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Born, raised, and educated in New Jersey, USA, Malia was a student-athlete in high school and college, competing as a long-distance runner for twelve years.

She graduated from Monmouth University's Undergraduate & Graduate Social Work Programs.  As she completed her coursework, Malia set her sights on working in the education setting as a school social worker.  The social and emotional challenges students face can often interfere with academic performance. 

While Malia's work initially revolved around children, relationships with their teachers and family became increasingly essential. These years of collaboration sharpened Malia's confidence when it came to straddling the world of a child and communicating effectively with their 'big people'. 

The collaborative conversations illuminated the immense pressure adults feel to enrich children's lives, guide them appropriately and keep them safe. 

Malia's core beliefs about difficult times and challenging behaviors were shaped not only by the thousands of hours spent with children, but the hundreds of hours reading and taking play therapy trainings, practicing with peers, and consulting with experts in the field. 

After the pandemic onset, Malia transitioned to diversifying her services. Among the individual therapy she provides in Shrewsbury, Malia began consulting and supervising clinicians who wanted to increase their efficacy with children and families across varied settings. In 2023 Malia also introduced a unique new offering for destination retreats: Malia created a role named Mental Health Retreat Consultant in which she supports retreat leaders in enhancing integration of concepts and activities by checking in with attendees, offering co-regulation like breathing, sensory grounding strategies and ultimately being highly attuned and responsive to the emotional needs of the attendees.

She recently completed a compelling training in the Demartini Method® which has further expanded her offerings to include coaching for adults who want to resolve long-standing emotional distress so they can pursue their most fulfilling desires.

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