Maria AbadaLPC

Maria Abada is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) based in New Jersey. She works with people who are facing anxiety, stress, relationship strain, grief, and difficulties with self-esteem or anger. She also helps individuals coping with life changes, trauma, and pregnancy or postpartum concerns. Maria draws on 16 years of experience in mental health to offer steady, down-to-earth support.

Maria has worked in residential programs, partial care, outpatient clinics, in-home settings, and addiction services. That breadth of experience means she has seen a wide range of difficulties and levels of need. In recent years she has focused more on perinatal mental health and postpartum depression alongside trauma-related concerns.

Her approach is person-centered and integrative. She starts by meeting each person where they are, then tailors practical steps based on individual goals and cultural factors. She blends cognitive behavioral techniques with mindfulness and motivational interviewing to build skills for symptom relief and better day-to-day coping.

Maria describes her style as warm and collaborative. Sessions emphasize setting clear, achievable goals and working steadily toward them rather than searching for quick fixes. She also uses psychodynamically informed ideas when helpful, especially with deeper patterns that show up across relationships.

Because she focuses on women clients, Maria’s practice includes attention to women’s issues and challenges around pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. She encourages people to move toward wellness at a realistic pace and to make sustainable changes that fit their lives.

How her therapeutic approaches translate online

Client-Centered Therapy places the person’s experience at the center of work. The therapist listens closely and shapes sessions around each person’s goals and values, which helps when managing life changes, relationship issues, or perinatal concerns.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on practical skills to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. It often includes short, structured exercises and homework that help reduce anxiety, depression, and stress in day-to-day life.

Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and calm the nervous system. This can be helpful for managing worry, postpartum stress, and difficult memories from trauma.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit best based on goals, preferences, and what feels useful in early sessions. That collaborative process allows adjustments over time if a different focus is needed.

Confirm current session options before booking, as specific formats are not listed here. Online therapy can make it easier to fit appointments into a busy schedule, shorten commute time, and allow check-ins during a break at work or between childcare tasks. Different approaches lend themselves to different pacing - CBT often uses shorter skill-focused exercises, while Client-Centered work may allow more open, exploratory conversation during a session.