Stacy McCrory, MA, LMFT

I very much identify as a grief tender and a joy seeker, continually learning to carry it all and live an embodied life. I’m a licensed marriage & family therapist in private practice in California, as well as the founder of TwoCan Retreats and the Santa Barbara Regional Director for the Waves of Grief Collective™. I provide guidance and support to individuals, couples and families going through major life transitions, healing from trauma, and living with grief and loss. I empower clients through embodied practice, mindfulness and self-compassion, inviting them to welcome even the unwanted parts of themselves with kindness, to deepen their connection with nature, and to discover new layers of meaning in their lives.

I specialize in the areas of divorce & co-parenting, as well as trauma, grief and loss. I also find couples therapy highly rewarding, since I’ve become intimate with so many divorced couples who have driven home the importance of effective communication. I provide support and guidance through psychoeducation and coaching, assisting clients with reducing conflict, creating healthy boundaries and developing deeper intimacy.

For more than 25 years, I’ve served as a treatment provider, administrator and client advocate in both public and non-profit mental health settings (inpatient, outpatient, institutional, forensic), and in private practice. I’ve spent much of my career in clinical and supervisory roles, serving marginalized and underserved populations in the community mental health field, including advocacy, oversight and development for adult and juvenile mental health programs, as well as consultation on topics related to divorce and co-parenting, grief and loss, abuse and trauma, and women in leadership.

I opened my practice in early 2005 to help families reduce conflict and minimize the negative effects of separation and divorce. After many years of working with children and adolescents, I became a certified divorce mediator, Collaborative Divorce Coach, with a special focus on high-conflict co-parenting, including parent-child contact problems, or resist/refuse dynamics. I’ve been a longstanding member of the International Academy of Collaborative Divorce Professionals (IACP) and Collaborative Practice, California (CP-Cal), as well as the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), made up of interdisciplinary professionals dedicated to improving the lives of children and their families through the resolution of family conflict. I have let go of these memberships in the last few years and my professional interests have evolved.

In 2021, I pursued more specialized training in mindfulness and self-compassion, grief and loss, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and conscious dying, becoming an end-of life doula, and studying with Francis Weller and other soul activists throughout 2023 and 2024. I’m a member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) End-of-Life Doula Council, and volunteer my time as a doula with Dying in Grace in Santa Barbara, in order to be of service, expand my awareness and deepen my understanding of life, death and the sacred journey that lies ahead for us all.

Some of my most rewarding work has been facilitating transformational retreats in Costa Rica with my husband through the business we founded in 2019, TwoCan Retreats. At home in Santa Barbara, we enjoy co-facilitating community Waves of Grief™ circles at the beach in proud partnership with the Waves of Grief Collective™, hosting potlucks with friends, dancing and singing around the fire.

A mother, stepmother, grandmother, parent educator and former childcare provider, I’ve dedicated my life to enriching the lives of children. I’m a firm believer in the healing power of community, interconnectedness and acts of kindness, believing that compassion, grace, gratitude and genuine respect for the planet and all beings can indeed make the world a more loving and peaceful place.