Maria Rheba Estante, Practice Manager

“The vocation of psychotherapy and the specialization of treating OCD and PTSD chose me. It was not a goal to enter this dynamic, challenging, and rewarding occupation. Rather, it compelled me to follow the steps that included leaving a whole other career and life behind. I was drawn to the profession through the classical psychoanalytic writings of Adler, Bion, Jung, Reich, and more contemporary work from Dr. Nancy McWilliams. However, the most pivotal book that planted the seed in my psyche to pursue this path was a Jungian inspired work titled “Goddesses in Everywoman” by Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen.”

M.R.’s first career began in her early 20s in public relations. She started at a boutique agency specializing in financial communications before working at Hill & Knowlton the public relations firm.

For a decade she developed media lists, wrote new releases, copywriting, pitching news stories, coordinating media kits for promotional events or product launches, market research, and conference development. During her time in public relations, she worked with accounts in a variety of sectors: energy, finance, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and technology.

She now leverages these skills in combination with her professional training as an LMFT to support other therapists seeking to enhance their marketing efforts. Visit our Marketing for Therapists page for more information to schedule a consultation.

With a passion for serving individuals in their mental health journey, Maria Rheba (M.R.) Estante is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in California (129514), Connecticut (3550), Hawaii (MFT-897-0) Massachusetts (5000358), Nevada (4796-R) and Virginia (0717002061). She is also an Out-of-State Telehealth Professional for Florida (TPMF 1011), South Carolina (TLC 1012 MFT), and Vermont (100.0134296TELE). In addition, M.R. is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in her home state of California (14937). Her background includes community mental health, mobile crisis, and substance abuse counseling. She has worked at Community Service Agencies contracted with County Public Health, a Veterans Service Organization, and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) at a Methadone Clinic. She also provides clinical peer consultations with fellow OCD therapists and serves as clinical supervisor to pre-licensed associates in California.  

Before entering private practice, M.R. spent a decade in community mental health, starting with her traineeship at a County Outpatient Clinic that served a dual-diagnosis patient population. She completed graduate school while working the graveyard shift in a non-clinical role for a Veterans Service Organization. Upon graduation, M.R. began a nine-month post-masters clinical training internship in mobile crisis response, where she learned to conduct 5150 evaluations from experienced crisis clinicians in the field alongside local law enforcement.

During the pandemic, she provided contracted clinical substance abuse counseling services and conducted mental health assessments required by the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System. In this role, she acted as a liaison between Federal Probation Officers and provided clinical services to formerly incarcerated pre-trial and post-conviction individuals.