Maria Suarez

You may look capable on the outside while feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, anxious, or stuck in survival mode underneath. You may understand your patterns intellectually but still struggle to change how your body, relationships, or emotions respond.

I’m Maria Suarez, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than ten years of experience supporting adults and adolescents. I earned my master’s degree from Fordham University and am licensed in Hawaii, Arizona, Washington, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

As a Puerto Rican therapist raised in the Bronx, I understand that healing does not happen outside of culture, identity, family, relationships, and lived experience.

I specialize in trauma, Complex PTSD, ADHD, neurodivergence, dissociation, anxiety, grief, perinatal concerns, relationship challenges, and sex therapy.

I also help clients navigate intimacy, changes in desire, sexual shame, communication, identity, and feeling disconnected from their body or partner. My practice is affirming of LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and neurodivergent clients.

I bring warmth, honesty, humor, and directness into therapy. You do not need to minimize what you are going through, explain every part of your identity, or find the perfect words before we begin.

My approach is warm, direct, collaborative, and deeply personalized. I want you to feel understood, but I also want therapy to help you move forward.

Trauma, chronic stress, shame, and anxiety can train the brain and nervous system to stay focused on protection. That may show up as overthinking, people-pleasing, emotional shutdown, hypervigilance, difficulty trusting others, relationship conflict, or feeling disconnected from your body and sexuality.

Together, we will make sense of these patterns without blaming you for the ways you learned to survive. We will identify what keeps getting activated, build tools to help your nervous system feel safer, and create more choice in how you respond.

I use trauma-informed approaches including Accelerated Resolution Therapy, EMDR, Brainspotting, CBT, DBT, and nervous system-based interventions. I do not use a one-size-fits-all treatment plan. We will focus on the approaches that fit you, your goals, and your pace.

In sex therapy, I provide a nonjudgmental space to explore intimacy, desire, sexual confidence, shame, communication, identity, and the impact of trauma, culture, stress, and life transitions on sexuality.

My goal is not only to help you understand yourself better. It is to help you feel safer in your body, trust yourself more, strengthen your boundaries, improve your relationships, and create meaningful change in your daily life.

Your first session is a conversation, not a test. You do not need to arrive with your entire story organized or know exactly what you want to work on.

We will talk about what brought you to therapy, what has been feeling difficult, and what you hope will change. I will ask about your symptoms, history, relationships, stressors, strengths, and how these concerns are affecting your daily life.

When relevant, we may also discuss intimacy, sexual wellness, identity, communication, or relationship concerns. You will never be pressured to share more than you are ready to discuss.

We will begin identifying the patterns that may be keeping you stuck, clarify your priorities, and discuss treatment options that fit your needs. By the end of the session, you should have a clearer sense of what we can work on together and whether I feel like the right therapist for you.

My goal is for you to leave feeling heard, understood, and more hopeful about what can change.