Maria Rheba Estante

EMDR, Brainspotting, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Flash Technique for PTSD and C-PTSD. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD, and Habit Reversal Training (HRT) for Repetitive Body Focused Behaviors (Trichotillomania, Excoriation Disorder). Consultant-in-Training (CIT) for EMDR. Clients often tell me my approach feels structured and pragmatic, direct in a way that helps them settle in and say things out loud in a judgement free space. I think that quality comes partly from growing up across worlds. Born in the South Pacific, raised in Western Canada’s country-western culture, later immersed in Toronto’s East Coast academic scene, exposed to the bilingual-multicultural Canadian zeitgeist before eventually landing in California. I learned early how to read between cultural lines and hold space for complexity. I see people as a tapestry because no one is a textbook case. We can experience the same events, be exposed to similar ideas, yet they can shape each person towards vastly different trajectories. My passion for psychoanalytic thinking took root at the University of Toronto, where I discovered an undergraduate program called Humanities and Psychoanalytic Thought. During that time, a fellow freshman offered advice that quietly redirected my entire path: “It’s a good idea to learn how to read people.” I’ve followed that thread today with ongoing training at the New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles. My approach is to work to bring together intellectual depth with practical, real-world tools. Keen on psychoeducation and skills building. I'm committed to providing resources and community support tools as adjunct therapeutic aids between sessions. I do not want someone to be dependent on therapy but to actually move forward. Modus Operendi: Always believed that when someone has genuine space to speak and feels truly heard, something internal begins to shift in ways that create real, lasting change.