Meet Maria Jessica Quiroz
M.S, LMFT: CA #139774, NV #4757-R
Maria Jessica Quiroz is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the Founder of The Couples Therapy & Reunification Counseling, a specialized clinical practice dedicated to helping couples, children, and families restore connection and rebuild relationships.
With over 15 years of experience working with children, couples, and families, Maria specializes in reunification therapy, couples counseling, parental alienation cases, and high conflict family dynamics. Her work focuses on strengthening emotional bonds, repairing attachment injuries, and guiding families through structured therapeutic processes that support healing and reconnection.
Maria frequently works with family law attorneys, minor’s counsel, and court professionals in cases involving parent child estrangement, loyalty conflicts, and high conflict custody situations. Her work is designed to create a safe and structured pathway toward reconnection while prioritizing the emotional well being of the child.
Her therapeutic philosophy is grounded in attachment science, recognizing that our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with the world shape our emotional development, sense of belonging, and overall well being.
Education
B.S, University of California, Santa Barbara
M.S in Marriage and Family Therapy, Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles
“Parenting with love, fairness, and unity is the key to breaking generational cycles of conflict and division.”
A Mission Rooted in Both Professional and Personal Experience
Maria’s passion for reunification therapy and family healing is not only professional but deeply personal.
As a mother, Maria experienced firsthand the emotional impact that family conflict and separation can have on the bond between a parent and child. Walking through this journey alongside her daughter gave her a profound understanding of the importance of protecting the parent child relationship and supporting children through difficult family transitions.
This experience shaped the heart behind her work and strengthened her commitment to helping families navigate conflict with compassion, structure, and guidance.
Her perspective as both a therapist and a mother allows her to approach reunification work with deep empathy while maintaining the clinical structure necessary to support healthy and lasting reconnection.
Maria believes that even when families experience significant conflict or estrangement, relationships can be repaired when the process is guided with patience, structure, and a child centered approach.
Experience Working With Children and Families
Decades of Insight, Compassion, and Care!
Maria Jessica Quiroz’s work with families began long before opening her private practice. With more than 15 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and families, she has developed deep expertise in behavioral challenges, trauma-informed care, family systems, and reunification therapy.
She began her early work supporting children experiencing behavioral, emotional, and developmental challenges at Holding Hands, Inc. in Los Angeles, where she collaborated closely with families to improve stability, emotional regulation, and functioning within the home environment. This experience provided a strong foundation in working directly with children while supporting parents in creating healthier family dynamics.
Maria later continued her work with vulnerable families through the Full Service Partnership (FSP) Crisis Unit at Pathways LA, a county-supported mental health program providing intensive services to individuals and families experiencing significant emotional, behavioral, and crisis-related challenges. In this role, she worked directly with families navigating complex mental health needs, gaining extensive experience in crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, and county-level systems of support.
These early professional experiences gave Maria a deep understanding of how child behavior, emotional development, family conflict, and trauma intersect within the family system. Through years of working with children individually, she recognized that while supporting a child is critical, lasting and meaningful change often occurs when the entire family system is supported and guided toward healthier patterns of connection.
This realization sparked her passion for working with entire families rather than solely individual clients, ultimately leading her to specialize in family systems therapy, reunification therapy, and relational healing.
Professional Background and Clinical Training
Maria Jessica Quiroz is the Owner and Founder of The Couples Therapy & Reunification Counseling, a specialized private practice serving families in Montebello and Newport Beach, California, as well as through telehealth across the state.
For more than a decade, she has provided therapy services focused on high-conflict families, reunification therapy, parental alienation dynamics, and trauma-informed relational care.
Maria began her formal clinical training in 2016 at Pacific Clinics, one of California’s leading community mental health organizations, where she served as a trainee and began accumulating the 3,000 supervised clinical hours required for licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist. During this time she received extensive training in child therapy, family systems work, trauma-informed care, and community-based mental health treatment.
She later expanded her experience working at Molina Pathways, a crisis intervention and Full-Service Partnership (FSP) program, where she provided intensive mental health support to individuals and families facing complex psychological and social challenges. This experience deepened her clinical understanding of serious mental health presentations, crisis response, and culturally responsive treatment within diverse communities.
In addition to exceeding the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) requirement of 3,000 supervised hours, Maria has pursued advanced training in several evidence-based therapeutic modalities, including:
• Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Trauma-informed treatment approaches
Her therapeutic work integrates these modalities within a broader attachment-based and systemic framework, allowing her to tailor treatment to the unique emotional and relational needs of each family.
