My Biography
Stacey Camacho has a master’s degree in Psychotherapy and a master’s degree in Buddhist Psychology and Contemplative Psychotherapy from American Psychology Association accredited universities in the United States. She is also a certified Yoga and Mindfulness Meditation teacher.
She has broad clinical experience practicing psychotherapy and teaching children, adolescents, and adults for over 20 years. She has worked with various populations in diverse settings all over the world. She also has over 10 years of experience teaching physical fitness, 10 years teaching yoga, and 4 years teaching mindfulness and meditation.
Her therapy sessions, classes, and workshops are experiential, fun, and engaging. Her psychotherapy skills are neuroscience based and effective in helping people heal from trauma and gain a deeper understanding of their mind, emotions, and body. Her teaching style is passionate and compassionate with an incredible ability to attune to ones deep needs. She eloquently presents techniques that are practical, down to earth, and innovative. Drawing from a range of mindfulness, neuroscience, psychotherapy, yoga, and psychology methods, she is responsive to her clients/audience and tailors each session, class, or workshop to their needs.
My Professional Journey
Over 20 years of experience
I fell in love with my first Psych class upon entering college in the U.S. in Jan of 1995. It felt intriguing and purposeful, and so I decided to pursue a career as a Psychotherapist. I thus earned an Associate’s degree in Psychology from Miami Dade Community College and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Florida International University, followed by a Master’s Degree in Psychotherapy from Nova Southeastern University. During undergrad and graduate school, I took part in volunteer work and internships, which allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of the psychological ailments that alter the well-being of the human being. I was focused on acquiring the necessary psychotherapeutic skills to help people heal from these mental ailments. I wanted to work with all walks of life in the private and community setting, so following graduate school I continued to work in these settings providing individual, family, and group counseling – gaining experience treating clients with trauma, depression/anxiety, attachment issues, and substance abuse.
I returned to my home country Trinidad & Tobago in January of 2001, and continued my psychotherapy work for the next thirteen years in the trenches of my country’s private and social system, which offered me an invaluable perspective of the many faces of suffering. I felt the need to connect to something other than pathology, and to pursue new more advanced perspectives and treatments of mental health, thus I became certified as a yoga teacher and past life regression therapist. I also discovered the importance of social advocacy as an integral part of my work as a psychotherapist. I did this by volunteering in Trinidad and other countries around the world as well as co-founding the NGO, It’s for the Kids Foundation in which I developed a mentorship program to help at risk children within my community.
In 2013, I decided to further my education due to the yearning to work deeper and more effectively with my clients and my community, and I choose to pursue another Master’s degree in Psychotherapy, which expanded from my previous training in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy to include the neuroscience and mindfulness informed approach of Buddhist Psychology and Contemplative Psychotherapy at Naropa University. In gaining my master’s I completed an internship, which offered me training in domestic violence, social justice counseling, and trauma informed psychotherapy, and I wrote my thesis on the how to overcome the ramification of trauma through violence I witnessed whilst practicing psychotherapy.
A Plan for Change
In July of 2016, I yet again returned to my beloved country and pursued an action plan to provide preventative mental health services, whilst providing targeted trauma informed psychotherapy to a range of clients throughout my community on a sliding scale. I also co-founded the Non Profit Organization-The Mindwise Project, which focused on reducing the stigma and making mental health more understood and accessible within our community. I offered talks throughout the country with the continued goal of deepening the understanding of the facets and needs of the mind and the importance of emotional intelligence and mental health hygiene, whilst offering tangible and sustainable mindfulness skills to support mental health. I received advanced training in mindfulness and trauma and developed an emotional intelligence program, which I taught hundreds of kids over the next four years and extended it to teens and adults.
Online Practice
Today, I have moved my practice online as I continue to explore the world and the many mental practices that promote well-being and peace. I continue to practice psychotherapy and to teach mindfulness, meditation, and yoga online and to volunteer work within the community I choose to be. I believe that my professional role at this time is to embody and pass on the mental practices that offered me the ability to explore my own mind and the minds of my patients in the most profound way possible, giving way to my personal and professional growth and which are a catalyst for new levels of healing, growth, and transformation throughout the world.