Maria Ward, LMFT

Maria Ward is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with 13 years of experience based in California. She offers a calm, steady presence for people facing midlife shifts and other major life changes. She listens first and helps clients name what matters most to them. Maria works in both English and Spanish. Maria approaches sessions as a partnership. She draws from practical methods like cognitive behavioral strategies and acceptance and commitment ideas to help clients clarify values and take small steps. Attachment-based work and emotionally focused techniques shape conversations about relationships and connection. Her background includes long-term clinical work supporting people with stress, anxiety, trauma and mood challenges. She also has experience with addictions, grief, parenting concerns, and sexual and intimacy-related struggles. Maria emphasizes simple tools clients can use between sessions to manage strong emotions and make steady progress. Maria treats concerns such as anger, depressive episodes, bipolar mood shifts, ADHD, and compassion fatigue. She also attends to issues that often come up alongside those, like body image, codependency, and caregiver stress. Her style is direct but gentle, offering practical skills while honoring each person’s story. To begin, she asks people to identify a few immediate goals and then shapes a plan that fits their life. She supports clients through transitions like divorce, career change, or aging-related worries. Maria aims to make therapy useful and manageable for everyday life.

How therapy approaches guide online sessions

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify what matters most and take committed action toward those values. It is useful for stress, anxiety, and coping with life changes by focusing on small, practical steps rather than perfect outcomes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact; sessions often include simple exercises and homework to change unhelpful patterns. Attachment-Based Therapy attends to how early relationship patterns affect current closeness and trust, which can help with intimacy issues and communication struggles.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. That collaborative process helps decide whether to emphasize ACT, CBT, attachment-focused work, or a mix of methods over the course of therapy.

Confirm current session options before booking so you know what formats are offered. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, cut commute time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It also lets people continue care during life transitions and while traveling across time zones. Licensed professionals adapt techniques like behavioral experiments, values work, and relationship exercises so they work well in an online setting.