Hi, I’m Rachel.
I’m an Atlanta native and have lived and worked in Nashville for the past decade. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC-MHSP), as well as a teacher, author, and speaker. I’m also a mama, and that is hands down my favorite title of them all.
To know me means knowing that I love to learn. After graduating from The University of Virginia with my Master’s in Education in 2015, I spent three years teaching elementary school. It was during this time that I knew I wanted to combine my passion for child development with my passion for mental health. This led me back to graduate school, and in 2020, I graduated from Lipscomb University with my second master’s degree, an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in play therapy.
Currently, I share space at an incredible group practice in Franklin, TN, New Moon Rising Wellness, where I have the honor of sitting with children, teens, and adults bravely choosing to heal in a world that would rather we stay disconnected from ourselves, our bodies, and our innate wisdom. Primarily, I work with clients recovering from eating disorders/disordered eating, anxiety/depression, trauma, and OCD. I also work a lot with recovering perfectionists and people-pleasers.
I believe that connecting not only with our mind but also with our body is a vital (and often overlooked) part of the healing process, and I incorporate somatic practices into my work with clients. I am trained in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), and I am currently becoming trained in Somatic Experiencing (SE), a body-oriented therapy that focuses on releasing past trauma responses and building nervous system regulation and resiliency. I am a huge Polyvagal Theory and nervous system nerd - I am truly so excited about this most recent endeavor and the path to becoming a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP).
I take an integrative, individualized, and holistic approach to therapy, pulling from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Dialetctical Behavior Therapy (DBT). and parts-work (Internal Family Systems informed) to help clients meet their unique counseling goals. In my work with eating disorders, I engage from an Intuitive Eating, anti-diet, and weight-inclusive lens. I am also particularly passionate about helping clients understand how their attachment systems and nervous systems shape their relationship with food and their body. I’ve been treating eating disorders for the last 5 years and am on the path to receive my Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) credential.
Based on my earlier clinical experiences working with family systems and my background in child development, I also offer parent coaching sessions for parents who are seeking practical tools to deepen their connection with their children. Attachment principles, Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), and Conscious Discipline inform and guide my approach to this work. I love working with parents who want to learn how to break cycles, who are courageously reparenting themselves while parenting their littles.
I enjoy working with Christian-identifying clients who are seeking to mature not just spiritually but also emotionally and might want to explore how to use their faith as a way through what hurts instead of as a bypass around it (as many of us have been conditioned to do). I do not discriminate against those with different religious beliefs and love working with people from all walks of life and spiritual traditions. Conversations about spirituality are only addressed if specifically requested by the client.
Aside from my one-on-one work with clients, I deeply enjoy teaching seminars and sharing tools via my writing on my Substack and social media. I particularly love teaching about the interconnectedness of trauma, the nervous system, diet culture, and eating disorders— all with a mission to end the stigma around mental health and help people live fuller, more present-focused, and authentically embodied lives. I also love sharing parenting nuggets on my social media platforms and using that as a platform to dispell myths about many common parenting “norms” that I often encourage folks to question.
I’m the author of a body image workbook (link to purchase here), and I’ve also created a beautiful little emotions guide to help people who are curious about becoming a little more savvy in all things emotion regulation. That resource is linked in the “store” section of this site! Outside of my work, I’m currently in a season of life where I deeply enjoy being home part-time with my 3-year-old daughter (and our 5-year-old Golden Retriever, Ollie, most affectionately known as “Ollie man”).
I’ve been married to my husband for almost a decade (how?). Our family values being outside, going on hikes, and sitting down for meals together. We are seekers of slow, meaningful, and beautiful things, and (imperfectly) try to stick to these values amid a world that largely encourages the opposite. And yes, of course I make sourdough (my starter’s name is Thelma, she’s pretty great). I’m nowhere near an expert baker, but I love it so much!
If you are a Tennessee resident and are interested in starting counseling with me, click here to learn more or submit a contact form on the “therapy” page.
**(very, very soon - as in, I’m waiting for board approval for my application - I will also be able to work with clients virtually who live in Georgia. Stay tuned!)
press & published:
Guest Blog Post for the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals
The Lovely Becoming-- Podcast Interview
Food Freedom Podcast-- Podcast Interview
Inner Alchemy Podcast-- Podcast Interview
