Celia Bitencourth

ABOUT CELIA (Mini-Biography)

Celia Bitencourth is a Brazilian psychologist who has lived in the United States for several years now. Born and raised on a farm in Minas Gerais, Celia came from a very simple family in Brazil. “Poor of money, but not of principles,” she often quotes about her family.

As a little girl, she never went to school, yet yearned to go, conveying often to her parents her desire to enter school. When she was 11 years old, with hopes of going to school, she went to the local government office to obtain her own birth certificate because she didn’t have one and needed one to enter school. With much effort, she convinced the government office to create and give her and two of her siblings their own birth certificates. Despite such efforts, frustration ensued because the possibility to go to school failed one more time.

When she was 15 years old, Celia attended school for the first time. Her father found in another state, a school for adults and teenagers who did not have the opportunity to attend school at the right time. Finally, with exhausting efforts she got there with the help of a scholarship.

Years prior to arriving to school, Celia taught herself to read and write on the farm by reading papers found in the garbage that had letters on them. Her first test in school was to participate in a composition-writing contest, to write a composition entitled “Why am I Grateful to My School?” She was very happy to write the composition because finally she could have something her parents never had – a formal education. Since she was a little girl, Celia always believed, “gratitude is the most refined virtue of the human character.” With this belief as her subtitle to her composition, she participated in the contest and surprised her teachers by winning the contest. The composition was placed all over the hallways in the entire school. One of her teachers told her, “One day you will be writer.” She never forgot those words.

She became the best student, placing first place in all studies during her term at school. It was difficult to stay in first place, but she knew she needed to do it in order to keep her scholarship if she wanted to continue to study. After four years at her first school, she had to move on in order to attend university. She went back to her home state of Minas Gerais to look for a job, in order to work during the day and go to school at night. She did that until she graduated university. Working all day and going to school at night, she never had time to have fun. After 10 years of attending school part time at night, Celia graduated as a clinical psychologist from Pontificia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC-Minas Gerais, Brasil) in Brazil. She obtained her degree and got married at the age of 30.

Celia worked for fifteen years in private practice, doing individual and group therapy. She also earned certified credentials to consult for organizations like Banco do Brazil, Caixa Economica Federal, Petrobras, Ordem dos Advogados and others. After a few years of consulting with corporations, she later became a training consultant and speaker giving numerous workshops at various Brazilian corporations like Banco Central, Cia Vale do Rio Doce, and others.

Besides the strong passion for education, another strong passion is her spirituality. Celia has been a spiritual seeker since she was a little girl. She never could say she was a lighthearted teenager because she always pondered the meaning of life, the Universe and eternity. “Where does everything come from? Who am I? Where am I going?” are questions she pondered often. Even though she grew up with a positive mind and developed a tenacity and persistence that continues to astound everyone, she frequently became depressed and suffered of insomnia for many years throughout her adolescence.

As a scholar in several areas of psychology and because she of her many challenges in life, including an unsuccessful marriage, she intensified her research and participated in several processes like Quadrinity Process, Enneagram and others seminars. She explored meditations groups and studied Sufi Tradition, Yoga and many others. After several trips to Europe and the United States to work on and improve her life, Celia decided to live in the United States to learn more from her most inspiring and successful mentors on the planet. They taught her directly and helped her to achieve the correct balance to develop her mission and purpose in life.

After moving to Miami, Florida, Celia attended many workshops and Metaphysical courses including hypnosis and Avatar Courses. Having attended a month long workshop at the Endeavor Academy for Course in Miracles in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Celia decided to return to do an internship, where she lived and studied there for ten months.

After many years of study and practice to achieve the balance she needs to fulfill her mission and purpose in life, she now considers herself a mature woman with a new vision: She wants to continue doing what she’s doing and do more; she believes she is a citizen of the World and wants to help humankind, in particular the “street kids” of Brazil. She firmly believes, “The Universe is abundant and generous and everybody deserves to be prosperous.” She cannot see kids on the street hungry, naked and shoeless anymore. “It’s not conceivable for anybody who has a brain and heart to allow it to happen. I want to change that!”

Celia is divorced, is the mother of two adult sons and a grandmother of two. She misses her children, grandchildren and her father who 87 years old, as they all live in Brazil. Her dream is to go back to Brazil to live there for a while to help and teach. “Six months in Brazil and six months in the USA, something like that, is my ideal lifestyle dream, and I know it’s going to happen,” she says. Currently she lives in California, writing books and learning more about Metaphysical “Quantum Physics” and Course in Miracles.

She is the author of Secrets to Peace and Prosperity: Five Steps to Finding Them and is co-author of Wake Up...Live the Life You Love: A Search for Purpose. Both books are available in English.

Copyright © 2007 Celia Bitencourth