Maria Montelione, LCSW, PMH-C
E. Setauket · Virtual Across NYNearly a decade of clinical experience across various medical units, including a Level 1 trauma hospital and a mother baby NICU unit, has given Maria a depth that is hard to teach. She specializes in supporting millennial women navigating chronic illness, high risk pregnancy, pregnancy and infant loss, birth trauma, the postpartum journey, and the complex emotional weight of having a baby whose NICU stay extends beyond your own discharge. Medical fluency meets genuine warmth, and the result is a therapist who has truly seen it and knows how to help you move through it.
I get it. You just survived the hardest thing of your life. And somehow you're still expected to be okay.
I know that version of exhausted because I've sat with it, in various medical units, in the mother baby NICU, and in the quiet aftermath of loss that no one prepares you for. After nearly a decade working across different medical environments including a Level 1 trauma hospital, I became a therapist because I knew the clinical side wasn't enough. You deserve someone who understands the medical reality and knows how to help you heal from it.
That's exactly why I'm here. Not to minimize what you've been through, but to finally give you the space to fall apart, process it, and find your way back to yourself.
This Isn’t
Textbook Therapy
Sessions with me are built on nearly a decade of real clinical experience, not just theory. She connects the dots between what you've been through medically and emotionally, and helps you build a path forward that actually makes sense for your life.
One hour. All yours.
No minimizing. No rushing through the hard parts. Just honest, specialized support in a space that can finally hold it all.
Real talk, no filter.
Maria brings medical fluency and genuine warmth to every session, meeting you exactly where you are, whether that's postpartum, grieving, anxious, or all three at once.
Actual progress.
We don't just process. We untangle the weight of what you've carried, challenge what's keeping you stuck, and build something that actually moves you forward.
This Isn't My First Hard Conversation
My clinical credentials are the foundation. But the real depth came from the field. I've worked across various medical units including a Level 1 trauma hospital and a mother baby NICU unit, sat with families during some of the most terrifying moments of their lives, and supported women through high risk pregnancies, preterm births, and the devastating grief of pregnancy and infant loss. That is not something you learn from a textbook. That is the room.
I bring all of it into every session. Not to lead with the resume, but because that level of experience is what lets me sit with you in the hard stuff without flinching, without a script, and with a depth of understanding that is genuinely hard to find.
Who I Work With
I work primarily with millennial women who look like they have it together on paper but are quietly drowning underneath. My clients are navigating anxiety, depression, chronic illness, and the heavy weight of high self-expectations, often while carrying invisible losses the world never quite made room for. She has a deep specialty in perinatal and postpartum support, working with women through high risk pregnancy, preterm birth, NICU trauma, pregnancy and infant loss, postpartum depression and anxiety, perinatal OCD, and the crushing shame of mom guilt. I also work with women who are survivors of assault, women navigating the complexities of millennial dating, and those wrestling with questions of faith during the hardest seasons of their lives.
How I Work
My approach is warm, medically informed, and deeply human. I meet you where you are, whether that's fresh out of the NICU, months into postpartum and still not feeling like yourself, or simply exhausted from holding everyone else together. My sessions are honest, unhurried, and built around helping you untangle what you've been carrying so you can actually start to move through it.
Availability
I see clients on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, in person at our East Setauket location or virtually across New York, based on what works best for you.
Education, Training & Licensure
Education
Masters in Social Work (MSW) · Stony Brook University
Bachelors in Arts (BA) in Psychology · SUNY New Paltz
Licensure
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
New York State, License, #089740-01
Training & Certifications
Perinatal Mental Health Certification (PMH-C)
Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Substance Use Intervention Trained
Seminar in Field Instruction (SIFI) Certificate Clinical Supervisor
ABOUT ME
Outside the office you'll find me volunteering at a dog rescue, or clipping into my Peloton with zero intention of being social until I'm done. My ideal evening involves my favorite comfort show on in the background and absolutely nothing on the calendar.
Outside of sessions I'm someone who believes deeply in rest, community, and showing up fully for the people I care about. The work I do matters because the people in my life matter, and that reminder keeps me grounded.
I don't do coffee. My wellness looks like movement, time with people I love, and showing up fully for the work I genuinely believe in. After nearly a decade supporting families through some of the hardest moments of their lives, I still think this is the most important work there is.
Let's see if we're the right fit.