Coach · Available Worldwide
Hi, I'm Maring.
I'm glad you're here.
I'm a coach and a former acupuncturist of 17 years. I work with neurodivergent couples and individuals, and anyone ready to go beneath the surface, understand themselves more deeply, and find their way back to a life that actually feels like theirs.
My Story
I came to this work the long way around.
Before anything else, I studied Contemplative Psychology at Naropa University in Boulder. It was there that I first understood the body and the mind not as separate systems to be managed, but as one integrated whole. That understanding has never left me.
I went on to train as an acupuncturist at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego and spent 17 years in practice. Chinese medicine deepened that understanding. In this tradition, the emotions live in the body, what we carry emotionally shows up physically, and what shows up in the body is always trying to tell us something. I'm currently on sabbatical from acupuncture, but that lens shapes everything I do.
Over the years I began weaving in other approaches. Parts work, inner voice practices, somatic awareness. Not because I was trying to be more things to more people, but because I kept watching what actually helped people shift. And what helped, consistently, was making contact with what was already alive inside them.
Then life gave me my own curriculum. I got my ADHD diagnosis as an adult, which reframed a lot of things. I'm a mom of two, including a neurodivergent son. I've been in relationships where the love was real and the connection was hard. When two brains work differently, love isn't always enough, and I know from the inside what that costs.
I am also a registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, working toward full licensure in California. My therapy work happens separately, for California residents, through maringhigacounseling.com. Here, I work only as a coach. Both come from the same place in me: a deep belief that when someone feels truly seen and heard, something in them relaxes that has been braced for a long time. And from that place, real change becomes possible.
I work with people who are ready. Not perfect, not without struggle, just ready to turn toward themselves, and each other, with a little more honesty and a lot more compassion. I consider it a genuine privilege every time someone trusts me with that.
The gap between two people isn't always about love. Sometimes it's just about wiring. And that can be worked with.Maring Higa
Currently working with coaching clients
Weekly coaching is virtual and available worldwide. Couples retreats are the one in-person offering, held in San Diego. I'm currently on sabbatical from acupuncture.
Two practices, one approach
This site is my coaching practice, available to anyone, anywhere. My therapy practice, for California residents, lives at maringhigacounseling.com.
How I Work
What you will find in a session with me
You are the expert on yourself
I don't come with answers. I come with questions, presence, and real tools. My job is to help you hear what's already there, and give you strategies you can actually use.
Neurodivergence-affirming, always
ADHD, autism, and other forms of neurodivergence aren't deficits to overcome. They're a different way of moving through the world. I've learned to work with that, personally and professionally.
Warmth and honesty together
This is not a space for bypassing or positive reframing. It is a space for looking clearly and with compassion at what is actually there. That combination is what creates real movement.
Inner voice and parts work
I use inner voice practices and parts work to help people connect with the parts of themselves that hold the answers. The ones that don't always get a chance to speak.
Somatic awareness throughout
The body is always in the room, even on video. I pay attention to what it's doing, and I help clients do the same. What the body knows often arrives before words do.
Practical and forward-looking
Coaching is about your present and future. We build concrete strategies, communication tools, and systems that work for your actual brain and your actual relationship.
Training & Credentials
Education & Background
Associate Marriage & Family Therapist
Registered associate working toward California licensure. Training in EFT, IFS-informed parts work, somatic psychotherapy, and attachment-based approaches. Therapy is offered separately from coaching, through maringhigacounseling.com.
17 Years as a Licensed Acupuncturist
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, San Diego. Nearly two decades of whole-person practice in Chinese medicine, currently on sabbatical, but the mind-body lens informs everything I do.
Contemplative Psychology · Naropa University
Undergraduate training in contemplative and body-centered psychology. The foundation for everything I have built since.
Bioenergetic Somatic Therapy
Four-year training program in Bioenergetic Analysis, integrating body, movement, breath, and emotional processing into clinical practice.
Inner Voice Work
Trained in inner voice facilitation and have developed my own integrated approach combining inner voice practices with IFS parts work and somatic awareness.
Lived Experience
Adult ADHD diagnosis, parent of a neurodivergent child, and years of navigating mixed-neurotype relationships. Not a substitute for training, but it changes how I sit with yours.
Maring Higa Coaching
Neurodivergent-affirming coaching for couples and individuals, inner work coaching, and retreat intensives. Available worldwide, no licensing restrictions.
Maring Higa Counseling
Therapy for neurodivergent couples and individuals. Somatic therapy, EFT, couples retreats. Online across California, for California residents.
Ready to Connect
I'd love to hear
what's bringing you here.
A free consultation is the best place to start. Just a conversation to get a sense of each other and whether we might be a good fit.
Book a Free Consultation