Clinical Counselor, Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist
Stacey M. Hurst is a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC). Since 1996, Stacey has worked with adolescents and adults on issues related to mood disorders, disordered eating, trauma, emotional regulation, body image, life transitions, and relationship challenges.
Stacey also enjoys supporting couples in their journey towards intimate connection. The couple’s dynamics are explored both verbally and non-verbally to gain greater understanding, compassion, and communication within the self and partnership.
Stacey strongly believes that our bodies hold answers, wisdom, and healing abilities, and she works with clients to draw from those powerful mechanisms.
Stacey’s clients note that she is a collaborative, engaged therapist who gently guides them through difficult areas of awareness. Stacey works within a safe, accepting environment where she helps clients to move calmly and confidently in their daily lives, discover healthier ways to relate to themselves and others, and synthesize the body, mind, and spirit—fully integrating the self to support optimal health and well-being.
Leadership and Scholarship
Stacey holds a bachelor of fine art (BFA) degree in Dance from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree (MA) in Dance/Movement Therapy from Columbia College Chicago. Her advanced training includes a certification in Laban Movement Analysis and two levels of training in the Internal Family Systems psychotherapeutic model.
In addition to owning a successful therapy practice, Stacey has taught courses in counseling, dance/movement therapy, and movement analysis at Columbia College Chicago, Roosevelt University, Aurora University, and internationally through the Tanter Dance/Movement Therapy Association.
She has served the national organization for dance movement therapy (ADTA) as central member-at-large and secretary, as a member of its certification board (DMTCB), and through numerous workshops and presentations.
She has been published in newsletters, online, and most recently in the American Journal of Dance Therapy (2018). In 2018, Stacey co-founded Embodied Education Institute of Chicago, whose mission is to educate the next generation of dance/movement therapists in an alternate route format.