Maria’s model for addressing addiction counseling needs is compatible with tenants of all 12 Step programs. She believes that addiction counseling services should be provided by trained professionals who have a personal affinity for the victims of the various addictive behaviors. Maria provides individual and marriage counseling in both outpatient and online counseling modalities designed to address a wide variety of relationship problems such as treatment for addictive behaviors, eating disorders, and specialized treatment for trauma and PTSD.

Sex addiction is an area of expertise which is exceptionally delicate and the therapeutic needs of the recovering family vary greatly from individual to individual, perhaps more so than any other addiction or compulsive behavior. When working with an individual client, a personalized psychotherapy plan is created after a thorough personal history which includes a comprehensive screening to assess for addiction and/or co-addiction. Both the individual and couples counseling sessions will include strong emphasis on the psychodramatic approach to treating the underlying traumas feeding both addiction and co-addiction. Relapse prevention is always part of the treatment plan for any client in 12 step recovery.

When working with both partners of a relationship in a joint couple’s session, a shared program of recovery combined with the 12 steps is crucial for sustained emotional and romantic recovery. The importance of complete honesty from both partners in a relationship is absolutely necessary if a family is going to heal from sexual betrayal. Not only is secret keeping unwise - it will actually prove to be a detriment to a relationship in the long run. Using an innovative integration of the 12 steps individually tailored to the client’s therapeutic needs in his or her individual or couples therapy session has met with incomparable results for Maria’s clients on the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.