Meet Maria

My name is Maria, I am Portuguese and I am a certified Professional Hypnotherapist, CBT Practitioner and an NLP Master.

Before graduating in Hypnotherapy, I was a geologist, and I completed a PhD in Earth sciences at the University of Porto. I have two grown-up kids and I live in Stroud with my partner.

Although I really enjoyed my work and have amazing kids, I was always haunted by the spectre of depression. For more than twenty years the dark way of thinking would assault me more frequently and deeply than I would wish.

First suicide attempt at 27 … several weeks at the psychiatric hospital. My daughter was a year old. There was no talk about postpartum depression and my relationship with her father did not help. The second attempt at 41 – this time I just wanted to rest for a few days, but it went wrong, and I ended up in the hospital again.

The solution psychiatrists find for me and for all the people who regularly would spend time in those hospitals was… medication. How will medication help me to cope with the challenges life throws at me? Every time I am faced with a problem in life I am going to take medication? Is that it?

In between, many hours, many years of suffering and despair. The idea of ​​suicide constantly surfaced, the desperation for not finding solutions, not seeing the future and just wanting to give up. And the weight, the huge weight on top of me, pulling me down, as if I were carrying all my “stupid past” on my shoulders. Looking back and just seeing mistakes, judging myself and my circumstances always negatively. Feeling that my life is ridiculous, stupid, unnecessary, and a burden.

I believed that peace was impossible. Guilt, shame, loneliness – total loneliness in a very dark place – inside.

I thank my children and my mother for their/my existence. They, and the certainty that I would do them terrible harm, kept me here, alive. My love for them kept me afloat. My love for them gave me life – and fortunately, a life that is now full of peace and joy.

When finally I decided to get real help, my life changed. The support I needed all my life was there for me. Knowledge, empathy and some simple techniques gave me the power to transform my life.

I discovered in NLP and Guided Imagery a new world … It helped me find the lasting peace that I always desired. A peace and joy I didn’t think were possible.

It was then that I embarked on a long journey of learning about trauma, relationships and the neuropsychological processes behind our behaviours and thoughts.

I wanted to give to others the same kind of support I received and help others who are dealing with the same problems I experienced. And during my training, I saw, with my own eyes, how knowledge and imagination can change people’s lives for the better.

I’ve studied at the Human Givens College, with Faith Waude from Hypnotic World, Mark Tyrell / Roger Elliot from Uncommon Knowledge, David Key from Auspiciun and Dr Eric Gentry from Arizona Trauma Institute.

After qualifying as a Hypnotherapist and completing a wide range of complementary training (Neuropsychology, Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (CBT), Neurolinguistic Programming, Counselling, Post-Traumatic Stress and Complex PTSD, Polyvagal Theory and Brain Nutrition) I founded the MdS therapeutic Coaching.

I confess that, at first, I was surprised by the results obtained. I have seen people with complex physical and psychological problems improving, living balanced lives, believing in themselves and their ability to solve problems and achieve their goals.

There is no greater satisfaction than receiving messages from our clients, months or years later, telling how therapy has changed their lives.

Because whenever I guide someone to adopt their own healing path and transform their relationships, I am not only helping one person: I am helping their children and their grandchildren. When parents find their own peace and happiness, children grow up as balanced adults and this spreads for generations.