Maria Pulizzo, LPC

Maria Pulizzo is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Missouri who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, bipolar concerns, and self-esteem struggles. She also focuses on drug and alcohol addiction and issues common to young adults. She writes plainly and listens closely to understand each person's situation before planning next steps.

Maria uses practical, collaborative methods in sessions. She centers conversations on the person's goals and works to develop clear, doable steps. Sessions are nonjudgmental and aimed at reducing distress while building skills that carry into daily life.

Her approach draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused techniques. That combination lets her address thoughts, behaviors, and coping skills while keeping problem solving concrete and goal oriented. She offers space to talk through feelings and also introduces small tools clients can use between sessions.

Maria's background includes five years providing therapy in community mental health settings and a longer history in the mental health and substance use field. She brings experience working with co-occurring mental health and addiction concerns and aims to blend support with practical intervention.

People who contact her can expect straightforward conversation, shared goal-setting, and a focus on skills to manage mood and addictive behaviors. Maria encourages clients to take the first step toward change and plans sessions around what matters most to them.

How Maria blends approaches for online work

Maria uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy to target unhelpful thoughts and teach coping skills. CBT focuses on identifying thought patterns and trying small changes in thinking and behavior to reduce anxiety and depression. DBT emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and building practical skills for managing intense feelings and impulses.

She also draws on client-centered principles in sessions, offering a respectful, nonjudgmental stance while working with each person to choose methods that fit their needs. Deciding which approach to use is a team effort - the therapist and client discuss goals and try strategies together to find what feels most helpful.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, which let people pick what works best. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and skill practice, phone sessions can be lower bandwidth and easier on busy days, while chat and text are useful for shorter check-ins or when writing feels easier. These options make scheduling more flexible and help therapy fit into everyday life.