Maria Morris

I’ve always had an innate curiosity about people; this is an observation past clients have shared about me. As a queer person with mental health challenges of my own, nothing fulfills me more than holding this space and pushing change forward. While my career has spanned from administration to management, almost a decade ago, I followed my heart to work directly with people. I am a therapist, through and through; it’s in my bones! As a queer mental health worker, I prioritize pushing back against old, tired ideas that working through your LGBTQ+ identity in therapy must begin and end at coming out, transitioning, and risk. I’ve been out as queer in New York City for years, and it is my mission as a clinician to help clients through the nuances of existing as a queer person, a lifelong identity with movement, change, unique joys, and challenges to explore. As a former manager of an LGBTQ+ services center, I am specially trained and thrilled to hold that much-deserved space for you.

My approach is person-centered and warm with acute skill in psychodynamic therapy. My expertise lies in working with the LGBTQ+ community, but I have experience working with clients across a range of identities and religious, racial, and cultural backgrounds. Regardless of who you are, I am genuinely present with you and laser-focused on what you’re sharing. I am specially trained in a variety of interventions, with extensive clinical knowledge in navigating gender dysphoria, discovering identity, sexual orientation/sexuality, sex shame, and kink/BDSM. I also have a background working with intimate partner violence, shame, anxiety, depression, life transitions, trauma, and general mental health challenges. I pull heavily from cognitive behavioral therapy, internal family systems theory, strength-based approaches, trauma-informed care, and psychodynamic work to dive deeper into underlying issues as well as address the current challenges here and now.

The therapeutic relationship is special. Many clients see me after feeling defeated trying to find a good fit with a therapist. If this is your experience, let’s chat. You deserve the space, time, and effort, and I want to get to know you. Whether you love to write journal prompts or feel ill at the thought of therapy worksheets; whether you just need a weekly space to dump out your “mess” or lean toward structured sessions with visuals on whiteboards; whether you enjoy humor in sessions or feel more comfortable with serious focus from your therapist; let’s make a space just for you.