Individual Therapy for Women
©2025 Maria Mejia Rivera
I enjoy working with women from all life stages, paying attention to your unique needs and providing you with much needed support. I specialize in women’s mental health, anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief and loss. Focusing on women’s mental health allows me to take into account the unique biological, societal, and cultural factors that impact your mental health and wellbeing.
Whether you are navigating a big life transition, work stress, the loss of someone important in your life (including a furry companion) - I’m here for you. Together we will work on goals and coping skills tailored to your needs.
Whether you are navigating a big life transition, work stress, the loss of someone important in your life (including a furry companion) - I’m here for you. Together we will work on goals and coping skills tailored to your needs.
Couples Therapy
Relationships go through changes throughout different life stages, whether you have started a new relationship or have been married for a long time. In a new relationship, couples may be figuring out their rhythm and what next steps they need to take in their relationship. Couples who have been married or together for a while sometimes find that they are not connecting as they once did with the same level of interest, intimacy or joy - leading to increased conflict.
Using the Gottman Method principles, a research-based approach, I help couples strengthen their relationship by creating a stronger friendship and shared meaning with an emphasis on closeness and intimacy. I also support couples to manage conflict and offer tools that allow them to have more productive conversations about their needs and emotions.
Using the Gottman Method principles, a research-based approach, I help couples strengthen their relationship by creating a stronger friendship and shared meaning with an emphasis on closeness and intimacy. I also support couples to manage conflict and offer tools that allow them to have more productive conversations about their needs and emotions.
Bilingual/Bicultural Services en Español
©2025 Maria Mejia Rivera
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The ability to safely express yourself in your own language and have someone understand your cultural values and norms is important for inclusion and to the therapy process. I am Latina, speak Spanish and I have over 15 years of experience working with Latine communities across various regions of the United States. In addition to working with members of the Latine community, I offer culturally responsive psychotherapy services to women and couples of diverse cultural backgrounds. I support my clients in exploring cultural issues that have an impact on their individual mental health as well as their family dynamics.
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Play, Creative Expression, and Use of Symbols
©2025 Maria Mejia Rivera
People sometimes have unique needs in therapy that are not met with traditional talk therapy. When we were children, we used play to communicate, develop, process and organize our experiences. Play and the creative process are powerful tools beyond childhood. Play and creativity can be our connection back to purpose, meaning, and joy. In therapy, expressive arts or the use of symbols in the sand can be a way to dig deeper and address long-standing issues that are just below the surface. Utilizing play therapy principles, art, or sandplay, I provide women an outlet for self-expression that is appropriate to their needs and development. The use of symbols and creative expression allows for a safe space to express what words cannot communicate.
encourageHER Counseling Inc.®
2890 Pio Pico Drive
Suite 200-A
Carlsbad, CA 92008
760-683-9407
©2025 encourageHER Counseling Inc.® All Rights Reserved.