01 · Who Maria works with

Maria works with relationship issues, family conflicts and grief

Maria lists 15 specialisms and 19 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Maria chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Maria's own words

What Maria says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Certified Thanatology (CT--Death Studies - Grief and Bereavement) with over 20 years of experience. I have worked with both adults and children, couples and families, in groups and individual settings with varied backgrounds and ideologies. I have worked with cancer patients and their families during the most stressful periods of their lives and have also accompanied them through loss and its aftermath. I have also worked in a corporate setting and have helped many people navigate through transition due to any number of life changes and challenges.

I believe that counseling is a working partnership between the client and therapist: we both have a job to do to move the client in the agreed upon direction of why counseling was initiated. My approach to counseling is Integrative and Multimodal therapy: combining several types of therapy modalities to cater to the needs and personality of each client. These types include (but limited to) cognitive-behavioral (CBT), Cognitive, Gestalt, Psychodynamic, Person Centered and Relationship. I often use contracting, journaling, different forms of art therapy to help the client hone in on certain areas that may not readily be discussed or even consciously known.

The mission is to provide hope, support, and knowledge to those of you who need to find meaning in your life no matter what stage you may be struggling through.

Maria Caruso, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Maria works

The 5 approaches Maria lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Maria lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Maria's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Maria runs a session.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Narrative Therapy

Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Works on the assumption that current patterns - in relationships, at work, in how you treat yourself - have a history, and that seeing the history loosens the pattern. Less structured than CBT, usually longer, and more interested in what comes up unbidden than in a weekly agenda.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Maria practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Maria's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Maria at this point.

2. Naming Maria specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Maria is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Maria.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Maria

Built from what Maria actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Maria's - Maria has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 20 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LPC

Licensed in

New Jersey

Licence

NJ LPC 37PC00304300

Licence number

37PC00304300

Licence expires

30 Nov 2026

NPI

1881243871

Years in practice

20

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Maria's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 9 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Maria. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.