30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE:

Mario Starace worked in the mental health field for over 30 years, under the umbrella of the N.Y. State Office of Mental Health. He not only served severely mentally ill consumers in his role of Intensive Case Manager at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, but was involved with mental health programs in many other mental health organizations throughout N.Y. State.

ADVOCATE FOR THE MENTALLY ILL:

He was the former co-chair of a subcommittee of the Brooklyn Mental Health Council, where he helped develop a resource guide for adult psychiatric residences. This guide made it possible for mentally ill consumers to make better choices about where they wanted to live and gave mental health providers a better idea of the services offered by different facilities.

PRIVATE PRACTICE AND AUTHOR:

Today his time is focused on writing, speaking and counseling individuals on how to utilize stress management wellness models leading to Conscious Contentment. Mario is certified in Medical Qi Gong and as a Tai Chi instructor. He specializes in awakening individuals to a higher purpose and greater sense of fulfillment/satisfaction through the practices of Transpersonal Counseling, Yoga Meditation, Reiki, Tai Chi and aromatherapy (essential oils).

Through a personal shift in focus involving creative endeavors that absorb both mind and body, Mario, as an author, found how a stress-free state could be cultivated. His first book Spaces of Sanctuary came out of the peace and joy he discovered while writing poetry. He released a second book Conscious Contentment in 2017, which is a roadmap to a life of fulfillment utilizing a unique wellness approach to stress reduction. In his most recent book Wellsprings Within, a poetic collection written over a ten-year period, Mario explores and speculates about how the mystical coexists or is perceived to interpenetrate ordinary life, gleaning varying perspectives on enlightenment and transcendent experiences.

Mario has been a practitioner and teacher of aromatherapy for the past twenty years at community colleges, adult education programs, hospitals, nursing homes and charitable foundations. He has also been a member of an organization called “The Prison Project” for 35 years and teaches yoga and meditation to individuals who are incarcerated within the federal and state prison systems in the Northeast.

EDUCATION:

Mario Starace received his Master of Arts degree from New York University in Rehabilitation Counseling, and a Bachelor of Arts from Pace University in Human Relations. He was certified in 1997 as a Tai Chi instructor, he is a Black Belt 1st degree in the Martial art of Tae Ki Do, and a Reiki Master Third Degree. Mario has contributed to the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn as a part-time consultant and teacher. He is also actively teaching as part of Kingsborough Community College in the Continuing Education Department in Brooklyn since 2012.