Hi I am Michael Vaccaro, founder of The New Way of Being Programs.
My work has grown out of more than two decades of meditation, self-inquiry, spiritual practice, counselling, coaching, men’s work, couples work, leadership development, and my own long journey of healing and transformation.
From a young age, I was deeply sensitive to the big questions of life, death, God, suffering and purpose. That sensitivity eventually led me through anxiety, depression, addiction, heartbreak, spiritual searching, meditation retreats, yoga, Buddhism, counselling training, men’s circles, fatherhood, marriage, leadership work, and years of sitting with clients in honest human moments.
What I offer now is not a method.
It is a body of work shaped by lived experience, formal training, deep practice and the privilege of supporting people as they reconnect with what is true.
I help people break free from old conditioning, listen to their deeper wisdom, and take aligned action in the areas of life that matter most.
- If you want to explore more detail of how I got here see below.
Training, Experience & Influences
My work has developed through more than two decades of formal study, professional training, contemplative practice, therapeutic work, leadership development and sustained personal inquiry.
Rather than emerging from a single therapeutic school or philosophical tradition, my approach has been shaped through the meeting of Western psychology, relational therapy, mindfulness, somatic practice, leadership development, contemplative traditions and experiential approaches to human growth.
Qualifications & Professional Training
Bachelor of Counselling
Australian College of Applied Professions
Graduate Certificate in Applied Mindfulness
Charles Sturt University
Including:
Eastern and Western Approaches to Mindfulness
Mindfulness and Acceptance in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Mindfulness and Neuroscience
Applied Mindfulness
Certificate in Holistic Human Development / Life Coaching
Mind Body Education
Meditation Teacher Training
Mind Body Education
Health Science & Mind Body Medicine Studies
Paramount College of Natural Medicine
Certificate in Community Services
Two Certificates in Business Management
Swedish Massage Certification
Reiki Level 1 Training
ThetaHealing Certification
Training with Ra Ansell Adams exploring intuition, embodied awareness, belief, relationship, compassion and energy-based approaches to personal transformation.
Clinical & Relational Development
Over the years I have undertaken extensive continuing professional development across couples therapy, trauma, attachment, mindfulness, somatic psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, men’s mental health and emotional regulation.
Selected training and professional development includes:
Foundations of Relational Life Therapy
New Ways to Work with Last-Chance Couples with Terry Real
Susan Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy Masterclass
Couple Therapy Essentials
The Three Relationship Systems in Gottman Couples Therapy
Infidelity in Couples Therapy
Beyond Betrayal: Working with Infidelity in the Therapy Room
Pathway from Power to Intimacy: A Compassionate Map of Relational Possibilities
Relationship Counselling: Pitfalls and Antidotes
Complete Internal Family Systems Therapy Immersion
Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy
Mirroring Somatically in Clinical Practice
Clinical Relaxation Therapy: Science, Evidence & Practice
The Anatomy of Anxiety
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Positive Psychology Strategies
Tapping for Negative Emotions
Understanding, Identifying and Responding to Domestic Violence
Understanding & Responding to Men’s Distress & Suicidality
The Physiological Manifestation of Grief
Supporting the Mental Health of Bereaved Parents Following Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Neonatal Death
ADHD 2.0: Shifting the Narrative from Deficits to Strengths
Introduction to Psychedelics in Therapy and Australian Regulatory Developments
I have also attended Andrew Huberman’s The Brain Body Contract live seminar in Brisbane, exploring contemporary neuroscience relating to behaviour, physiology, attention, stress and human performance.
Leadership, Coaching & Organisational Development
My work extends beyond the therapy room into leadership, executive development, organisational culture and human performance.
Through my work with Robin Miles and InspireMe Consulting, I have contributed to the delivery of high-performance executive coaching and leadership development for leaders, professionals and C-suite executives.
Working within Robin’s broader training and development ecosystem has given me practical exposure to a wide range of leadership, coaching and organisational frameworks, including:
Executive and performance coaching
Leadership development
Organisational strategy
Communication and influence
Conflict resolution and management
Myers-Briggs personality frameworks
DiSC behavioural assessment
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
Emotional intelligence
Team dynamics and interpersonal effectiveness
Leadership psychology and behavioural change
This work has deepened my understanding of how personal psychology, emotional intelligence, relational capacity and organisational systems intersect in effective leadership.
Men’s Work, Embodiment & Initiatory Practice
My work with men has been informed by extensive experiential study of embodiment, masculinity, leadership, purpose, relationship and traditional forms of communal practice.
