Camilla Xiao Yu MSc, LMHC, LPC | English & Mandarin
Early in my career, I focused almost entirely on insight. I was searching for “the method,” the one approach that would help people change. I first trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with Behavioral Tech, hoping it might be the answer.
DBT proved valuable, especially in moments of crisis, and in helping people see a situation from new angles. But I soon realized there was more. Working with clients who had experienced severe trauma, I came to see that we can understand ourselves deeply and still feel stuck in a maze, unable to live what we know.
That realization led me beyond insight, into embodied and lived experience. I explored yoga, martial arts, creative arts, dreamwork, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and more. Each felt like a piece of a puzzle I couldn’t yet see whole.
When I encountered Gestalt therapy, the pieces fell into place. Since then, I’ve concentrated my learning in Gestalt principles through somatic and developmental lenses, and deepened my clinical understanding through developmental psychoanalytic psychotherapy training.
Healing is a journey of remembering.
I don’t see myself as a teacher handing you answers, but as a guide helping you remember a wisdom that is already yours. Often it has been there all along, quieted by old rules, by the expectations of others, or by the rush to find the “correct” answer.
I often find that what troubles us now began as a creative solution to an earlier challenge, the wisest thing we could do at the time. My work centers on deep listening, embodied attunement, and relational pattern recognition, so that together we can understand those patterns, and find new ways of living that fit who you are now.
Every way of working has a lineage. Here’s a glimpse of mine.
The Foundation
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.
It also taught me about being present – that each moment of interaction is a cosmos that encapsulates our life stories. Part of the therapeutic work is to unpack that moment to become aware of our roles in creating our own dilemma.
I completed a one-year clinical fellowship with Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy in New York, and advanced Gestalt training and supervision with Duey Freeman in Colorado. I am currently an associate member at New York Institute of Gestalt Therapy
The Relational
Interpersonal Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy 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.
I completed the three-year Child & Adolescent Psychoanalytic Program at the prestigious William Alanson White Institute, including seminars, supervision, personal analysis, and ongoing independent study.
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.
I was trained and certification by Imago North America via Jesica Eames at Imago Georgia
The Unspoken
Rooted in Gestalt, Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy brought my attention to how our earliest ways of relating live on in how we move: how we reach, push, yield, and pull away. These patterns can be sensed and gently changed in the present moment.
I completed the training with Ruella Frank at the Center for Somatic Studies.
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.
I was trained with John R. Edwards and certified under consultation with Tomoko Kunita.
The More
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.
- Traditional Astrology
- Certified Reiki Master
- Somatic Abolitionism with the anti-racist practitioner Resmaa Menakem
- Feng Shui Consultant
- Traditional Chinese Medicine
Camilla Xiao Yu, MSc LMHC LPC
Gestalt Therapy · Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy · Certified Imago Relational Therapist · Certified Brainspotting practitioner · New York, Texas, and Florida · 10,000+ clinical hours · English & 中文