1-on-1 Mental Health Counseling
Ever wondered what mental health counseling looks like without the shame of illness, extreme fees, and unnecessary judgment?
In addition to being a writer, I’m a trauma-informed counselor who wants to make mental health care more accessible for social workers, activists, and young people of color.
My experience
I received my trauma-informed counseling certificate from Trey Malicoat M.S. in April 2024. I’ve hosted five journaling, meditation, and community care sessions in the past two years., including an in-person workshop for activists to address burnout.
As someone who has struggled with anxiety and depression for years, I know how hard it is to find an affordable therapist who understands your context. That’s why I’m offering counseling sessions at a sliding scale.
Sessions with me look like:
Early sessions:
Getting to know each other and setting goals for yourself. (E.g. I want to feel more secure in my self-esteem or I want to manage my depression and anxiety)
Understanding your background and what brings you to counseling
Middle to Later sessions:
Delving deeper into past wounds and how these continue to affect you today
Inner child work to heal trauma or complex trauma
Drawing a life timeline and addressing harmful, hindering core beliefs
Learning how to regulate emotions and grow self-compassion
Learning how to make meaning from negative experiences
Learning how to set healthy boundaries with harmful people
Improving relationships with yourself and others
With me you’ll learn:
Greater emotional awareness, self-compassion, and practical ways to make life more meaningful. I want our counseling sessions to feel comfortable, like talking to a friend. I prioritize your comfort and pace.
Decolonial Counseling
I maintain a decolonial approach to counseling. A decolonial approach in the healing context means:
1) there is an equal relationship between counselor and client, and they work together towards a mutual goal
2) the counselor understands the pervasiveness of systemic issues and their effects on our mental health.
This approach affirms the knowledge and intuition of the client. The client is an active agent in their own healing who can be empowered with knowledge and awareness of how they grew up, the effects of traumatic experiences, and how their inner thoughts affect their actions.
Art, Journaling & Somatics
Depending on the client, sometimes other approaches are needed. I can facilitate journaling or art that makes therapy more enjoyable. We can also try somatic practices like breathwork and body scans. We’ll work together to determine the methods that work best for you.
Scheduling and Rates
Please go to calendly.com/niladmaria/30min to schedule an appointment.
The rate is a sliding scale of 600-1200 php, so you will be asked to choose the rate that is kindest to you. Choose whether you’d like to do in-person or online sessions. In-person sessions will be in Mandaluyong while online sessions are over GMeets. If you’re outside of the Philippines, I’ll be in contact to set up a payment option.
Tell me anything you want me to know about yourself before our first session, including what brings you to counseling, if you’ve had therapy before, and your goals and expectations.
I’m excited to meet and work with you!
Testimonies from past clients
I had the opportunity to avail of Maria’s counseling services several times. What struck me from the outset was Maria’s compassion and perceptiveness—by listening intently she guided me towards significant realizations I never before considered. She helped me unpack key events in my past in ways that allowed me to see my past self with more kindness and compassion, as well as understand the ways this influenced me at present. Maria helped me navigate my chaotic thoughts, identify patterns, and chart ways to prevent spiraling into anxiety in the future. In all our sessions, she prioritized my comfort in sharing what I wanted to share, and I felt immensely comforted and at ease in her presence as a counselor. It is clear to me that she is an incredibly sharp, attentive, kind, open, and discerning counselor. I highly recommend her for anyone seeking out counseling services. – Angeli
Sessions with Maria are like a warm cup of tea. She's warm, comforting, and familiar. She will provide you a comfortable seat, and a comfortable environment to open up and be yourself. She gave me a space to just pause and learn about myself while in the middle of a hectic life. – Alab
Nilad's counseling has been tremendously helpful for when I sought to improve radical empathy, nuance & boundary-setting in my interpersonal and activist relationships. She was adjusted to my contexts, provided practical tips, and included appropriate rituals in our sessions to respect the emotional, spiritual & psychological. That is so refreshing having come from mostly hyper-western styles of therapy/mental health support. – Netanya
Maria has a softness and a gentleness with her presence. If you need a space to be human, safe to be inside someone’s non-judgmental space colored with a skilfullness and a relationship with words that is pure –– let yourself be held by her. – Philline