This includes John Wineland’s Path of the Embodied Masculine: Path of the Explorer, exploring:
The Power of Embodiment Work
Moving Into the Sacred Masculine
Transmuting Negative Beliefs Into Sacred Leadership
Integrity as Masculine Practice
Masculine Depth and Sexual Polarity
My journey has also included study and experiential work with Dr James Harvey, exploring the art of Council and Men’s Circle, medicine-drum making, drum journey practices, relationship as a foundational principle of life, working with an inner council, and an introduction to the traditional healing practice of sweat lodge.
Alongside formal training, I have facilitated and participated in men’s circles, retreats, workshops, embodiment practices and leadership programs throughout the Byron Shire and beyond.
Somatic, Energetic & Experiential Inquiry
An important part of my development has involved exploring approaches that work directly with attention, the body, felt experience and the subjective dimensions of human life.
This has included:
Working with energetic coach David Dick, exploring the movement of experience and energy through attention and intention
Work with energy therapist Penny Short, exploring sensitivity, embodied awareness and energetic experience, including participation in her Being an Empath workshop
A deep exploration of radical acceptance with Benjamin Smythe, investigating what it means to meet reality as it is rather than continually resisting experience
Reiki Level 1 training
Swedish massage training and the therapeutic use of touch and embodied awareness
ThetaHealing certification and exploration of intuition, belief, embodied knowing, compassion and transformational practice
I have also personally explored contemporary and traditional approaches involving psychedelic and entheogenic practices, including microdosing and the ceremonial traditions surrounding Peyote and Wachuma. These experiences form part of my personal inquiry and spiritual development rather than a clinical qualification or psychedelic therapy service.
Nature Connection & Experiential Learning
My development has also included immersive learning outside conventional clinical and educational environments.
Through a Nature Connection Program with Robin Miles, drawing from the tradition associated with Tom Brown Jr., I explored foundational practices of nature awareness, connection and self-reliance, including fire-making, shelter-building and learning to relate more attentively to the natural world.
I also participated in The Mindfulness Project, an immersive mindfulness and yoga experience combining contemplative practice, community living and practical service through learning to construct mud-brick homes for disadvantaged communities in Thailand.
These experiences strengthened my appreciation of the relationship between psychological wellbeing, embodiment, community, service and connection with the natural environment.
Meditation, Contemplative Practice & Spiritual Immersion
Contemplative practice has been central to my life and work for more than two decades.
My experience includes:
Five Vipassana meditation retreats and extended periods of intensive practice
A six-week residential meditation immersion
A 21-day Vipassana Yatra in Nepal
Three months living and practising at a Sivananda Ashram through yoga, meditation, study and community life
Two months at Amritapuri Ashram in India with Mata Amritanandamayi, as well as participation in her 2017 Australian tour
Laughter Yoga training at Amritapuri
Landmark Education's Curriculum for Living, including the Landmark Forum, Advanced Course and Self-Expression & Leadership Program
The Twelve Empowerments Program in Neo-Dzogchen / non-dual practice with teacher and coach Jochen Hayze
Deep study of the non-dual teachings of Adyashanti, including participation in the 30-Day Wake Up Challenge
A particularly important dimension of my spiritual development has been immersion in the ancient tradition of Bhakti — the path of devotion.
This has involved exploring relationship with the sacred through traditional chanting and song, meditation, ceremony, prayer, community practice and seva, or selfless service. At its heart, Bhakti has invited the practice of bringing attention, intention, speech and action into relationship with something larger than the individual self.
These experiences have contributed significantly to the contemplative, relational and experiential foundation beneath my professional work.
Writers, Teachers & Traditions That Inform My Work
My ongoing study has drawn from psychology, neuroscience, psychotherapy, contemplative traditions, relationships, parenting, masculinity, leadership and human development.
Relationships, Couples & Human Development
Terry Real, John Gottman, Sue Johnson, Esther Perel, David Deida, John Wineland, Alison Armstrong, Robert Augustus Masters, Brené Brown, John Gray and Sam Keen.
Trauma, Psychology & Neuroscience
Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk, Daniel Siegel, Rick Hanson, Stanislav Grof, Jill Bolte Taylor and Andrew Huberman.
Mindfulness, Non-Duality & Contemplative Traditions
Jack Kornfield, Thich Nhat Hanh, S.N. Goenka, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Chah, the Dalai Lama, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Gangaji, Papaji, Adyashanti, Paramahansa Yogananda, Mata Amritanandamayi and Eckhart Tolle.
