Maria Ward

Maria Ward is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 13 years of clinical experience. She focuses on helping people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, mood shifts, trauma and addiction. Maria speaks English and Spanish and aims to make starting therapy feel manageable and clear for each person.

She believes people are the experts on their own lives and brings practical tools to sessions. Maria uses mindfulness practices to help clients notice their thoughts and feelings without getting swept away by them. She also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and attachment-based ideas to help people clarify values and repair important relationships.

Clients can expect straightforward collaboration, listening, and skill-building. Maria often works with parents facing parenting challenges, people dealing with anger, and those navigating grief, intimacy concerns, or life transitions. She outlines small, usable steps so change feels doable between sessions.

Her background includes longer-term clinical work in community and family-focused settings across California. Maria keeps therapy grounded in real-life needs such as managing work stress, improving communication, coping with loss, and addressing addictive patterns. She supports people who want to build steadier routines, clearer boundaries, and stronger connections.

Sessions are offered in English and Spanish. International clients are accepted. To begin, she asks people to complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule an appointment so sessions can be tailored to individual goals.

How therapeutic approaches shape online sessions

Mindfulness Therapy helps people notice thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations in the moment without getting carried away by them. It can be useful for stress, anxiety, and managing mood shifts by training attention and calm focus. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, invites people to clarify what matters to them and take small steps toward those values while learning to live with painful thoughts. This approach is often helpful for depression, anxiety, and life changes. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns affect current connections and communication, and it can be useful when relationship repair or intimacy issues are central.

Finding the right approach is part of the clinical process. The therapist will work collaboratively to learn about goals, needs and preferences. Together you can try different strategies and adjust the focus so sessions stay relevant to your life and concerns.

Practical benefits of online therapy include fitting sessions into a busy schedule and reducing travel time, which can make regular attendance easier. Online work can also allow shorter check-ins or flexible timing around work or caregiving. Because session formats are determined by the therapist and the service, confirm the current session options before booking so you know what to expect.