Current Focus
Maribel’s practice focuses on the use of the Gottman Institute Research to address the needs of couples and individuals in adult relationship work. She has completed Level 1, 2, and 3 in the certification process to ensure her skills are proficient in helping couples improve the communication, and overall skill set to maximize relationship satisfaction. She is also a “Gottman Leader”, trained to present the “Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work” Couples Training, an intensive 6-hour workshop presented in a psychoeducational format. Maribel believes in The Gottman Method and has traveled to Houston, Austin, New York and Seattle in the pursuit of having the necessary skills to work with her clients.
Along with the Gottman training she also adheres to the Gottman Institute research on child rearing and helps her clients use the Emotional Coaching Method to raise emotionally intelligent children by using an effective parenting style. Her background as an educator, Play Therapist and parent enhances this skill set as she draws from almost 20 years of professional and personal knowledge in the area of parenting, education and child development.
In treating the whole family system, from children, adolescents, young adults transitioning to independent life, and adults of all ages, Maribel has learned invaluable lessons in empathy, genuineness and the importance of building a trusting therapeutic relationship.
Maribel treats adults in the areas of anxiety, grief, depression, trauma, stress management, life adjustments, worklife balance, relationship issues, life changes, and self-development. She uses Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy which helps clients identify and reframe their cognitive distortions (thinking errors) and irrational beliefs. The way we process life events has a great deal of power in our mood, anxiety level, anger, and even behavior; by having a rational way of interacting with our thoughts and interpretations of events we can optimize how we feel and react.
Maribel believes everyone can benefits from a “check in” with a therapist who is genuine, relatable and willing to help clients by validating how they feel, improve their skills to think effectively and grow personally.
She created
Minds In Action Counseling
to provide a welcoming, safe, validating space in which clients are comfortable to work on their concerns in an office setting, psychoeducational trainings, and in the comfort of their home via online self-help tools, reaching a greater number of clients interested in improving their wellbeing.
”A place to feel, think and grow”
Previous Endeavors
Maribel’s vision to become a Licensed Professional Counselor began seven years before she opened her private practice. To reach her goal she worked as an Elementary School Teacher while starting a family and attending Graduate School. Upon earning her Graduate Degree in Guidance and Counseling she continued the added coursework, internship, and 3,000 hours of supervised experience to obtain the full licensure. At that time, she worked as a Counselor at a High School, and during the last semester of her tenure, she built her private practice after hours. It was a long and arduous road to the finish line, and one she is very grateful for. From helping children and adolescents in the academic, social and emotional realms to transitioning and treating clients of all ages, her commitment to serving others spans almost two decades.
Once she became a Licensed Professional Counselor, Maribel focused her practice on child and adolescent clients and their parents. The method of choice for this population is Play Therapy and thus Maribel specialized in this modality and earned her Registered Play Therapist Certification to effectively address the presenting concerns of her younger clients and families. This was an amazing stage in her career as she enjoyed expanding this therapeutic focus by also educating parents at schools, training teachers, educating the community via presentations, TV and radio interviews and finally leading the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of the Texas Play Therapy Association as a Board Member and President. In this role she helped educate Licensed Therapists about the benefits and intervention used in Play Therapy. Along the way she also specialized in Humanistic Sand Tray Therapy which she continues using with adults, and yes adults benefit from using play interventions!
Professional Background
- Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor 2007-to present
- Gottman Level III Trained Therapist 2018
- Registered Play Therapist Supervisor 2014
- Humanistic Sand Tray Level II Therapist 2012
- Bilingual in English and Spanish and can conduct sessions and presentations in both languages
- Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling 2003 University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration-Marketing 1996 University of Texas San Antonio
- High School Counselor 2005-08
- Elementary School Teacher 2000-05
- Worked in the Corporate Sector in the area of Management 1996-2000
- Has supervised and trained Licensed Professional Counselors and Registered Play Therapists
- Member of the National Play Therapy Association
- National Certified Counselor (NCC)
- In the course of her career Maribel has presented at Play Therapy Trainings and Conferences, The Pregnancy Prevention Coalition in South Texas, The Head Start Program, Parent Meetings, Teacher Trainings, Church Presentation focusing on marriage, was interviewed by Univision, Telemundo in the topics of depression and childhood diagnosis, most recently was a featured guest in a YouTube channel
- Has over 18,000 hours of direct client interaction in addition to the 3,000 of supervised internship
Fun Facts
I grew up in Mexico and at the age of 14 years old my family moved to the US and settled in Washington State. I learned English in one year as I was eager to connect with classmates, and teammates in my soccer team. We relocated to South Texas when I was 17 years old where I continued my education and built my family. In 2015 I relocated my family to North Texas, and we love this community, full of cultural diversity, business, and educational opportunities. We have a cat and a bunny.
I make time to enjoy life; I enjoy reading, researching, working out, spending time with loved ones, as well as finding a quiet space to be introspective. I like going to museums, travel and discovering new activities. My personal life includes going to cross country and wrestling events with my kids, learning new things they are into, cooking new recipes and making time to rest and relax as much as the busy life of a mom and professional allows.