About Ferny Barceló

MA, LPC, RYT-500 (SHE/HER)

As a young woman, I gravitated towards deep conversations and listening to people’s stories, and my strong curiosity around understanding the human mind eventually lead me to my studies in psychology. It was 2011 and I was in my Master’s program, when I offhandedly chose to take a mindfulness course that offered a rare opportunity to go study Indian culture with one of my professors. I spent an eye-opening two weeks in South India, working with Indian psych-grad students and learning how their studies extended far past the classroom. From supplying clean water to remote villages to joining in on meetings for the legal protection of women against domestic violence, I learned firsthand how mental health is not just a matter of one-on-one client sessions, but that it is truly a physiological, societal, and sometimes spiritual issue. It was also here, in a small Tibetan monastery, that I was first introduced to meditation, and the power that mindfulness can have on our emotional, mental, and physical health.

In 2012, I began seeing clients at Austin Mindfulness Center, where I was given the opportunity to learn about Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and compassion-focused therapy — both styles that wove together my Western education with Eastern approaches to healing our relationship with ourselves. In tandem with seeing clients, I dove headfirst into studying yoga asana, yogic philosophy, and other holistic practices. I found much of my own healing and strength in yoga and because of this, I started down the road to become a teacher myself. I’ve taught yoga now for over ten years, and it continues to be a lovely compliment to my psychotherapy work.

I am an advocate and supporter of the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities, women’s rights, the feminist perspective, and for all humans, of all walks of life, to feel safe, heard, and fully supported.

When I’m not seeing clients, you’ll usually find me in mom-mode to the sweetest little boy in the world, reading and perusing book stores, doing yoga, or (more often than not) binging a good series with some popcorn on the couch.