Maria Carrington (she/her)

I have worked with individuals ranging in age for 16 to 81, in all stages of gender identity issues from feeling confused about their gender identity through a complete transition. I do not believe gender is binary. If you need a therapist well trained and experienced in this issue to explore further, I am the right fit for you.

As someone who has struggled with anxiety most of my life I have found that using a combination of mindfulness, Cognitive Bheiovaral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment therapy tends to be the most impactful for me. That being said I do believe in tailoring treatment to your own individual needs. I enjoy helping people learn to have a healthy relationship with their anxiety that feels very different than typical approaches.

I am currently in training with the University of Michigan to obtain my certification in sex therapy. This is an area that I wanted to get the best training and education to be able to offer competent and well-researched therapy techniques to my clients. Unfortunately, anyone can call themselves a sex therapist without training in it. Please ask questions of myself or any therapist about what training they have to offer this type of specialty care.

Mindfulness-based therapy is something that I avoid for most of my career until about 5 years ago. I found it nearly impossible to enagged in mindfulness or meditation. I, like most people. were confused about the purpose and the process. It's not about "not thinking" or clearing your mind, it's about noticing and not engaging with all thoughts in your mind. I find that this approach complements other types of therapy well. It decreases the amount of "foot in mouth moments" also.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT is the gold standard of most therapy techniques. It is a very helpful way to start to look at how your self-talk and thinking maybe unrealistic or secuewed by past experiences. When we start to question some of the things we tell ourselfs it can drastically improve our moods. People are often suprised by how often hey are talking outrightly mean and dismissive to themselves.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT for short beleive that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. This is a type of therapy I was introduced to when I found that CBT did not give people reasons to work on themselves. ACT focuses on helping you re-connect with your personal values and make sure that your life lines up with them. My favorite ACT book on anxiety is The Worry Trap.