, offering practical exercises to reduce anxiety, depression, and compulsive responses.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. She will listen to your goals and preferences, then suggest techniques from these approaches that match your needs. This is a collaborative process where methods are adapted as progress is made.
Online sessions include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video suits deeper conversations and nonverbal connection, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, live chat can be used for shorter check-ins, and text messaging lets clients share thoughts between sessions. These options help fit therapy into busy schedules and different routines while keeping the focus on consistent, practical progress.
Questions people ask about Maria
What issues does she help people with?
She works with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, anger, depression, addictions, relationship and family concerns, grief, intimacy issues, eating issues, parenting struggles, self-esteem, career stress, bipolar symptoms, ADHD, and related concerns.
What is her therapy style like?
Her approach is collaborative and practical. She combines client-centered listening with tools from cognitive behavioral and acceptance-based work to change unhelpful patterns and build new skills.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 13 years of professional experience working with adults on mood, trauma, addiction, and relationship issues.
Where is she licensed and based?
She is a California licensed marriage and family therapist - LMFT - practicing in California.
Which languages are offered for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English and Spanish, and she accepts international clients who speak those languages.
What session formats does she use?
She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to suit different schedules and needs.
How are fees and payment handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability. Sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Begin by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and then scheduling according to therapist availability.