Background:

Maria holds dual Master's degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling from Virginia Tech and brings over 16 years of experience providing outpatient mental health and addiction services to adolescents and adults across New Jersey, New York City, and the Washington, D.C. area. Her clinical background spans a wide range of presentations, with specialized expertise supporting adolescents navigating opioid addiction and co-occurring mental health concerns — work that was featured in the New York Daily News, CBS News, and published in Behavioral Health News in 2017. She works with college students, young adults, and adults through midlife, and brings particular depth of understanding to clients navigating cultural identity, first-generation experiences, and the tension between the world they were raised in and the one they live in now.

Technique:

Maria's approach integrates Motivational Interviewing, Trauma-Focused CBT, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and Person-Centered humanistic principles — meeting each client where they are and building from there. She is known for being dedicated, energetic, and compassionately honest, with a warmth and sense of humor that makes the therapeutic space feel both genuine and safe. Maria believes therapy should be supportive and real: a place where clients feel truly understood, and gently challenged in the ways that lead to meaningful, lasting growth. As a first-generation Greek American raised between two worlds, she brings a grounded, lived understanding of what it means to hold multiple identities and search for where you uniquely fit — and she brings that perspective into her work with clients navigating their own cultural, relational, and professional landscapes.

Just for fun:

When she's not with clients, Maria is most likely planning her next trip — she loves to travel, try new foods, and meet new people. She's also a devoted live music fan: venue, genre, city — none of it matters. If there's a ticket, she's there.

Maria Afordakos is licensed to practice psychotherapy in Virginia, Delaware, and New Jersey