Influential Woman · Wellness
Maria De Los Angeles Pagan, LCSW
LCSW
Integrative Somatic Breathwork Practitioner and Coach, Somatic and Mental Wellness Co.
West Palm Beach, FL 33460
Her Story
About Maria
Maria De Los Angeles Pagan is a Wellness Integrative Somatic Breathwork Practitioner and Coach based in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she serves as the founder of Somatic & Mental Wellness Co. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Social Work from Florida Atlantic University, the latter completed through the Jumpstart program, and proudly holds the distinction of being the first person on her mother's side of the family to earn a master's degree. As a licensed clinical social worker and certified somatic breathwork practitioner, she brings together clinical rigor and embodied healing practices in her work with clients navigating anxiety, burnout, trauma, and major life transitions.
Maria's professional path has been anything but linear, beginning in high school as a dance instructor and cheer coach before evolving through a series of formative roles: a student aide at a children's research facility, a nanny during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a Registered Behavior Technician delivering ABA therapy to children with autism spectrum disorder. These early experiences with children, families, and behavioral health ultimately drew her toward clinical social work. Today, she serves as a Senior Primary Therapist at a private practice, where she provides trauma-informed, evidence-based care across partial hospitalization and outpatient levels using modalities such as DBT, CBT, REBT, and Narrative Therapy, earning recognition including Rookie of the Year in 2023 and Employee of the Month in October 2024.
Outside of her clinical role, Maria has built Somatic and Mental Wellness Co. around the belief that lasting transformation happens through the body, not the mind alone - offering resources for clients reconnect with their nervous systems and release stored trauma and stress through breathwork and embodiment practices. She sees particular opportunity for women in mental health and wellness fields to confidently occupy the spaces they've earned, and her own journey, from dance and cheerleading, supporting learning for early childhood development, behvaioral modifications in the field of ABA, to clinical social work, somatic practice, and entrepreneurship, reflecting an enduring curiosity about how she can serve people more meaningfully.
Vice President of Beca Estudiantil Maria Mercedes Pagan - A scholarship initiative supporting students through education and community investment. María serves in a leadership role helping to extend access to opportunity for those who need it most.
Volunteering with the spirit team at Florida Atlantic University - Maria contributed as a Spirit Volunteer, supporting campus community and student engagement initiatives at FAU.
Guided by values of safety, community, boundaries, and leading with the heart; she maintains her own wellbeing through breathwork, close community ties, mentoring, dance, and encourages young women entering the field to take up space, speak their minds, and fully commit to their curiosities.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Maria
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a deep, lifelong desire to help people. My path began as a dance instructor and cheer coach, then evolved through roles as a student aide, a nanny during COVID, and a behavioral technician, all of which ultimately led me to pursue my master's degree, become an LCSW, and launch my own somatic wellness business. My family- and community-oriented culture has grounded me throughout, and the mentorship I received from Dawn Kesselman played a pivotal role in shaping my journey.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've received came from mentors who challenged my distorted beliefs and helped me recognize that I am the creator of my own reality. My college mentor, Dawn Kesselman, along with a very encouraging high school teacher, highlighted the importance of taking chances rather than being confined by standardized measures of success.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I encourage young women entering this field, any field, to take up space - take up space even if you feel afraid. Speak your truth, follow your heart, gain a curiosity for your thoughts, pursue the training you truly want - not just what people think you "should do." Lean into the discomfort of creating your own path with curiousity, commitment, grace and playfulness. In this pursuit of life, you are the creator, make your art and live in it.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
For women working in mental health, social work, and emerging wellness spaces, I see both responsibility and extraordinary opportunity. Women can sometimes feel pressure to minimize themselves, question their own authority, or continually prove that they've earned their place. I challenge that narrative by encouraging women to confidently occupy the spaces they've worked hard to enter, while remaining grounded in authenticity and ethical practice. As conversations around mental health increasingly recognize the relationship between emotional well-being and embodied experience, I believe professionals who can thoughtfully bridge different perspectives have a real opportunity to contribute to a more holistic understanding of care. My own career reflects this intersection, combining my foundation as a licensed clinician with my training in somatic breathwork, while staying intentional about professional ethics and the boundaries between my different roles.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Community and family are at the center of everything I value. I prioritize staying close to my community, incorporating somatic breathwork into my daily routine, maintaining healthy boundaries in my work, and making time to dance for the sheer joy and laughter it brings me.
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