As a licensed clinician, Maria also fulfills the continuing education requirements established by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), completing ongoing Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to ensure that her practice remains clinically informed, ethical, and aligned with evolving standards of care.
Expertise in Reunification Therapy and Parental Alienation
Through years of direct clinical work with families, Maria developed a specialization in reunification therapy and court-involved family systems.
Her reunification methods are informed by extensive clinical experience working with high-conflict custody situations, parent-child estrangement, and complex family dynamics, as well as ongoing consultation with multidisciplinary professionals and reunification specialists.
Maria is also well-versed in the research surrounding Parental Alienation (PA) and parent-child relational disruptions. She has studied the work of leading experts in the field, including Dr. Craig Childress, as well as research associated with instruments such as the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ).
While parental alienation is not formally recognized as a diagnosis within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), Maria remains familiar with the broader research discourse and clinical tools used to assess relational disruptions between parents and children. She thoughtfully incorporates this knowledge into reunification therapy, treatment planning, and clinical evaluations.
With more than a decade of direct experience, advanced training, and a deep understanding of family systems, Maria has developed a strong specialization in reunification therapy, parental alienation dynamics, and court-involved family treatment.
The Quiroz Bridge Model
Maria developed the Quiroz Bridge Model, a structured reunification framework designed to guide families through the complex process of rebuilding the relationship between a parent and child after estrangement or alienation dynamics.
The model focuses on creating a gradual, child centered pathway toward reconnection, helping families move from emotional distance and conflict toward trust and healthy communication.
The framework integrates:
• attachment based therapy
• trauma informed care
• structured reunification phases
• parent coaching and family system work
This model is often utilized in court involved reunification cases, where a safe and structured therapeutic process is essential to rebuilding the parent child relationship.
Learn more about the Quiroz Bridge Model of Reunification Therapy.
Areas of Clinical Focus
Maria’s work centers around relational healing in several key areas.
Couples Counseling & Marriage Therapy
Maria works with couples experiencing communication breakdowns, emotional disconnection, betrayal trauma, or life transitions. Through couples counseling, she helps partners rebuild trust, strengthen emotional intimacy, and develop healthier communication patterns.
Learn more about Couples Counseling and Marriage Therapy.
Reunification Therapy
Maria specializes in helping repair the relationship between a parent and child following estrangement, parental alienation dynamics, or high conflict custody disputes. Her work focuses on creating safe and structured opportunities for rebuilding trust and restoring the parent child bond.
Learn more about Reunification Therapy.
Attachment Based Therapy
Attachment patterns formed in childhood often shape our adult relationships, emotional regulation, and self worth. Maria helps individuals and families understand and heal these patterns so they can build healthier relationships with themselves and others.
Learn more about Secure Attachment Therapy.
Credentials and Education
Maria Jessica Quiroz is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in the state of California.
Her graduate training in Marriage and Family Therapy focused on family systems, attachment theory, trauma informed care, and relational healing.
She continues to pursue ongoing training in areas related to:
• reunification therapy
• attachment based treatment
• court involved therapy
• family systems and relational trauma
Professional Resources
For attorneys, court professionals, and families who would like to learn more about Maria’s work, the following resources are available:
• Maria Jessica Quiroz Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• The Quiroz Bridge Model Reunification Framework
• Reunification Therapy Overview
• Couples Counseling Approach
• Professional trainings and presentations
Professional Memberships &Affiliations
Maria Jessica Quiroz, LMFT, is a proud member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), including its California Chapter.
As a CAMFT member, Maria maintains the highest clinical and ethical standards in California. CAMFT provides essential resources such as legal consultations, continuing education, and statewide advocacy, directly supporting her role as both therapist and clinical supervisor.
Her membership with AFCC, specifically within the California Chapter, highlights her specialized expertise in reunification therapy and court-involved family cases. AFCC promotes collaboration among mental health professionals, attorneys, and judges, and offers access to current research and best practices in family law and conflict resolution. This interdisciplinary support reinforces Maria’s mission to help families heal, reunite, and move forward.
A Message From Maria
Maria believes that relationships are one of the most meaningful parts of the human experience.
Our connection with ourselves, with our children, with our partners, and with the world around us shapes how we experience love, belonging, and purpose.
Her work is guided by a simple mission:
to help individuals, couples, and families restore connection, strengthen emotional bonds, and build healthier relationships that support healing and growth.
Schedule a Consultation
If you are navigating relationship challenges, family conflict, or reunification with your child, our team is here to help.
We offer therapy services in Montebello and Newport Beach, California, as well as online therapy across California.
Schedule a consultation to learn how therapy can support your journey toward healing and reconnection.