Biography
Maria L Schmidt has been practicing as a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) for five years. She has over 16 years of experience in the child welfare system and community mental health combined working with children, youth, young adults and their families. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology as well as a certificate of advanced graduate study in school psychology from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY.
She has studied of variety of treatment modalities such as:● cognitive behavioral therapy CBT -dialectical behavior therapy DBT● solution focused brief treatment SFBT -motivational interviewing MI● collaborative problem solving, CPT -play therapyShe uses a multi-modal approach to tailor treatment to meet the current needs of her clients and theirfamilies.
This approach was effective when working in the child welfare system which required working with several members of one family as well as multiple community partners. Another lesson learned was that success looks different for every client and it's much more effective when the goal for treatment comes directly from them and their real life situations.. Most recently she has been providing intensive community based treatment services such as EOS, CAITS, and CFIT to support families during times ofcrisis and help them plan for better outcomes in the future and avoid hospitalization. Her philosophy is that caregivers are the experts on their children and she works collaboratively to provide some specialized skills, strategies and experience. In order for sustainable change to occur to the environment in which these children and youth live, we need to be collaborating with the people who control that environment and know the client well. She has supported many clients as they became young adults and needed to navigate the additional responsibilities that come with that life transition while still needing to meet family expectations.