Welcome to Ditch the Black Dog
This is a safe, inclusive, therapeutic space where lost and wounded Souls struggling with unhappiness, persistent low moods and situational depression can find holistic solutions to help them create a life worth waking up for!
♥
Are you ready to feel the magick happen?
What is Ditch the Black Dog all about and how can I help you?
Hello my friend, I’m so glad you’re here.
You’ve been guided to find me because you’ve been walking the long road through low mood, sadness, or situational depression, and you’re sick and tired of it.
Sick of endlessly revisiting traumatic events in therapy sessions, taking meds that make you feel like a zombie and trying to pretend to everyone else that you feel ok.
You want to get off the road to nowhere and change direction to a new path that actually makes you feel better, instead of just getting through another dismal day.
You’re in the right place, because here at Ditch the Black Dog, I do things VERY differently.
I offer therapeutic mental wellness mentoring with a magickal twist to help you move from just surviving to truly living and, best of all, finding your bliss.
You don’t need to be ‘fixed’.
Or to ‘pull yourself together’.
You need to be witnessed, nourished, and reawakened to the power and potential currently buried inside of you.
If you’re ready to stop endlessly going round in circles and start creating a life worth waking up for every morning, you’re in the right place.
Through the wisdom of my own lived experiences with depression and low moods, my sacred path as a Gaian Witch and my certifications in various coaching and therapy modalities, I’d love to share with you the multitude of resources that can help you feel healthy, happy and whole as if by magick!
Ready to get started?
Let’s Go!
Hi, I’m Maria
I’m a magickal mental wellness mentor for people like you who are looking for natural and alternative ways to lift persistent low moods, situational depression and boost your happiness.
I’m not here to diagnose or offer licensed professional medical help. But what I do offer is a space to fill in the gaps left by therapy and medication.
I’m here to support you if you think you’re
taking meds you might not need,
or paying for endless talk therapy sessions
that spend too much time focusing on your past, leaving you feeling exhausted, disempowered and broken.
After suffering from depression for decades, I hit a crossroads. I knew I had a choice –
to give up and succumb to this awful mental illness,
or do whatever it took to ditch the black dog.
Luckily, my kids gave me the motivation to fight, and to learn everything I could about depression and how we can put it into remission and live happy, fulfilled lives.
I’ve taken everything I’ve learned and created the kind of therapeutic space I needed when I was suffering from the worst depression of my life.
I don’t want you, or anyone else, to feel as broken, hopeless and alone as I did.
The Ditch the Black Dog Virtual Retreat is designed to help you to discover the right ways for you to improve your mental health and create the happy life you desire and deserve.
It’s an online space where you can find support, healing, and hope, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – even at 4am when everything feels darkest.
The most important thing you need to know about me is….
……I’m NOT your typical mental wellness mentor!
Oooh no!
My approach to ditching the black dog of depression is unique.
I’m a certified coach, counselor, and nature therapist specializing in the holistic management of depression.
But I’m also an intuitive Gaian Witch and Energy Healer practicing something I call Therapeutic Witchcraft™.
Don’t be put off by the witchy ‘woo woo’ stuff, though. It’s the secret sauce to rediscovering how you can create a life worth waking up for!
After a decade of research, training and practice, I created The Gaian Method™ which blends: –
🤯 modern neuroscience-based coaching and therapy tools;
🥗 simple and practical lifestyle changes;
💞 the rEVOLutionary ‘C’s of Change (these can transform your life in ways you probably can’t even imagine right now);
✨ with a generous sprinkle of Gaian Magick™ (through Therapeutic Witchcraft™ healing rituals, ceremonies, spells, nature and animal assisted therapy, and much, much more);
to help you recover from depression in ways so simple they feel like they’re happening as if by magick!*
I battled depression for decades. The Gaian Method™ didn’t just change my life – it saved it.
I’m here to show you how the Gaian Method™ can help you escape from the mental prison of depression so you can feel healthy, happy and whole – whatever that means to you.
After the hell you’ve been through, isn’t it time you got to create the happy life you desire and deserve?
Introducing the Ditch the Black Dog Virtual Retreat
When you’re battling depression, finding effective support can feel impossible.
Maybe you've been prescribed medications that leave you feeling numb, or suffering with hideous side effects that make you feel even more miserable!
Or you've waited months for an appointment with a therapist, only to find you don't feel comfortable with them or their methods.
Maybe you get an hour of therapy a week, with no additional support when you need it most?
If you've been lucky enough to access therapy, maybe it hasn't worked the way you hoped. Or your allocated sessions ended just as you were starting to open up, leaving you feeling lost and alone.
Perhaps you clawed your way out of one dark episode of depression, only to find the black dog creeping back in and the whole exhausting battle begins all over again.
Or have you received treatment in hospital and now find yourself struggling to put the pieces of your life back together by yourself?
Enough already!
It's time to end the cycle of suffering.
I created the Ditch the Black Dog Virtual Retreat as a solution to the problems I encountered when I needed help with depression. I've included all the things I needed when I felt like my life wasn't worth waking up for.
Join the Ditch the Black Dog of Depression Virtual Retreat
The Ditch the Black Dog Virtual Retreat is always open for you.
There's something helpful, no matter which stage of depression you find yourself in.
You'll find support, practical tools, healing, and hope, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week - even at 4am when everything feels darkest.
Take a look - it might be exactly what you need to help you put depression into remission for good.
Not sure if you're ready to join the Ditch the Black Dog Virtual Retreat?
That's ok! You can find out more and get a taste of what the retreat has to offer inside my FREE Black Dog Café community.
You don't have to battle the Black Dog of depression alone!
The Black Dog Café is a FREE, off-Facebook sanctuary for depressed souls who are done pretending they’re fine.
No pressure. No platitudes.
Just connection, compassion, and a generous sparkle of healing magick to help you feel a little less alone - and a little more you.
Don't bother getting out of your PJ's - just grab a coffee (or your favourite drink and come on over.
You don’t have to battle the Black Dog alone. I'm saving a space for you! ☕
A place outside the noise of the world, tucked deep in a virtual retreat, where the Black Dog no longer bites, just curls up beside us as we heal.
Are you tired of feeling the black dog of depression constantly nipping at your heels?
Here are some quick ways to find out more about me and how the Gaian Method™
can help you to feel healthy, happy and whole!
Do you fancy ditching the black dog of depression here with me in Spain?
Come on a retreat or join a nature therapy session in the Costa Blanca area of Spain.
*I believe in a fair, just, inclusive and equal society. This means that I aim to make my products and services accessible to all. I offer lots of free resources to help you get started and if you need financial help to access my paid programs, please contact me. Visit my Giving Back page to see how my business contributes to the planet and the Souls we share it with.
What do people say about working with me?
Here are some blog posts to help you get started
Prefer to listen? Listen to the Ditch the Black Dog Podcast
About Maria Gaian
Maria Gaian knows firsthand the weight of lifelong depression - and the freedom of putting the 'black dog' into remission! After overcoming her own struggles, she made it her mission to help wounded Souls feel healthy, happy, and whole.
After over a decade of intensive study, Maria discovered that many sufferers don’t fully recover because traditional treatments only focus on managing or even suppressing depression, not healing its root cause. Depression isn’t a standalone illness - it’s a symptom of deeper emotional wounds that need attention.
Determined to change the way we treat depression, Maria created The Gaian Method™, a holistic and deeply personal approach that not only supports individual healing but also addresses the societal and cultural factors that contribute to mental distress.
Are you ready to ditch the black dog of depression and unleash your passion for living?
Contact Me
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Read the Blog
Listen to the Podcast
