Maria Castro, LMHC

Maria Castro is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with 12 years of practice in Washington. She offers therapy in both English and Spanish. Maria focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and the effects of trauma and abuse.

She works in a straightforward, respectful way and treats clients as the experts on their own lives. Sessions are guided by the person in front of her, with the therapist offering tools and structure when helpful. Maria emphasizes strengths, dignity, and practical progress.

Her approach blends cognitive behavioral techniques with solution-focused ideas. That means she helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and try small, concrete changes that move daily life forward. She also uses client-centered and motivational strategies to keep goals realistic and meaningful.

Maria has supported people with relationship and parenting concerns, anger and self-esteem struggles, mood and attention differences, postpartum depression, and reactions to disaster or violence. She also addresses multicultural issues, isolation, guilt and shame, and problems like panic attacks and dissociation.

She aims to tailor sessions to each person’s needs, listening first and then building steps that fit day-to-day life. Maria encourages people who are ready to take a step toward change and offers guidance as they work toward clearer goals.

Practical approaches for online therapy

Maria uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and try concrete behavior changes. CBT is useful for anxiety, mood problems, panic, and stress because it focuses on small experiments and skills that change daily routines.

She also uses client-centered methods that focus on listening and following the person's priorities. This approach helps people feel heard and shapes goals around what matters most to them. Motivational interviewing is used when someone is unsure about change and needs help finding their own reasons to move forward.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. Maria will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their goals, background, and preferences rather than assuming a single way will fit everyone. Together they review what’s helping and adjust the plan as needed.

Online therapy offers flexibility that many people need. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation; phone sessions can work when bandwidth is low or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging let someone keep momentum between sessions or fit support into a busy day. These options make it easier to maintain consistent work on problems while fitting therapy into real life.