A Compassionate Advocate at the Intersection of Military and LGBTQIA+ Mental Health
Maria Giuliana is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who offers a compassionate, affirming, and deeply human approach to therapy. Her work is grounded in the belief that healing happens in relationships where people feel safe enough to be fully seen, heard, and understood. She helps clients navigate trauma, identity struggles, life transitions, emotional pain, and relational challenges with care that is thoughtful, personalized, and growth-oriented.
Military Specialty: A Veteran Serving Veterans
With 20 years of distinguished service in the U.S. Navy, Maria brings lived understanding to her work with service members, veterans, and military families. She
understands the weight of service, the complexity of transition, and the lasting impact military culture and trauma can have on identity, relationships, and emotional well-being.
Maria offers veterans a therapeutic space where they do not have to translate their experiences to be understood. Her work supports healing with dignity, respect, and an appreciation for both the strength and burden that can come with military life.
LGBTQIA+ Specialty: Community, Affirmation, and Advocacy
Maria is proud to serve the LGBTQIA+ community as both a community member and advocate. She creates an affirming therapeutic space where clients can explore identity, relationships, belonging, healing, and self-trust without fear of judgment or the need to shrink who they are.
Her work is especially meaningful for clients navigating the impact of stigma, rejection, minority stress, moral injury, or the intersection of LGBTQIA+ identity with other aspects of self, including military experience, culture, and family history.
Clinical Approach
Maria’s approach to therapy is integrative, humanistic, experiential, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive. She believes counseling is not about forcing people into a formula, but about meeting each person where they are and creating a space where healing can unfold in a way that feels genuine and sustainable.
She works collaboratively with clients, drawing from evidence-based practices while honoring the emotional, relational, cultural, and existential dimensions of their lives. Her goal is to help clients deepen self-understanding, strengthen resilience, and move toward lives that feel more authentic, grounded, and aligned.
Personal Roots
Maria is a first-generation American from Sicilian parents who came to the United States through Ellis Island. That family history of courage, migration, adaptation, and perseverance informs her deep respect for identity, resilience, and the stories people carry across generations.
She understands that healing is often shaped by culture, legacy, belonging, and the unspoken emotional inheritance families pass down. This perspective deepens her commitment to providing care that is culturally attuned, relationally grounded, and genuinely human.
All Creatures Great and Small
Outside the counseling room, Maria’s life is full of wagging tails, quiet companionship, and the kind of everyday care
that reflects how she moves through the world. She shares her space with four dogs, seven garage cats, and the occasional opossum who stops by for a snack.
Her love for animals reflects her broader belief that healing begins in environments where safety, gentleness, and connection are felt.