Maria Volakis, LPC

Maria Volakis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Arizona with nine years of clinical experience. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. She also supports those who want to build self-esteem, boost motivation, and cope with life changes.

Her approach is straightforward and collaborative. Maria emphasizes practical steps people can use between sessions. She invites clients to notice their strengths and use those strengths to meet current challenges.

Maria uses methods based in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. In sessions she helps people identify unhelpful thoughts, try small behavior changes, and practice new ways of responding to hard feelings. She also works on values and self-compassion to strengthen self-love.

Sessions are conversational and goal-focused. Maria aims to make therapy feel doable on busy days by offering clear tools and simple exercises. She encourages people to set small, realistic goals and to build on progress over time.

People who start with her will find a calm, practical style and an emphasis on everyday skills. Maria recognizes that reaching out can be hard and she focuses on steady, reachable steps toward feeling more capable.

CBT and ACT tools for online care

Maria uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. CBT often involves tracking patterns, testing small behavior changes, and practicing new skills that reduce anxiety and build confidence.

She also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which focuses on clarifying personal values and taking committed action even when difficult feelings are present. ACT helps people move toward what matters to them and to practice self-compassion as part of that process.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Maria will work together with each person to identify which methods fit their goals and day-to-day life, and she will adapt tools from CBT or ACT based on progress and preference.

Online therapy with Maria is available through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule - video for deeper conversation, phone when bandwidth is limited, chat for brief check-ins, and messaging for ongoing support between sessions. The goal is to make therapeutic work flexible and practical for real life.