Find your bearings in unfamiliar waters.
Maria Pitale, PsyD offers neurodiversity-affirming therapy, neurodevelopmental assessment, and family support for toddlers through young adulthood.
When the waters feel uncertain, families do not need someone to take over the journey. They needs someone who helps them understand where they are, regain their bearings, and navigate forward with confidence.
Calmer waters begin with deeper understanding
Parents often arrive after weathering confusing diagnoses, conflicting advice, difficult school meetings, and moments of anxiety or uncertainty
Behavior gives us information, but it does not tell the whole story. The same action can come from many different needs, emotions, sensory experiences, relationships, or attempts to feel safe. My role is not to take over the helm. It is to listen, stay curious, and help your family recognize the currents beneath the surface.
A clearer course for your family.
PLAY THERAPY. A relationship where your child can fully be themselves.
Flexible, play-based, neurodiversity-affirming therapy that meets vulnerability and dysregulation with safety, connection, and curiosity—not pressure to perform or comply.
NEURODEVELOPMENTAL & AUTISM ASSESSMENT. Understanding--not a list of deficits.
A collaborative, strengths-aware evaluation designed to make sense of your child’s individual profile. The report becomes a practical roadmap for understanding, accommodations, and advocacy.
CAREGIVER THERAPY & SUPPORT GROUP. A place for parents to feel understood.
Connection either with me or other parents navigating a different kind of parenting journey--without judgment, simple fixes, or the expectation that you should have it alll figured out.
SIBLING SUPPORT GROUP
A supportive setting where siblings can connect, express what family life feels like for them, and make room for their own needs and perspectives.
Guided by relationship. Grounded in understanding.
Neurodiversity-affirming care does not ignore distress. It helps us understand the waters your child is navigating—and refuses to frame the person as something to fix.
The child has a voice
Children are participants in their care, not simply subjects discussed by adults.
Felt safety comes first
Sensory needs, pacing, environment, and relationship matter before meaningful work can happen.
Parents are partners
You bring lifelong knowledge of your child. I bring clinical experience. We need both to find the way forward.
Advocacy is part of care
Understanding should lead to useful accommodations, stronger self-advocacy, and practical next steps.
Meet Maria-genuine connection starts here.
I am a licensed psychologist, a parent of neurodivergent children, an advocate, a resource finder, and a person who believes humor belongs in hard rooms
Across more than 20 years in clinical, school, and research settings, I have learned that children most often misunderstood are not the children who need a stricter manual. They need adults willing to wonder what is happening beneath the surface.
Parenthoood made that understanding personal. I know what it is like to navigate systems, search for the right support, advocate at school, and worry about what comes next. That experience keeps me humble about what professional expertise can-and cannot tell us on its own.
When we understand what's underneath we can support what comes next.
A Bit About Me
Authentic relationships are part of the work.
I believe healing happens through authentic relationships. When you meet me, you'll meet a licensed psychologist with years of experience, but you also will meet the same Maria I bring to everyday life: curious, compassionate, genuine, and fully present.
Training, frameworks, and values I draw from.
PDA North America Certification 1 & 2
PDA North America Certification 1 & 2
PDA North America Certification 1 & 2
.
Collaborative and Proactive Solutions
PDA North America Certification 1 & 2
PDA North America Certification 1 & 2
Trauma Focused CBT
PDA North America Certification 1 & 2
Trauma Focused CBT
SPACE training
Synergetic Play Therapy
Declarative Language
.
Declarative Language
Synergetic Play Therapy
Declarative Language
Synergetic Play Therapy
Synergetic Play Therapy
Synergetic Play Therapy
What care can look like
Every journey begins by finding your bearings.
Your child's inner compass offers direction. Together we will navigate what comes next.
Beginning in the least stressful way
Adjusting the course as your child guides us
Beginning in the least stressful way
That might mean starting virtually, visiting the office informally, or letting your child see the space before being askied to participate.
Making room for sensory needs
Adjusting the course as your child guides us
Beginning in the least stressful way
We can consider lighting, smells, movement, comfort objects, breaks, and other details that help the nervous system feel safer.
Adjusting the course as your child guides us
Adjusting the course as your child guides us
Adjusting the course as your child guides us
If your child does not have spoons for the plan that day, we can slow down, shift focus, or find another way forward.
Offering choices without overwhelm
Adjusting the course as your child guides us
Adjusting the course as your child guides us
I share a thoughtful range of resources and options- a buffet, not a mandate-at a pace that feels manageable for your family.
Questions families often bring.
A few practical details before reaching out.
I work with toddlers through young adulthood with a focus on neurodivergent and neurodevelopmental children, teens, young adults, and their families.
I offer play therapy, neurodevelopmental and autism assessment, caregiver therapy and support groups, and sibling support groups.
I also provide consultation services to professionals and agencies.
In-person services are available in Media, Pennsylvania. Virtual therapy is also available, and additional in-person times may be scheduled when mutually
available.
My work is neurodiversity-affirming and grounded in understanding the child's inner experience, not just what shows on the outside. I have particular expertise supporting families navigating autism, PDA, anxiety, and other neurdevelopmental differences.
It means meeting the person in front of me with curiosity, flexibility, and respect. Care is collaborative, relationshi-based and focused on building understanding, support, accommodation, advocacy, and felt safety.
In-person services are available in Media, Pennsylvania. Virtual therapy is also available, and additional in-person times may be scheduled when mutually available.
Assessment starts with an intake session that can be done in an individual session or several sessions based on caregiver's need to attend to the child and own personal needs.
Assessment includes completion of several measures sent digitially to caregiver and young person.
When indicated, in person testing occurs over 1-3 sessions lasting several hours each. Pacing for assessment is determined by child's nervous system regulation needs.
Review of any collateral documentation and speaking with collateral professionals when clinically indicated.
Completion of a written report and feedback session with caregiver and child.
No. Many parents find caregiver therapy, consultation, or support groups to be helpful without involving the child.
Your child would need to be involved in assessment, but the process could be adjusted to your child's needs.
The groups are designed for caregivers to have a safe place for parents to feel understood. The groups are open to step-parents, kinship parents, and other caregivers who play a significant role in caring for the child. Blood relationship to the child is not required.
My services are private pay. I can provide a superbil to submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement. I also have a limited number of sliding scale spots to allow for accessibility.
Therapy is $175 per hour. Neurodevelopmental and autism assessment is a $2500 flat fee. Groups range from $10 to $40 per session.
The first step is to reach out. We can talk about what your family is looking for, whether my approach could be a good fit, and what the next steop could look like. .
Reach out when you're ready.
We will talk about what your family is looking for, whether my approach and availability may be a fit, and what the next step could look like. No hard sell. No pressure to have every detail organized first.
Hours
Mon | By Appointment | |
Tue | By Appointment | |
Wed | By Appointment | |
Thu | By Appointment | |
Fri | By Appointment | |
Sat | By Appointment | |
Sun | By Appointment |
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