Dr. Kristy M. Vanacore
-Holistic Psychologist
Dr. Kristy M. Vanacore is a licensed psychologist, holistic family wellness practitioner, author, educator, and founder of Rewilding Wellness®.
For nearly three decades, Dr. Kristy has worked with children, teens, adults, and families, helping them navigate emotional, behavioral, developmental, educational, and health-related challenges through an integrative and systems-based approach.
Her work bridges clinical psychology, nervous system science, family systems, trauma-informed care, somatic practices, and holistic wellness. Rather than focusing solely on symptoms, Dr. Kristy helps families understand the deeper patterns influencing a child’s behavior, emotional well-being, learning, relationships, and overall development.
Dr. Kristy is known for helping parents move beyond overwhelm and uncertainty by creating clear, practical roadmaps that address the needs of the entire family system. She frequently collaborates with schools, physicians, educators, therapists, and other professionals to ensure children and families receive comprehensive and coordinated support.
Dr. Kristy is the author of Rewilding: A Woman’s Quest to Remember Her Roots, Rekindle Her Instincts, and Reclaim Her Sovereignty, co-author of Ancestors: Divine Remembrance of Lineage, Relations, and Sacred Sites, and author of the forthcoming Rewilding Wellness: Reclaiming Ancient Medicine & Ancestral Wisdom to Revolutionize the Future of Health.
Through her writing, teaching, speaking, wellness retreats, and community-based programs, she is dedicated to helping individuals and families restore resilience, connection, vitality, and well-being in a world that too often fragments them. Dr. Kristy’s passion is guiding individuals and families to create lasting legacies of wellness for future generations.
Dr. Kristy lives in the Northeast with her two sons. While she maintains office locations in Connecticut and New York and also works with families worldwide, she believes healing was never meant to be confined to four walls. Through community partnerships, educational programs, workshops, and consultations, she brings her work directly into the communities she serves, meeting individuals and families where they are and helping them create meaningful, lasting change.
Office Hours at Sensory Stepping Stones
By Appointment Only
Through her office hours at Sensory Stepping Stones, Dr. Kristy provides consultation, parent support, educational advocacy, child and teen support services, and professional development and mentorship. Her unique approach blends nearly three decades of clinical experience with family systems, nervous system science, and holistic wellness to help families gain clarity, create meaningful change, and build healthier, more connected lives.
She offers the following services:
- Comprehensive Family Consultation & Care Mapping
A comprehensive assessment designed to identify your child’s and family’s unique needs and create a personalized roadmap for support, services, resources, and next steps.
Ideal for families navigating:
- Anxiety, OCD, ADHD, autism, behavioral challenges
- School difficulties
- Emotional regulation concerns
- Chronic/ complex health issues
- Complex developmental or mental health concerns
- Situations where families feel overwhelmed or unsure where to begin
- Parent Coaching, Family Healing & Legacy Work
For many families, the greatest transformation occurs not by changing the child, but by helping parents understand the deeper patterns shaping the family system.
These sessions support mothers and fathers in exploring how their own experiences, beliefs, nervous system patterns, and unresolved wounds may be impacting their children, relationships, and parenting.
Together, we examine the hidden dynamics that often drive conflict, anxiety, emotional reactivity, disconnection, and overwhelm within families. Parents learn how to become the steady, regulating presence their children need while creating healthier patterns that can influence future generations.
Areas of focus may include:
- Parenting stress, overwhelm, and burnout
- Anxiety and emotional regulation
- Family conflict and communication challenges
- Healing intergenerational patterns
- Breaking cycles of fear, control, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or reactivity
- Strengthening connection and attachment
- Navigating childhood, adolescence, and family transitions
- Creating a healthier emotional climate within the home
This is not simply parent coaching. It is deep family systems work designed to help parents heal, lead, and create the conditions for lasting change within their families for generations to come.
- Educational Advocacy & School Collaboration
Support for families navigating educational systems and services, including:
- School meetings
- IEPs and 504 Plans
- Special education concerns
- Behavioral and emotional support planning
- Coordination with educators and providers
- Child & Teen Sessions
Individual sessions designed to support children and adolescents experiencing:
- Anxiety and stress
- Emotional regulation challenges
- School difficulties
- Social concerns
- Self-esteem issues
- Life transitions
- Family-related stressors
Dr. Kristy’s approach integrates psychology, nervous system regulation, somatic awareness, and family-centered care to support lasting growth and resilience.
- Take the first step
You don't need to have it figured out. You just need to start.
A free 30-minute conversation, no clipboards or scripts. Just us, you, and whatever you’re carrying.
Subscribe To Our Newsletter!
Receive helpful updates, resources, program information, upcoming events, and news from our team.