Isabelle Rizo
Neurocounseling Pre-Licensed Art Therapist & Transylvanian Ethnographer
writer - museum educator - teacher
WHO IS ISABELLE RIZO?
Isabelle Rizo is a German-born, Romanian Chicago-based artist, prelicensed art therapist, hypnotist, researcher and tarot teacher who blends mysticism, multicultural healing, and myth-based creativity to support deep emotional transformation, ancestral reconnection, and radical self-trust. With a unique background as a political refugee, Isabelle bridges her lived experience with clinical insight, intuitive practice, and visual storytelling.
She holds a master’s degree in Art Therapy and Counseling from Adler University and a bachelor’s degree in Visual & Critical Studies from The School of the Art Insitute of Chicago and brings a trauma-informed, liberation-centered lens to everything she offers—from immersive workshops and ancestral art rituals to hypnosis, tarot, and culturally grounded mental health support.
Isabelle’s creative and therapeutic work is rooted in the sacred traditions of Romanian folklore, Orthodox mysticism, Eastern European matriarchy, and diasporic memory work. She reclaims healing as both a personal and political act, infusing her sessions and performances with spiritual symbolism, body-based wisdom, and a decolonized framework for well-being.
She has led transformative experiences for global audiences, offering readings and workshops for clients including GOOP, Atlas Obscura, and Shaker’s, and exhibited her artwork in Prague, Chicago, and Dubai. Isabelle also guides an international coven of creative mystics, offering mentorship and ritual space for visionary artists, therapists, and seekers.
Isabelle has been featured in Prague College, Zero to Travel Podcast, The Golden Romania, Holistic Fashionista, LVBX Magazine, Ajala, Mystic Mag and Entrepreneur Magazine.
MY TRAINING & EXPERIENCE
15+ years of community facilitation, coaching, and peer counseling
12+ years of consulting and mentoring on careers, digital technologies, and digital consciousness
10+ Years as a Certified Master Herbalist & Member of the American Herbalist Guild
Master Herbalist at 150+ Year Old Apothecary in Chicago
B.A. in Visual Critical Studies from The School of the Art Institute in Chicago
M.A. Counseling & Art Therapy from Adler University in Chicago
Therapist Trainer on Group Therapy curriculum, client management, and trauma-informed education
Museum experience as an Education specialist at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium
Studied with mentors in business, career development, the arts, digital technology, and personal development since 2008
Lived and worked in China, Romania, France, Germany, and the United States as a remote worker running an independent consulting and travel writing business
Self-Published author of Singularity Storytelling: The Art of Noticing in the Digital Age & Beyond the cape of dracula
Exhibited artwork internationally in Prague, Dubai, and Chicago
Certified Consulting Hypnotist with the National Guild of Hypnotists and International Association of Holistic Therapists
International Retreat Facilitator in Transylvania & North America
Co-Founder of The School of Occult Arts - Making Folk Spirituality & Research Accessible
Certified Death Doula & Flower Essence Practitioner
Medical Art Psychotherapist at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, working at the intersections of scientific medicine, research, psychotherapy, and existential need
And, of course, countless hours of personal therapy, coaching, practice, art making, and magic
Contact
Interested in a session, collaborating, or hosting Isabelle for a seminar/workshop?