Self-Inquiry & Personal Development
Byron Katie, Don Miguel Ruiz, Tony Robbins, Brendon Burchard and David Goggins.
Parenting & Family
Dr Becky Kennedy, Dr Shefali Tsabary, Tina Payne Bryson and Janet Lansbury.
These influences are not presented as endorsements, professional qualifications or formal affiliations unless specifically stated. They represent some of the people, ideas, practices and traditions I have studied, trained in or engaged with throughout the development of my own approach to therapeutic and transformational work.
Who am I and Why am I here?
I was born in north-east Victoria, in a small town called Myrtleford, and grew up in Albury-Wodonga.
I was raised Catholic, and from a young age I had a relationship with prayer, God, spirituality and the big questions of life. Around the age of eleven, I remember becoming aware of my own mortality. That awareness opened something in me, but it also brought fear, anxiety and existential unrest.
As a teenager, I struggled deeply. I explored alcohol, cannabis and other drugs, and by around sixteen I was experiencing intense anxiety, depression, insomnia and a fear of death that I did not know how to meet.
One night, unable to sleep, I found a book on my mother’s shelf that described a simple breathing practice. I went back to bed, followed the breath, slowed my heart, and fell asleep within minutes.
That moment changed the direction of my life.
It was the first time I realised I had some agency over my inner world. I could meet suffering from the inside. I could turn toward my experience, rather than simply be consumed by it.
That discovery began a lifelong path of meditation, self-inquiry, spirituality, healing and human development.
In my twenties, I moved through music, ambition, addiction, heartbreak, chronic illness, deep disillusionment and moments of profound crisis. At one of the lowest points of my life, when I felt I could no longer continue in the way I was living, something in me knew:
There is another way.
That “other way” became the central inquiry of my life.
I travelled through India and Nepal, sat meditation retreats, practised yoga, studied Buddhism, Vedanta, Christianity, mindfulness, non-duality, body-based healing, men’s work, shamanic practices, breathwork and various spiritual traditions. I had moments of deep opening, but also heartbreak, betrayal, grief, confusion and the humbling realisation that spiritual experience alone does not make a person whole.
Eventually, my path brought me to Byron Bay.
There, I began running meditation circles, offering mindfulness workshops and supporting people one-on-one through mindfulness-based counselling and coaching. Over time, I completed formal training in holistic human development, counselling and applied mindfulness, while continuing to study trauma, attachment, nervous system regulation, couples work, men’s work, leadership, communication and embodied practice.
I have worked in out-of-home care, student counselling, private practice, retreats, men’s circles, couples sessions, workshops, trainings and community spaces.
I have also worked and studied alongside Robin Miles from InspireMe Consulting, delivering high-performance and leadership coaching and training programs to executive leaders. This experience deepened my understanding of how inner clarity, emotional regulation, communication, ethical influence and embodied presence directly shape leadership, culture and performance.
I have lived the work through marriage, fatherhood, grief, spiritual practice, business, relationship repair, personal failure, recommitment and the daily practice of returning to what is true.
What I now call On Purpose Coaching is the fruit of that whole journey.
It is not simply counselling.
It is not simply coaching.
It is not simply spirituality.
It is not simply personal development.
It is a body of work for people who are ready to stop abandoning their Truth for approval, comfort or survival.
Again and again, in my own life and in my work with others, I have seen the same patterns appear:
People-pleasing.
Avoiding discomfort.
Self-protection.
These patterns are understandable. They often began as intelligent ways to survive, belong, stay safe or avoid pain. But over time, they can leave us disconnected from our true self, unclear in our direction, collapsed in our expression, and unable to live, love or lead with full integrity.
My work helps people turn back toward their centre.
To listen beneath the noise.
To meet fear, shame and contraction with awareness.
To discover the deeper wisdom already within them.
To express what is real.
To take the risks that matter.
To turn insight into embodied action.
This is the heart of On Purpose Coaching:
Purpose — knowing your Truth.
Transcendence — transforming conditioning.
Action — doing what needs to be done.
My work is rooted in mindfulness, self-inquiry, somatic awareness, emotional honesty, relational responsibility, leadership development and spiritual depth. It is grounded, practical and direct, but it also honours the mystery of what it means to be human.
I work with men, women, couples, leaders, coaches and therapists who are ready to live, lead and love more powerfully from their Truth.
Because I believe we are not here merely to get through life.
We are here to become honest.
To become whole.
To become useful.
To become courageous.
To become deeply ourselves.
And from that place, to offer something real to the world.
If you resonate, lets chat.