Transforming Trauma into Trust: How a Brooklyn Mental Health Coach Can Help You Heal

Transforming Trauma into Trust: How a Brooklyn Mental Health Coach Can Help You Heal

Growing up in a home filled with chaos, fear, and violence, I never imagined I’d one day be writing a blog post like this. But here I am. My name is Maria Ingardia Brody—author of BREAKING FREE: From Mobster to Mentor, a gay woman, a survivor of domestic violence and mental health disease, and most importantly, someone who found a way out. I know what it’s like to wrestle with the dark night of the soul. I know anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts not from a textbook, but from lived experience. And I also know this: if you’re searching for a mental health coach in Brooklyn, you’re probably ready to stop surviving and start thriving. That was the moment everything shifted for me, too.

Let’s talk about the real stuff. Not the Pinterest-quote version of healing. I’m talking about the sleepless nights, the flashbacks and the flashforwards no one talks about- where you create made up worst case scenarios and live as if.  The terrifying moments when you don’t know if you can keep going. I was diagnosed with PTSD, Severe Anxiety, Depression and something my doctors called “shrinkage of the brain,” which is formally known as hippocampal atrophy. That’s what long-term trauma and stress can do to your brain—it physically changes it. And yes, that terrified me. But here’s the most powerful truth: the brain is also capable of healing. You are capable of healing. You can rewire your Trauma into Trust. 

No one told me the way out wasn’t “out” at all—it was in. It wasn’t until I began connecting with Spirit through breathwork, meditation, and radical self-love that the healing really began. This isn’t woo-woo fluff. This is neuroscience. This is Fight and Flight shifting inward to Insight which lends us intrinsically to survival. This is transformation.

I remember my doctor once looked at me and said, “Become Chinese, Maria.” I knew exactly what she meant—slow down, get quiet, center your energy. Stop fighting and start flowing. The truth is, Western medicine doesn’t always give us the full picture. And while it saved many people from dark places at times, it was the ancient practices of breathwork, journaling, Gratitude practices, and meditation that gave me my life back.

Breathwork isn’t just breathing. It’s the conscious act of flooding your brain and body with oxygen, which is like sending a message to your cells: “You are safe now.” That message—faith, love, peace, and ease—rewires your nervous system. It tells your brain to shift from survival mode to thrival mode. Meditation trains your mind to hold space for that message. And gratitude? That’s the frequency of abundance and healing.

Want to know how to connect with Source? Start by becoming quiet. Start by listening rather than asking. So many of us are walking around begging for answers while drowning in our own noise. Plug in by disconnecting. Spirit isn’t shouting. Spirit is whispering. And you can only hear it when you stop trying to control everything. That’s where faith comes in.

If you’re thinking, “Okay, Maria, this sounds amazing, but how do I actually start?”—I got you. That’s why I created my app, Transformational Gangstas. It’s your virtual home for guided breathwork, meditations, and daily soul fuel to help you plug into the healing frequency. Whether you’re battling mental illness, trauma, or just the everyday weight of being human, you don’t have to do this alone.

As a mental health Life Coach in Brooklyn, I hold space for people from all walks of life—especially those who’ve been labeled, misunderstood, and dismissed. I don’t believe in “fixing” people. I believe in guiding them back to the part of themselves that was never broken. That’s what happened for me. I didn’t become someone new. I remembered who I was before the trauma, before the fear, before the world told me I was too much or not enough.

Your healing doesn’t lie in someone else’s prescription—it lies in your internal permission. Give yourself permission to be messy, to fall apart, and to rebuild. Not the old way. A new way. A soul-led, Spirit-fueled, quiet power kind of way.

You’re not reading this by accident. Something led you here. Maybe it’s that still small voice inside whispering that it’s your time. Maybe it’s Spirit nudging you. Or maybe it’s just your nervous system finally saying, “I’m ready.”

Perhaps you were led to meet me, your mental health Life Coach in Brooklyn who’s walked through the fire and came out the other side—still breathing, still believing, and still rising—I’m here. Not because I’ve got all the answers, but because I’ve learned how to ask the right questions. And most importantly, I’ve learned how to listen.

Download the Transformational Gangstas app, breathe with me, sit with me, and let’s walk this journey together. Healing is not just possible—it’s your birthright. Oh and you can grab a free copy of my book inside the app too. See you on the inside!

Check out our upcoming Workshops & Classes

🧘‍♀️ Mindfulness Meditation Brooklyn & Breathwork: Explore our mindfulness meditation sessions, specifically designed to foster honesty and self-acceptance. Being present with your thoughts and feelings is a powerful practice. These can be found within our app as well as weekly live meditations on Tuesdays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 11am.

Sign up here for Meditation

Sign up here for Breathwork

You are invited to a transformative experience

✨ If not now, when? Curious?, schedule a FREE 📞 call. https:/mobstertomentor.com20minutediscoverycall