About Maria
Maria Najera is a licensed clinical social worker with seven years of practice in California. She focuses on practical ways to help people manage stress and anxiety while navigating addiction, trauma, grief, and mood challenges. Maria uses a straightforward, supportive style and centers the person's own experience in each session.
Her approach begins by listening to a person’s story and identifying strengths they already have. She helps people build coping skills for overwhelming feelings and develop clearer routines to reduce daily stress.
Background and approach
Sessions are direct and collaborative, with small, concrete goals set between meetings. Maria also supports people working through attachment wounds, abandonment, guilt, and shame. She offers space to talk about family of origin issues and communication patterns that keep problems repeating.
For those struggling with impulsivity or isolation, she helps explore healthier habits and steps toward connection. When grief or loss are present, Maria focuses on practical ways to carry difficult feelings while honoring what was lost. With addictions and compulsive behaviors she emphasizes steady, manageable changes rather than dramatic overhauls.
The work is paced to fit each person’s needs and readiness. Overall, Maria aims for a calm, respectful atmosphere. She helps people find clearer ways to manage emotions, repair relationships with themselves, and move toward goals that feel meaningful.
How evidence-based approaches work online
Maria uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on skill building and real-life changes. One common approach she uses teaches concrete coping skills for anxiety and stress, such as grounding exercises and step-by-step plans to manage overwhelming moments. These techniques are helpful for daily anxiety, panic, and stress management.She also helps people process trauma and loss with careful pacing and emotion regulation strategies. This includes learning ways to tolerate difficult memories and build safety in current routines, which can reduce reactivity and improve sleep and mood over time.
Choosing the right approach is a team effort. Maria will work with each person to identify what feels most helpful based on their goals, history, and comfort. She adjusts the plan as needed and sets short-term goals so progress is clear.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video calls are useful for in-depth conversations, phone calls can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat supports quicker check-ins, and messaging helps maintain momentum between sessions. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent around work, family, and daily life.
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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