About Maria Martinez
What’s the first session like with me?
Whether you’re meeting me online or in person, I will welcome you warmly. I am friendly and nice, and my office is warm and inviting. My oversized blue couch has received plenty of compliments for being soft and comfortable (some have even fallen asleep on it, but that’s a story for another day).
In our first session, I aim to learn more about you – you will hear me say things like “Tell me what you feel ok to share” and “I have to earn your trust before you share anything that doesn’t feel comfortable.” We are going to chat and even laugh as we begin this journey ahead.
When life has been challenging and sharing our story is dreaded and painful, it makes a big difference when sharing it with someone who receives the story with kindness. There will be no judgment – only an invitation to join me as yourself. Your story is safe here in this space we will build together.
Fast forward with me
As we work together, you begin to reveal more about your life story, revealing more and more your views about yourself and the world around you.
Telling me no longer feels dreaded or something that causes you to feel shame. I now have earned that trust I told you about when we first met. Sometimes, you catch yourself stopping to feel the air around you and the sun on your skin.
It feels silly to notice those things! If you tell me about those things, I will answer you that this is joy. Joy is in those moments. As the work deepens, the shame and guilt are lighter. Often, others notice a different feeling about you before you do and point it out to you. What was once dreaded, the talking, and the work together is now welcomed. Dare I say it? –Therapy sessions have become something to look forward to rather than dreading.
One day, you will realize that you have improved a lot. It will even be disturbing how at peace you feel; it’s so different to feel this way. We will work on that discomfort, too. When you leave therapy, you will be ok with your past, know how to be present with yourself, and look forward to the future.
PS – I want to be honest here – most people want to continue working with me after they feel better. They do not want to leave. And that’s ok to feel this way. I will help with that feeling, too.
About Me
Thank you for considering working with me. I promise that I am a good choice, but only if you’re ready to do this work with me. Therapy, where all we do is talk about how hard you have it and where you do not want to do the things that will take to get you better, will not work in the long run.
But if you’re ready to do this, then you will see results rather quickly.
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (License # 80703). Being a therapist and helping individuals uncover their true potential and live authentic lives is both a passion and a calling. It is an honor hearing a person’s story and bearing witness to their healing.
My journey started with a bump on the head.
The answer to what I would do for the rest of my life hit me in the head one day. I was sitting in a college advisor’s waiting room during my undergraduate studies.
Pamphlets for the Master’s in Social Work program at USC fell from the bookcase behind where I was sitting. And darn did it hurt! But it was enough for me to pay attention to them. I grabbed one of the pamphlets and took it to my appointment.
You see, I was there to talk to my advisor about my future, where I wanted to apply to graduate schools, something I had no idea about until that very moment.
My journey before USC was an even bigger bump.
Looking back, I had been preparing for what I would do with the rest of my life for all my life.
I grew up in El Salvador during the time of its civil war in the 1980s. Nobody was safe at the time; either government or guerrilla members posed a threat to one’s life.
My mother decided it was too dangerous for her daughters to remain there. She saved what she could and grabbed 8-year-old me and my newborn baby sister, and we took off to the United States.
My dad had emigrated to the US one year earlier and didn’t like his family making the treacherous journey alone, so he came back to travel with his family. I still remember him arriving on our doorstep after not seeing him for a year. I was so happy at that moment. Unfortunately, my father could not take the journey with us.
When it came time to cross the Tijuana/San Diego border, only my mother and two girls made the crossing. I still remember most of it, but it feels like a movie.
When we arrived in Los Angeles, it appeared so foreign to me because it was a city made of concrete with no dirt in sight. I grieved the tall sugar canes, the green that covered the land, the warm waters of the rivers, and tropical beaches.
Going to school and not understanding what in the world anyone was saying was hard. Learning to speak a foreign language was not easy, especially because other students were so mean. Learning English while helping your mother translate necessary forms and speak for her in important matters was even more challenging.
My experience helps me understand others.
I have gone through things that help me know what it’s like on the client’s side.
Growing up, I suffered from depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and deep grief for the land and the lives we had to leave behind.
Being the oldest and the only one who spoke English in the family meant that I had to take care of my parents and help care for my siblings.
My early experiences left me with this deep desire to help people – help them piece together their story and discover their strengths, most of which they do not know they have. I want to help them own their story, the ugly parts, too. It’s those pieces of us that make up this beautiful mosaic of our lives.
No matter how much pain or shame your story may cause you, you managed to bring yourself here to this moment. Your past caused you to make the choices you did with the feelings and experience you had to that moment, and you did your best with what you knew.
Today, you say thank you to your past self for doing that. It wasn’t easy, but you got yourself here. And today, you also admit that you are ready for more, letting a new chapter begin.
My Education and Training
After attaining my Bachelors from UC Santa Barbara in 2005, I graduated in 2008 from The University of Southern California (USC) with a Master’s in Social Work. And since then, I have not looked back! I love what I do.
I am also fluent in Spanish! Hablo español, y proveo servicios terapéuticos en español también.
I have received advanced training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), and Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders.
My favorite therapies to use are EMDR and DBT; I combine them, and they work together beautifully to bring fast relief of symptoms and long-lasting, life-changing results.
Even if you do not understand what this means… know that I am very knowledgeable in tools that will bring relief and long-term healing in your life.
In my personal life…
You will find me spending time with my children, chasing my dog Taco (yes, like the kind you eat), and feeding my daughters’ guinea pigs, Bob and Mike (they never stop eating).
Occasionally, I might read a cheesy novel if there is time: it started with reputable novels such as “Pride and Prejudice” or “Cien Años de Soledad.” It culminated with “Fifty Shades of Grey,” I don’t know what to say about that.
Between spending time with family, pets, and work, I do my best to find time to exercise… which usually leads to completing marathons… Netflix marathons, that is.
Healing Begins now….
Click the “Get Started” Button Below to schedule your consultation
818.945.9075
Email Me
10315 Woodley Ave.