Maria has a Master of Arts degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pfeiffer university in Charlotte and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in North Carolina. After graduating from Pfeifer, Maria worked as a Licensed Mental Health Clinician at Programa Confianza providing individual and group counseling services to survivors of domestic violence. Maria was promoted to the be a Clinical Supervisor at Mecklenburg County Community Support Services (CSS) Prevention and Intervention Services in November 2016. 

Maria completed a specialization in Trauma Recovery and Global Mental Health with Harvard Medical school and Global Mental Health.  She completed training in Trauma Informed supervision, training at Duke university to provide Cognitive Processing Therapy and to be rostered as a CPT quality provider. She completed a certification in Contemplative Based Trauma and Resilience Training (CBTRT), a mindfulness protocol to support trauma recovery. She Completed Advance Strangulation Training with The Alliance for Hope International.  She completed the learning cohort with la Mesita, “Dando la Bienvenida”. She is a Yoga teacher (200 hrs) and competed certification for Yoga for Traumatic Brain injury.  She is currently participating in the CE-Cert (Components for Enhancing Clinician Experience and Reducing Trauma) learning cohort.  

Her experience in the clinical field includes crisis counseling, individual, couples, family therapy and group therapy with adults and children.

Maria has become specialized in the treatment of trauma and an avid advocate for the refugees and immigrant community in North Carolina.  She approaches patient’s care from a comprehensive framework to recovery that includes providing ethical decision making, human rights awareness, opportunities for economic development, psychoeducation, linkage to appropriate agencies and evidence based, culturally and linguistically informed interventions.  Maria strives to cultivate in her patients a mindful understanding of their emotional, physical, cognitive, social, and spiritual health to help them discover and maintain their life’s harmony.