PuttingFamilyFirst

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MW Portrait of Maria Ward
Online therapist

Maria Ward

Practical therapy for stressed parents and adults

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Credentials
LMFT
Experience
13 years
Licensed in
California
Languages
English, Spanish
Format
Online sessions

About Maria

Maria Ward welcomes parents and adults who are feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next step. She writes simply and listens closely. Her approach centers on helping people name what’s hard, learn practical tools, and try small changes that fit day-to-day life.

Maria is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - LMFT - and has practiced for 13 years in California. She offers sessions in English and Spanish. She emphasizes collaboration and treats each person as the expert on their own life while adding skills and perspective where helpful.

Background and approach

In sessions Maria uses evidence-based methods to address stress, anxiety, trauma, mood shifts, addiction, grief, and parenting challenges. She helps clients work through anger, relationship strain, self-esteem concerns, and life transitions. Her background includes focused trauma work and support for people coping with major changes.

Her style is direct and supportive. She listens first, then offers tools from approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Attachment-Based Therapy. The work often includes practical strategies for coping, shifting difficult patterns, and strengthening what already works.

Maria supports people who want straightforward guidance and steady collaboration. She explains options in plain language and helps set small, achievable goals. Taking a first step into therapy can feel hard, and she aims to make that step easier to take.

Therapeutic approaches and how they work online

Maria frequently uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help people clarify what matters most and take small values-driven steps. ACT focuses on accepting difficult thoughts and feelings while building actions that align with personal priorities, which can be useful for anxiety, stress, and life changes.

She also draws on Attachment-Based Therapy, which looks at how early patterns of connection affect current relationships. This approach helps people notice communication and closeness patterns and try different, more supported ways of relating when relationship or family tensions arise.

Choosing the right method is a team effort. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. Together they decide which approaches to try and adjust the plan over time based on how the work is going.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules, continue work between appointments, and access services from different locations. The variety of formats supports flexibility so clients can pick what works best for them.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Less about arguing with difficult thoughts, more about loosening their grip and acting on what matters to you anyway. Values and committed action carry the work, which suits conversation at a distance.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Looks at how early bonds shaped what you expect from closeness, and how that plays out now with a partner, a parent, or your own children.

Client-Centered Therapy

The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.

Frequently asked questions

What concerns does Maria address?
She works with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, anger, depression, addictions, relationship issues, family matters, grief, intimacy struggles, eating and body image concerns, parenting, self-esteem, career stress, bipolar symptoms, ADHD, and coping with life changes.
How would she describe her therapeutic style?
Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth. She listens first, then shares practical tools from evidence-based methods to help clients try different ways of coping.
What is her professional background?
She has 13 years of clinical work and additional training in trauma-focused treatment. That experience informs her work with people who have faced difficult events and transitions.
Where is she licensed and based?
She is licensed in California as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - CA LMFT 98143.
Which languages are available for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English and Spanish.
What session formats are offered?
Sessions can take place via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging.
How is cost 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?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule according to the therapist's availability.

Specialties and expertise

Top specialties

Also works with

Therapeutic approaches

Experience
13 years
Licensed
California
Languages
English, Spanish

Next step

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