About Maria

Edmonton-born & raised, I now call Sylvan Lake, AB, home.

Since I was a child, I’ve been deeply curious about what it means to be human—always questioning, exploring, and eager to learn and share understandings with others. I’ve also always been drawn to both helping and listening to others, a tendency that began early on in my life. By middle school, friends would jokingly call me their "psychologist." These early traits of curiosity and empathy led me to a career as a classroom teacher, where I had the privilege of guiding students through their own self-exploration through writing workshops and musical theatre.

From a young age, creativity was one of my deepest refuges. I found solace in both music and writing, and these creative outlets were vital to my growth—providing a way to understand and release the emotions and experiences that filled me. This also informed my path as an educator. From my first year of teaching, I developed respect and awe for the “aha” moments that students experienced through the transformative power of both writing and theatre, but it wasn’t until I encountered mindfulness in 2010 that I truly began to understand the transformative potential of integrating creativity and presence.

Since childhood, I also struggled with my mental health in ways I couldn’t fully understand or express. Though it wasn’t until I was 23 that I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression, my struggles had been present long before that. Over the years, I sought help through psychotherapy and medication, but despite my efforts, I still found myself feeling stuck, as though something deeper was missing or just out of reach. In October of 2010, I decided to attend a mindfulness meditation retreat, unsure of what to expect. That weekend turned out to be a game-changer, a “lights-on” moment that completely shifted the way I saw myself and my relationship to the world. Through simple practices like sitting in silence, grounding my attention on my breath, and embracing the present moment, I began to experience healing in ways I hadn’t thought possible. Mindfulness opened me up to a new way of being—one that embraced the full experience of body, mind, and spirit. I realized that healing wasn’t just about managing thoughts or emotions—it was about reconnecting to myself and the world around me. As I began to notice the profound benefits mindfulness brought to my life, I couldn’t help but ask: Why aren’t we teaching this in schools?

This question sparked a shift in my career. As I began incorporating mindfulness into my classroom, I saw positive differences in both myself and my students. I started offering mindfulness practices to more students and colleagues, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Students and staff alike noticed increased calm, focus, and emotional regulation. These experiences reinforced my belief that mindfulness could play a pivotal role in fostering mental health and well-being in schools. Motivated by this, I pursued a mindfulness certification and began developing and running mindfulness programs for students and staff. This work deepened my commitment to supporting mental health, which eventually led me to pursue a Master of Psychotherapy and Spirituality (MPS) degree to formalize my role as a mental health professional.

During my master’s studies, I was drawn to study trauma, expressive arts therapy, and therapeutic modalities like Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Through this journey, I realized that my creative practices—particularly through writing, music, and visual art—had always been a form of self-therapy, helping me process emotions and experiences long before I even heard about expressive arts therapy. Over time, my own creative process naturally shifted from writing and music into more visual art forms, such as metta art and intention collages. These creative practices became important tools for processing emotions and experiences in new, non-verbal ways. Combining these practices with mindfulness and trauma-informed therapy became the foundation of my personal practice and my work with others. Today, I focus on how mindfulness, creative expression, and psychotherapy can work together to support healing and personal growth.

Over the last 15 years of meditation and mindfulness practice, I’ve deepened my love of stillness and silence. I’ve also gradually been reclaiming parts of myself that were once abandoned. This homecoming has included acknowledging and deepening my inner love of music, creating, and playing, and I continue to explore how I can bring these passions further into my life and service to others. As humans are more than just bodies, thought patterns, emotions, behaviors, or beliefs, I strongly feel that any true healing needs to be multi-modal—I believe in addressing the whole person. I infuse a spiritually-integrated person-centered lens into all the things that I do.

Mindfulness and creative expression are at the heart of my work, and I continue to explore how they can be used together to foster healing. Whether through mindfulness-based programs, expressive arts, or counselling, my mission is to support others in their own journeys of self-discovery, healing, and growth. I am deeply committed to helping others reconnect with their true selves and unlock the creative and mindful potential that lies within, always holding space for the unique process of each person’s transformation. It is my deepest honour to walk alongside others as they navigate this precious human life and explore their healing.