Maria Caruso , LPC

Maria Caruso is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a National Certified Counselor (NCC), and holds certification in Thanatology (CT), which focuses on death studies and grief and bereavement. With more than 20 years of experience, she has supported adults and children, couples and families, and has provided care in both group and individual settings. Her background includes work alongside cancer patients and their families during intense treatment periods and through the process of loss, as well as helping people in corporate environments navigate transitions and workplace challenges.

She frames counseling as a collaborative partnership in which both therapist and client share responsibility for progress toward agreed goals. Her practice is integrative and multimodal, blending approaches such as cognitive-behavioral techniques, psychodynamic ideas, person-centered principles, gestalt methods, and relationship-focused work to match interventions to each person’s needs and personality. She frequently incorporates tools like treatment contracting, journaling, and art-based exercises to surface issues that may be difficult to name or not yet fully conscious.

Her mission is to offer hope, practical support, and information that help people find meaning and forward momentum at any stage of life. Maria applies clinical experience and a flexible, empathetic style to assist clients facing grief, relationship struggles, career change, addiction, trauma, caregiving stress, and other life challenges.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Maria Caruso integrates client-centered therapy to create a supportive space where the client’s perspective guides the pace and focus of work. This approach emphasizes empathy, active listening, and respecting each person’s preferences, making it useful for relationship issues, self-esteem work, and life transitions.

She also employs cognitive behavioral therapy - CBT - which helps people identify and change unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviors. CBT is often applied to anxiety, depression, stress management, and coping with addictive behaviors by teaching practical strategies and skills.

Narrative therapy is used to help clients separate themselves from problems by exploring the stories they tell about their lives and rewriting those narratives in more empowering ways. This can be effective for grief, identity-related concerns, and long-standing relational patterns.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Maria will work with each person to assess goals, preferences, and life circumstances, and will tailor a plan that may combine methods as needed. Online therapy via video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging offers flexibility for scheduling and access from different locations, allowing clients to engage in consistent, goal-oriented work while balancing other responsibilities.