Mara Cristina

About me

Hi, I'm Mara, clinical psychologist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and I'm glad you're here. My wish is to support you in living the version of your life that feels most true and most authentically yours, by integrating mind and body in the therapeutic process. I created this space out of a deep conviction: you can spend years in self-analysis and follow all the wise advice, and still feel the effects of a dysregulated nervous system. These effects can include anxiety, panic attacks, shame, chronic health issues, repeating toxic patterns, difficult relationships, self-sabotage, low self-esteem, exhaustion, overwhelming thoughts, and more. My invitation to you is to connect with the wisdom of your body and let it guide you on your journey toward healing. So, here's how I work:
 I work somatically, with the principle of titration at the core: we move in small, tolerable steps. This isn't about diving straight into your hardest memory to "process" it all at once. It's about becoming increasingly able to be present in your life, to feel safe, to enjoy yourself, to set boundaries, and only then, gradually, with more capacity to do all of this, moving closer to what was difficult and overwhelming, in order to process and integrate what couldn't be processed and integrated in the past and that still creates unpleasant consequences in the present. My purpose is to create a space that is safe, supportive, and even enjoyable (when possible), where you can activate your body's innate capacity to regulate and recalibrate itself, through nervous system regulation and connection to the deep wisdom within you. I'm not here to tell you how to live your life, but to support you in living the authentic version of yours. In the spaces I facilitate, I encourage compassion, curiosity, self-acceptance, play, and even pleasure, essential ingredients in this process. In my practice, there's room for laughter, tears, yawning, trembling (all forms of nervous system discharge), stillness, and sometimes singing, drawing, dancing. I'm not a "serious therapist," but I take my work very seriously. All parts of you belong here. I take an integrative approach based on the concept of wholeness. This means I understand deep transformation as something that comes from expanding our capacity to feel whole and to embrace the lost or wounded parts of ourselves, especially the ones we consider least acceptable or least lovable. This wholeness creates more room for our own humanity, which leads to compassion, toward ourselves, toward others, and toward the whole world. I often work with perfectionists, with anxiety, depression, chronic or autoimmune health conditions, and with challenging relational patterns that keep repeating. I also work with challenges related to sexuality and intimacy, my dissertation explored low sexual desire in women. I truly believe it's possible to: * Feel increasingly able to meet your emotions, however big or uncomfortable they are, without being overwhelmed by them * Discover the courage to follow your dreams and build the life you truly want * Communicate openly and set boundaries with more ease * Deepen your relationship with yourself and others * Discover your body's capacity to regulate and recalibrate itself * Make room for joy, pleasure, and vitality My intention for our therapeutic space: * For you to feel welcome to be fully yourself * To meet with curiosity and acceptance, as much as you have access to in each moment, all your thoughts, emotions, and sensations, and to discover how good and freeing it feels to be whole * To embrace your humanity, with all its ups and downs, all its imperfections and diversity * A safe, ethical space where all of this is allowed to happen, and where there's always room for celebration, not just for pain I can't wait to meet you!