Camilla Xiao Yu
I’m Camilla, a psychotherapist, traditional astrologer, and experiential artist in the New York metropolitan area.
With care, I design experiences that deepen perception, invite reflection, and make space for meaning to emerge.
Healing is a journey of remembering.
I don’t believe in one universal “correct answer.” More often than not, the impulse to rush toward the answer keeps us from seeing what this moment is asking of us. The next step isn’t something we manufacture – it becomes visible when we’ve fully inhabited the one we’re already standing in.
My work centers on deep listening, embodied attunement, and relational pattern recognition. I work best with those who are curious about their inner worlds, and who are willing to sit in the unknown as something genuine takes shape slowly and quietly.
I ask the questions that shift what comes into view and make clear the deep patterns of emotions and beliefs hidden in ordinary moments.
You don’t need to arrive with clarity. Sometimes all you have is an inkling: something quietly asking for your attention before it has found words.
Every way of working has a lineage. Here’s a glimpse of mine.
Gestalt Therapy taught me to look beyond the problem itself. Instead of asking “What’s wrong?” it invites me to ask “How did this come to make sense?” What feels like the problem often carries an important message, pointing us toward parts of ourselves or ways of living that are asking for our attention.
Trainings and Mentorship: Clinical Fellowship with Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy, Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy and supervision with Ruella Frank, and advanced Gestalt training and supervision with Duey Freeman.
Relational Psychoanalysis offers me a close-up view of how we shape—and are shaped by—our relationships. The patterns we carry were formed in relationship, and new possibilities also emerge through relationship. My task is not simply to understand you, but to help create a space where new ways of thinking, feeling, and relating can gradually form.
Trainings: Three-year Child & Adolescent Psychoanalytic Program at the William Alanson White Institute, including seminars, supervision, personal analysis, and ongoing independent study.
Cultivated a symbolic way of seeing—one that invites deep acceptance of reality, and encourages creative participation with what life presents rather than resistance to it.
Trainings: Stargaze Academy of Traditional Astrology one-year core curriculum and continuing workshops.
Astrology is NOT a form of psychotherapy and cannot substitute for professional treatment. It is a method and philosophy for guiding personal exploration and growth.
Imago Relational Therapy taught me that beneath conflict often lies a longing to reconnect. It deepened my appreciation for the power of direct dialogue, where genuine listening creates the possibility for new understanding, repair, and connection.
Trainings: certification by Imago North America via Jesica Eames at Imago Georgia
Brainspotting introduced me to a neuro-experiential way of working with trauma. It expanded my trust that healing doesn’t always have to pass through conscious understanding. Sometimes the brain and nervous system can process experiences in ways that words alone cannot fully reach.
Trainings: certification in Brainspotting via BIPOC trainings with John R. Edwards and consultation with Tomoko Kunita.
No single approach can fully capture the complexity of being human. Ongoing study allows me to borrow thoughtfully from different traditions while remaining grounded in a coherent way of working.
- Level-1 Sensorimotor Psychotherapy with Kekuni Minton
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy with Behavioral Tech
- Sensorimotor Art techniques with the distinguished art therapist Cathy Malchiodi
- Drama Therapy techniques with Heidi Landis
Beyond psychotherapy, I continue to explore traditions that expand my understanding of embodiment, symbolism, and human experience. While these are not psychotherapeutic modalities, they have expanded the questions I ask and the ways I understand meaning.
- Certified Reiki Master
- Somatic Abolitionism with the anti-ractist practitioner Resmaa Menakem
- Feng Shui Consultant
- Traditional Chinese Medicine
