Medicine Woman. Psychologist. Mother. Author. Educator. Ceremonialist.
Meet Kristy M. Vanacore, PsyD., P.C.
Qualifications and Certifications:
- New York State Licensed Psychologist
- Connecticut Licensed Psychologist
- Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy
- Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Family Therapy and Parent Coaching
- Neuroscience
- Educational Advocacy
- Ecopsychology
- Nutritional Healing and Functional Medicine
- Biofeedback
- Quantum physics
- Meditation
- Somatic Experiencing
- Yoga Teacher (RYT-200): children, teens & adults
- Reiki
- Shamanic Healing and Shamanic Reiki
- Craniosacral Balancing
- Therapeutic and Conscious Dance
- Neuromuscular Integrative Action (NIA)
I’m Dr. Kristy, a licensed clinical psychologist, holistic family wellness practitioner, author, educator, and founder of Rewilding Wellness®.
For nearly three decades, my life’s work has been devoted to helping children, teens, adults, parents, families, educators, and communities navigate the beautifully complex experience of being human.
I began my career in psychology and education, trained to assess, diagnose, understand behavior, support learning and development, work within family systems, and treat psychological concerns.
That foundation remains deeply important to me. But the longer I worked with people, the more impossible it became to ignore something: Human beings cannot be understood in parts. Behavior exists within relationships. Relationships exist within families. And families exist within homes, schools, communities, cultures, and environments.
Everything is connected.
That understanding changed the way I practiced, and eventually became the foundation of Rewilding Wellness®.
A Wider Lense on Wellness
Today, my work brings together clinical psychology, nervous-system science, family systems, educational and health psychology, somatic and body-based practices, lifestyle foundations, mindfulness, movement, nature, and enduring wisdom traditions.
A wider lens allows us to ask better questions, and better questions can reveal more meaningful ways forward.
This means asking more of my work and those I work with than “What’s wrong?”
Together, we explore what’s happening, what might be contributing, what has been overlooked and what this symptom or behavior may be communicating.
This work is more than psychological. There are facets of educational work, relational, and embodied practice.
Rooted in Modern Science and Ancestral Medicine
My formal training gave me a deep foundation in clinical and school psychology, human development, family systems, assessment, and evidence-based psychological care.
My education, however, did not end with my degrees. Decades of study have taken me more deeply into nervous-system science, somatic and body-based healing, mindfulness, movement, health and nutrition, ecopsychology, and integrative wellness.
My work has also been shaped by the healing traditions within my Southern Italian ancestry and by formal apprenticeship in Andean traditions—experiences that deepened my relationship with nature, ceremony, movement, sound, storytelling, community, and the understanding that healing has never belonged exclusively within institutions.
I remain endlessly curious about the places where science and wisdom, psychology and embodiment, research and ritual, and the measurable and the mysterious meet.
I don’t believe we need to choose between these worlds. I believe we can approach them with curiosity, discernment, reverence, and respect for what each can teach us about being human.
Beyond The Therapy Room
My work has never fit neatly into one box—and today, I no longer believe it needs to.
I am a psychologist and practitioner, but also an author, educator, mentor, and community-builder.
Through private and family work, education, writing, books, workshops, retreats, professional training, and community programs, I bring Rewilding Wellness® into the places where people actually live, learn, work, relate, and grow.
And Then There’s Just… Me.
Beneath the degrees, books, frameworks, and decades of work, I am also simply a woman living a human life. I’m a mother raising two sons, and motherhood remains one of the greatest teachers, blessings, and privileges of my life. I’m happiest close to nature—walking among trees, practicing yoga and movement, writing, dancing, singing, drumming, creating with my hands, gathering around a fire, or sharing food and meaningful conversation with people I love.
I believe in staying close to the Earth, honoring the rhythms of the body, nurturing community, remaining curious, leaving room for mystery, and making space for both the sacred and the beautifully ordinary.
I don’t believe in teaching a medicine I am unwilling to practice myself. I am living this work, too. Learning and unlearning. Raising children. Navigating change. Beginning again (and again!), Remembering what matters, Returning to what is real. And trying, as best I can, to live from there, as love.
