Mara Cristina

About me

Hi, I’m Mara, a clinical psychologist and somatic coach, passionate about helping you live your best life by integrating mind and body in the therapeutic process. This is where you're guided and supported to heal your emotional wounds and create safety in your nervous system, allowing your desires to become your reality. I've created this space from the felt sense belief that: You can go through years of self-inquiry and know all the wise advice, yet still feel the effects of your dysregulated nervous system, such as: anxiety, panic attacks, shame, chronic health conditions, repeating toxic patterns and toxic relationships, self-sabotage, low self-esteem, burnout, overthinking, etc. My invitation for you is to lean into the wisdom of your body and let it guide you on your healing journey. So, how do I do it in a more fun, engaging, and effective way? (Or at least I try to…) I work somatically, blending the body and the mind in the therapeutic process. My purpose is to create a safe, supportive, and even fun (when possible) space where you can access your inner healer and your innate capacity for healing through nervous system regulation and connection to your deepest knowing/wisdom. I’m not here to tell you how to live your life, but to fully support your version of aliveness. In my healing spaces, I encourage and invite compassion, curiosity, self-acceptance, playfulness, and even pleasure—key ingredients for healing. All of you belongs. I have a wholeness-based, integrative approach in which all parts of you belong. I truly believe that the parts you dislike the most need your presence the most because they are remnants of versions of you that you developed to survive and get to this point. They are here to support you still and protect you from past threats that are no longer present. They need your love and reassurance that your current version of reality is safe enough and the direction you are heading towards is not only safe but potentially amazing. The mind and the body are (without a shadow of a doubt) connected! Without nervous system healing and without the body, we are just infinitely trying to talk ourselves into freedom or healing, sometimes understanding the why but not fully being able to feel it or do anything real about it. And there's even more that's connected, but we'll get into that later... Shortly now: I believe in wellness as a complex mix of body, mind, soul, and community—a biopsychosocial model in which all of these pieces are related, and therefore it is useful to address all of them as a whole for us to fully thrive. I also truly believe that it is possible to: * Feel comfortable with your emotions * Heal deeply stored trauma * Gain courage to materialize  your wildest dreams * Speak up and create healthy boundaries * Deepen relationships with yourself and others * Unlock your body’s innate healing ability * Make room for joy, pleasure, and aliveness My intention is that in our therapeutic space, you will: * Feel welcomed to be your full, authentic self * Welcome all of your thoughts, emotions and sensations (as much as you are able, moment to moment) and get to know how good and liberating it feels to be whole * Embrace your humanity, the ups and downs, the yuk, the bleah, all the perfectly imperfect, diverse, cyclical and ultimatelly beautiful journey of being alive * Experience a safe and ethical space where all of this can happen I invite you to join me in this process of reconnecting with your body and mind to return to your whole self, with compassion.