Beatriz Martínez-Peñalver is a licensed psychotherapist with more than 30 years of experience in the mental health field. She has devoted her career to helping people break free from destructive patterns and create lives filled with inspiration, purpose, resilience, clarity, and joy. While she recognizes that not everyone requires formal therapy, she emphasizes the universal importance of developing emotional literacy as the foundation for resilience, personal growth, and lasting happiness. Passionate about decreasing today’s growing mental health crisis, she created Triumph Steps® —a proven, neuroscience-based framework built on one simple but powerful truth: happiness is a skill that can be learned and taught to anyone, anywhere.
Beatriz is a passionate advocate for emotional well-being who has been recognized by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Board for her dedication to students, their mental wellness, and emotional literacy nationwide. She has traveled across the country meeting with policymakers, educators, and parents to raise awareness about the critical role emotional literacy plays in shaping healthier futures.
Her mission extends beyond Triumph Steps. She is determined to ensure emotional literacy programs are included in every school across Florida and beyond. Beatriz believes that schools practicing Triumph Steps techniques are making a profound and lasting impact on students’ lives.
Beatriz is the cofounder and CEO of Healthy Connections, Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) in Miami, FL, which opened its doors in 2001. With a dedicated staff of 25 to 30 professionals, Healthy Connections has served thousands of children and adults dealing with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, schizophrenia, and other mental health conditions.
The center has been recognized multiple years by the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Favorites as one of the best mental health counseling centers in Miami, a reflection of its reputation for compassionate care, professional excellence, and lasting impact in the community.
Before establishing the center, Beatriz successfully ran a private practice where she guided patients through self-discovery and personal growth using the psychology of abundance, cognitive behavioral therapy, and meditation.
Triumph Steps® was created to address a gap often left in education: the focus on emotional development. While academics build knowledge and skills, Triumph Steps® equips students with the inner tools to manage their thoughts, build resilience, strengthen self-awareness, embrace personal responsibility, and choose healthier behaviors.
Grounded in neuroscience and positive psychology, the program transforms the way children and teens think, feel, and act—helping them grow into confident, inspired adults who thrive both in school and in life.
Though designed for students, Triumph Steps® has also proven powerful for adults. In clinical and coaching settings, its practical steps help individuals break free from limiting beliefs, align their daily habits with their vision, and create lives of purpose and fulfillment.
As a sought-after keynote speaker, Beatriz brings a unique blend of science, inspiration, and practical strategies to audiences of all sizes. She has addressed entire school faculties, parent groups, university faculty retreats, legal professionals, and national organizations—delivering talks that are both transformational and actionable.
Her presentations go beyond motivation: they give audiences practical tools for change. Whether she is guiding educators to create calmer classrooms, helping legal professionals prevent burnout, or inspiring university leaders to foster resilience on campus, Beatriz highlights how emotional literacy builds strength, prevents exhaustion, and sparks lasting growth.
At her core, Beatriz believes that what we focus on the longest grows the strongest, and by teaching emotional literacy, we can shape a generation that knows happiness is not just a feeling, but a skill.
The Triumph Steps® 8-step framework gives schools a practical, science-based approach to teaching emotional literacy and resilience. With simple daily practices, affirmations, problem-solving routines, and intentional silence, this book equips students to build confidence, responsibility, and the skill of happiness.
This framework helps cultivate a growth mindset, teaching students to develop thought patterns that lead to achievement. It guides them to view setbacks as essential parts of success and to replace negative self-talk with empowering “I am” affirmations, allowing them to truly thrive.
