Kimberly R. Mascaro, PhD, LMFT (she/her) wears many hats in addition to her professional role as a somatic and spiritually-oriented clinician. She is a daughter, big sister, aunt, cousin, and dog-mom, as well as a long-time activist for human and nonhuman rights. Her European ancestry is mixed, of both Celtic and central Calabrese (Brutti tribe) origins. Dr. Mascaro has worked in the fields of mental/behavioral health (having supervised outpatient clinics and therapeutic programs), as well as higher education for over 20 years. She holds a license to practice psychotherapy in the state of California, blending Western and Eastern science for mental health and wellbeing. Her doctoral training, as well as lived experience, has taught her to always include the body – not just the mind – when it comes to healing and wholeness. Dr. Mascaro’s primary focus is on women’s issues – particularly navigating life’s BIG transitions, chronic illnesses, as well as healing trauma, anxiety, depression, enhancing spirituality & meditation, moving beyond grief/loss, as well as recovery from substance abuse. She is known for her warm, relational, trauma-informed approach and holistic, eclectic therapeutic style, integrating traditional talk therapies with art, dreamwork, hypnotherapy, various approaches to meditation (including yoga nidra), and somatic wisdom. Additionally, she has experience serving neurodivergent individuals – those with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ADHD and ASD – with advanced training and practice in those areas.
As for research and writing, Dr. Mascaro’s most recent publication is Dreaming with the Earth-Mind (2025), followed by Dream Medicine (2021) and Extraordinary Dreams (2018), published by McFarland. Her research and writing on dreams has been presented and published globally. She earned a PhD in clinical psychology (with a somatic psychology concentration) from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and a MS in counseling psychology from Dominican University. In addition, she is a long-time artist and craftswoman, with a BA in Fine Art, having received awards for her work in California. Her passion for painting her dreams and crafting altars/shrines is grand! She is a longtime student of both Eastern and Western Mystery Traditions, with decades immersed in martial arts, meditation, yoga, tarot, and dance/movement. Dr. Mascaro currently serves on the Board of Directors for the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) and as Chair of the IASD Ethics Committee. Past Board of Director activity includes the Sierra Foothills chapter of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). She is also a member of the American Psychological Association (APA). Dr. Mascaro is faculty associate at Arizona State University (13+ years instructing a variety of psychology courses), and has guest-lectured at the graduate level in other universities and graduate institutes. Born and raised in Northern California, she is passionate about the ‘inner work’ and the art of personal transformation.
Click here for my Substack page: Conscious Chimera Classroom
Conscious Chimera 