Mariya

Specialties: narrative therapy, schema therapy, humanistic therapy, CBT, LGBTQ+ identity development and affirmation, counseling polyamorous clients, eating disorders, depressive/anxiety disorders, burnout, expat counseling, Psychological First Aid.

Languages: English, Ukrainian.

Pronouns: she/they.

Education:

• M. A. in Psychology with an Emphasis in Counseling from Webster University, Leiden (Master’s Thesis: The “Lost Generation” of Ukraine: Psychological Experiences of the Collapse of the USSR and the Emergence of Ukrainian Independence)

• B. A. in Psychology and Communication from Saint Louis University, Madrid

• Currently working toward a Ph. D. in LGBTQ+ and family psychology at Leiden University.

Other activities:

• Worked as a volunteer for Leiden (University) Pride, a non-profit organization for LGBTQ+ students in Leiden, The Netherlands.

• Co-host of BiPositive, a podcast on the psychological experiences of bisexual and queer people.

• Formerly the author of TheBadFoodie, a blog surrounding recovery from and life with anorexia nervosa. 

Affiliations: NIP (#228685), APA International Affiliate (#11608152), Rozehulpverlening (The Netherlands), International Therapist Directory (The Netherlands).

Speaker/Panelist:

• April 2019 – ClexaCon (Panelist) Bi+ Representation in the Media, Finding LGBTQ+ Mental Health Resources, Queer Storylines in Therapy: Constructing Your Narrative Through Fictional Characters

• November 2018 – ClexaCon London (Panelist) Bisexual Representation in the Media, Podcasting as an Outlet for Queer Voices, Pride and Prejudice: How Representation Affects Your Mental Health

• October 2018 – Leiden University Pride (Guest Speaker) A Day in a Queer Life: LGBTQ+ and Mental Health

• May 2018 – AEGEE (Workshop Speaker) Discrimination Within the LGBTQI Community

• April 2018 – Leiden University Pride SexPosium (Guest Speaker)The P Word: Polyamory

• October 2017 – Leiden University Pride Culture and Coming Out (Organizer and Guest Speaker) Bisexuality in Ukraine

Training Attended: 

• December 2023 - Kesher Shalom Project Supporting your Jewish Clients During an Active War & Rise of Antisemitism

• July 2020 – University of Amsterdam Sexuality and Culture

• January 2020 – University of Amsterdam Global Mental Health

• October 2019 – AAMFT Treating Nonbinary Clients Systemically

• October 2019 – Integrativa Treating Adults with Insecure Attachment

• June 2019 – APA Suicide Prevention

• October 2018 – Webster University Schema Therapy Workshop

• September 2017 – Johns Hopkins Psychological First Aid

How do I work? 

I firmly believe that most mental health difficulties are natural responses to adverse life situations and unaccepting environments. The brain is an amazingly adaptive thing. My approach is to use that adaptability to create healthy and proportionate responses rather than perpetuate unhelpful reactions in the long term.

My goal is to create a secure environment for the client, inform and normalize their experience, and create new ways of relating to their experience based on self-acceptance and self-care. 

I work primarily with LGBTQ+ and immigrant clients, and my goal is to use not only my personal experience being part of both of these populations but also to continue informing myself and learning about the nuances of working with other vulnerable groups. 

My therapeutic approach combines narrative techniques to untangle the client’s own story from dominant narratives that may be unhelpful and oppressive, dialectical-behavioral techniques for skills training, cognitive-behavioral and humanistic techniques. 

I work with identity affirmation, depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress management, eating disorders, empowerment of neurodivergent clients, and clients with chronic pain. I also work with attachment and boundary-setting on an individual and relational basis (through couples’ and polycule therapy). 

Who am I? 

When I started my university track, I initially signed up to study communication and quickly realized that creating and exploring reality through storytelling was what I wanted to do. So when the university began to offer psychology as a major, I immediately switched to a double degree, simply because the two sciences complement each other beautifully. Anyone who knows me personally might say that my introversion and sense of humor make me an improbable candidate for a therapist. However, I find that these are the two things that continue to serve at the core of the values I hold dear in my work: observation and storytelling. 

These are also the skills that have gotten me through many challenging life experiences: growing up queer in post-Soviet Ukraine, immigration, several years of anorexia nervosa, ongoing war in my home country, and chronic illness. I was utterly alone through most of these things, as I did not have the vocabulary or the trust in people necessary to ask for help. I wish to be the kind of therapist I would have wanted to turn to at those difficult points in my life: someone trustworthy, open, and reassuring.