I’m so glad you are here, I’m Marie Celeste, MS, LMFT – Licensed Therapist, Group Facilitator, Speaker, Writer, Artist, Visionary, space holder for transformation and healing, and Founder of Connecting Within.
My philosophy that guides our work together is that therapy is a space to be allowed to explore all aspects of who you are. To lean into the stories that have impacted your life, intertwined with your intuition, and have shaped your relationships.
The way I approach our work together is from the space of honoring. Honoring where you have been and your vision for where you want to be. Every part of you is welcome in our work together, and plays an important role, and because we are not friends, colleagues, or family, a different relationship emerges. One where I invite you to give yourself permission to explore who you are without all the filters that you may usually use in the world in order to feel a sense of belonging or acceptance.
This is a time to get real, and sometimes that may mean getting a little messy. Sometimes messy emotions or maybe, looking at messy parts of your story that are ready to be processed. I believe therapy is much more than sitting on my sofa talking about last week. It’s really leaning into the stories that came way before last week, and are still impacting how you show up in the world today.
A dear friend of mine once shared a picture that had the words, “Honor The space between no longer and not yet.” That is my therapeutic philosophy in one sentence. I help you explore that space between, “I don’t want to do this anymore, I don’t want to be this anymore, this is no longer where I am, or who I am, or what I want to be doing” AND that space that really reflects where you want your life to be directed next. How do you want to feel? What do you want to be doing? How do you want to honor your stories? How do you honor your truest whole self?
I help you pause and lean into your truth as you feel your way through the dark and reconnect with the lost parts of yourself that feel unworthy and unwelcome. You have a whole inner life beneath the surface, and it’s in that space where therapy happens. It’s about remembering who you really are.
My goal of our therapeutic relationship is to create a healing environment that can hold space for what is ready to be processed, the things that are coming to surface that are hard to sit with alone. A space for you to share your stories, to dive deeply into the exploration of the parts of yourself you often keep hidden, so you can reconnect with the often unfelt wisdom held within you. It’s when you are realigned with each part of who you are, that you can show up as your truest self within your relationship’s and in the things you wish to pursue and call into your life.
The ins and outs that allows me to call myself a psychotherapist:
I graduated from Stetson University in 2012 as a Marriage and Family Therapist becoming fully licensed after my registered internship.
I own a private practice, Connecting Within, in Winter Springs Florida, while also connecting as a consultant and mentor throughout the country via video support.
As part of my expressive arts therapy training, I have extensive training in many areas of expressive arts including painting, music, clay, collage and multimedia art.
I am finishing up my certification as a sand tray therapist after completing the 9 levels of training, facilitated by the Institution of Playful Healing.
I have studied and trained in the area of psychodrama, continuing into my second year as part of the South Tampa Psychodrama training group.
At the core of my therapy practice I hold a certificate as a mindfulness leader, able to teach meditation as part of your individual therapy, on it’s own, or as part of a meditation group experience.
I have completed the training in adoption competency, and now appear as a guest speaker, on the effects of infant adoption.
As part of my education in the area of trauma therapy, I have extensive training in the area of trauma, cumulative trauma, dissociation, attachment, Expressive arts and traumatic expression, Internal Family Systems, EFT, TRE, and Brainspotting.
Where I have been…
Before becoming a therapist I was an educator for 21 years, teaching 5th grade, 3rd grade, 1st grade, and preschool. I have been working with children most of my life not only as an educator, but with children inside of the foster care system and behavioral hospitals.
Aside from my professional roles, I have had the honor of raising two special souls, my two beautiful sons (24 and 21) who are now impacting the world through their own passions, purposes and creativity.
As I dedicate this part of the website to my authentic being, and humanness, I’m reminded what it was like when I didn’t fully sit in my truth, when I was scared of being seen or heard and when I didn’t feel the “enoughness” of who I am. I remember when vulnerability felt like a bad word or a place of weakness instead of strength. This is why I know how important this work can be, because I have done it too. It is through leaning into my own human experience that I was inspired to create a space for other people to explore theirs. I’m never going to come to you from a place of knowing about your life, or how you should live it, but I will come from a place of knowing what the human experience can bring for us each to hold, and I look forward to hearing your story.
Today, I see being a Therapist as only part of my role. It is the part that I went to school for, but outside of my education I see myself as a co-creator of healing space and a transformational visionary, supporting people as they experience healing and transformation within themselves, their relationships and their lives. I honor my tenderness, sparkles and light aspects of who I am while also honoring my “badassery,” shadow parts that hold so much of my courage and bravery. I am a continual alchemist of my own experience, a constant transformation as each experience I have helps to reawaken my connection with myself with others, and to my passions and purpose.
I hope to help create ripples that reach beyond the time you and I spend together, but that creates an impact on the collective state within the world we live in.
I hope that helps you get a clearer view of the energy of the work I do with people. I always offer a consultation to see if I am the right fit for the therapeutic work you would like to do. It is in this time that I can answer any individual questions you may have. Call to schedule a consultation – 407-451-4520
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