Healing Beyond Talk: EMDR And Mindfulness

What if your mind understands your past, but your body still sounds the alarm? That tension—between insight and sensation—sits at the center of this conversation with licensed marriage and family therapist Maria Malo, whose practice blends EMDR therapy, mindfulness coaching, and somatic work to help clients find calm that lasts.

We dig into why talk therapy can plateau when the nervous system stays stuck in survival. Maria breaks down how EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to reprocess memories, lower emotional charge, and shift the brain’s predictions about safety. She explains the difference between big, obvious traumas and the quieter “small T” experiences that add up over years—subtle stressors that shape how we see ourselves and the world. Paired with everyday tools like breath work, orienting, and body awareness, EMDR helps transform cognitive insight into embodied regulation.

You’ll also hear how stigma—especially for men—keeps many people from getting help, and why therapy isn’t reserved for crisis or chaos. Maria shares her personal path into the field, the integrity of going at the client’s pace, and the practical ways people find support through referrals, community, and education. If you’ve felt like you’ve “done the work” yet still brace for impact, this episode offers a hopeful roadmap: respect your story, include your body, and choose methods that meet you where you are.

Visit:https://mariamalotherapy.com/

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Rachel Five.

SPEAKER_02 (00:14):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Now, if you are looking for aholistic approach to therapy
that integrates solution-focusedcognitive and EMDR therapy along
with mindfulness coaching, well,this resource is closer than you
think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Maria Malo, with Maria Malo EMDRTherapy.

(00:38):
Maria, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 (00:39):
It's going well.
Thank you, Rachel, for having mehere today.

SPEAKER_02 (00:43):
Well, we are really excited to learn about your
practice.
So tell us all about it.

SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
Okay, so well, I'm a licensed marriage and family
therapist, and I've been atherapist for over 25 years.
And I have a private practice inIrvine and also Acadia.
And I deal with um adults thathave been struggling with trauma

(01:09):
and depression and anxiety.
And I found within my work ofdoing this for this long period
of time is that a lot of myclients that were coming to me
were discussing how they've beenin talk therapy and um and
they've been doing the work formany years, but in their nervous

(01:30):
system and their somaticexperience of life, it never
improves.
So they cognitively understandthat they may have depression or
have been through trauma intheir life, but their nervous
system and their brain are notconnecting, right?
So they're still operating froma place of that something may

(01:51):
happen that's wrong, or they'refeeling fear constantly, even
though they've worked with othertherapists or worked with
therapy itself and doing it talktherapy.
So I started to integratemindfulness, EMDR in my work and
somatic work as well to helppeople move past it.
And we usually use the body toget their life back on track or

(02:17):
at least to feel some more umcalmness and resources that they
didn't have before.
Wow, how did you get into thiskind of business?
So I've always had a passion ofworking with people from a very,
very young age.
I was very curious how we prettymuch like how life you know

(02:39):
shapes us, what hurts us, um,how we heal.
So it's been always a passionfrom a young age.
And I always wanted to know ummore about it, and uh for the
way I kind of went into therapyis for my own life history and

(03:00):
my own story, and started towork on myself and then was able
to move out here from New Yorkum to do my own personal healing
as well as do my counselingprogram, a master's program in
San Francisco.
So it was both.
My own also being able to givethat to people who needed um

(03:23):
healing, and it's been such abeautiful journey personally as
well as with clients and seeingthat healing.

SPEAKER_02 (03:31):
Wonderful.
Well, what do you think are somemyths or misconceptions in your
industry?

SPEAKER_01 (03:36):
Yeah, well, that I uh need to have lots of issues
to come into therapy, or I mustbe quote unquote crazy, and
that's why I'm in therapy.
Um, I think that we all canbenefit from therapy, sharing
our story, being witnessed,giving different perspectives,
healing tools.

(03:57):
So um the misconceptions I thinkalso are also gender-based
between male and female, right?
So males don't go into therapy.
And I have a lot of male clientsthat have trauma in their life
that have been so healing to seethem kind of be able to express
things that they haven't sharedor not even know it's trauma.

(04:19):
So um we kind of think of, well,I must have had a difficult
childhood in order to definethat as trauma.
And through my um clinicalpractice, we all have had maybe
multiple experiences that wecall small T's.
EMDR talks a lot about that, butjust little events in our life

(04:41):
that become cumulative that kindof affects our perception of
life.
So um I think we all can benefitfrom it, and you don't have to
have major life um experiencesthat are considered traumatic to
benefit from therapy.

SPEAKER_02 (05:01):
Wonderful.
Now we know marketing is reallythe heart of every business.
So how are you finding clients?

SPEAKER_01 (05:08):
So um, well, best kind of marketing is referrals,
right?
So I do have a lot of wonderfulclients that uh send referrals,
and I'm so grateful for that.
Um other ways are my website.
That's just uh great.
I do a lot of blogging as welland sharing kind of my
expertise, sharing what I thinkuh clients may want to hear

(05:33):
about, um uh, you know,colleagues and um working with
the community.
And um that's pretty much it.
And right now here with you,Rachel.
So people and knowing thatthere's um connections that
could be made.
Wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 (05:51):
Have you ever thought of doing your own
podcast?

SPEAKER_01 (05:54):
That's a great uh question.
Yes, I have.
I just don't know how to goabout it.
I got a lot, you know, on myplate with uh working with
clients, but you know, I'm opento it.
Why not?
Okay.
Well, now outside of work,Maria, what do you like to do
for fun?
I love to travel a lot.
Um, I love to see different uhcultures and the way that um

(06:19):
they live life, right?
That's a big thing, my passionfrom a young age.
Um I spend a lot of time with mydaughter, who's a teenager, and
she's very busy with volleyballpractice high school.
So that takes up a lot of mytime as well.
And I love um being with familyand friends, playing pickleball

(06:41):
and uh, you know, taking walksand being in nature.

SPEAKER_02 (06:45):
Wonderful.
Well, Maria, please tell ourlisteners one thing they should
remember about Maria Malo EMDRtherapy.

SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
Um remember that, you know, uh if you're
struggling, there is uhsomething, you know, where you
can reach out and um come to mywebsite, Maria Mallotherapy.com,
and reach out to me.
And you don't have to do thisalone.
There's hope.
You don't have to do justtraditional talk therapy.

(07:15):
There is eye movementdesensitization, reprocessing.
That's what EMDR stands for.
And um it's structured, it'svery thoughtful, and uh we meet,
you know, I meet you with whereyou're at.
So, you know, the courage is totake the first step.

SPEAKER_02 (07:34):
That's it.
We've mentioned it before, buthow can our listeners the one
more time learn more about MariaMalo EMDR therapy?

SPEAKER_01 (07:43):
Yeah, just go to my website at Maria
Mollotherapy.com, and that'swhere you know you can reach out
to me.
There's my telephone numberthere.

SPEAKER_02 (07:51):
So wonderful.
Well, Maria, I really appreciateyou being on the show, and I and
we wish really you and yourpractice all the best moving
forward.

SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Thank you, Rachel.
Thank you for having me.
I really appreciate the timethat you took.

unknown (08:04):
Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 (08:06):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnporangecounty.com.
That's gnporangecounty.com orcall 714 941 8862.