Meet Maria
Maria is a Holistic Biblical Counselor and Certified Health Coach whose mission is to support women in living a Christ-Centered life that glorifies God with their mind, body, and spirit. Her vision is to encourage women to discover the root cause of their problems and identify the unhealthy patterns in their habits so that they can give glory and honor to God in all they do.
She is a wife and a loving mother of two children. In her spare time, she loves art-making, singing and dancing, family recreational activities, fellowship, and worship.
She received her training at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City and Women Becoming Whole Ministry. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Art Therapy and pursuing her Master's in Mental Health Counseling. She is a Certified Smoking Cessation Specialist, has over 9 years of experience in sexual assault counseling, and is a certified group fitness Instructor with AFAA. her expertise is in lifestyle and behavior change, stress, nutrition, sexual assault counseling, and smoking cessation. Maria is fluent in Spanish and supports her clients one-on-one virtually or in person. She leads groups and workshops on integrative and holistic Biblical health for women and local organizations.
My Approach
Core Foundation
God at the center. Instead of looking to external concepts of health, a Biblical view teaches us that we should look inward to our relationship with Christ first. From that strong foundation, we can start working on external concepts of health to find inner peace and fulfillment.
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Root Concepts of Health
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PRIMARY FOODS : Relationships, career, mental health, and physical activity are the building blocks to achieving optimal health.
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SECONDARY FOODS: These are the actual foods you put in your mouth. We place our focus on diet based on the individual, not the theory.
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BIO-INDIVIDUALITY: You are uniquely, beautifully made. There is no one else like you. This is the theory that one person’s food may not be the healthiest for another. Together, we work on figuring out what works best for your individual needs.
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CROWDING OUT: We focus on foods that might be missing in our diet and "crowd out" the foods we don't need.
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EMOTIONAL HEALTH: God made us with emotions so we are all emotional beings. Therefore, it is natural that we seek food to find comfort. Together, we will work on identifying your triggers, patterns, and responses to ‘primary foods’ so that you can find balance in your ‘secondary foods’ and restore your relationship with the foods that nourish you.
***Referrals are made based on intake form and identified need for mental health support and/or any other need that goes beyond my scope of practice.
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