Co-Founder

Rachel Harner (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor, an EMDR trained clinician by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA), a registered Supervisor with the Virginia Board of Counseling, a Certified Mental Health Integrative Medicine Provider, and Meditation Practitioner. Rachel completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia and her Master’s degree in Counseling at Regent University. Rachel is listed in the Reclamation Collective directory for therapists working with religious and spiritual trauma and has additional training in somatic therapy.

Rachel works with clients who have experienced trauma in religious institutions (cults, high demand religious groups, LDS, Evangelical/Protestant Christianity, and Eastern religious traditions) as well as sexual abuse and assault, relationship stressors, and abusive family systems. Her experience treating clients with Complex PTSD and ego state fragmentation has lead her to engage in treatment from the viewpoint that old coping mechanisms, once used for survival, may no longer be working or may be hindering growth in the now.

Rachel spent almost a decade in solo private practice before founding Connected Wellness Group. She utilizes Psychodynamic theories, ego state concepts, EMDR, mindfulness, and somatic processing in her counseling practice. Rachel views the role of the therapist as assisting clients in processing, making sense of, and grieving their experiences while empowering agency to create a new story. Rachel believes healing is restoring trust in self through connecting to self- mind, body, brain, and heart.

Rachel believes challenging life experiences and perceptions may result in disconnecting from ourselves (our bodies, our values, our needs), our spirituality, our relationships, and our communities. Healing means reestablishing congruence, wholeness, and connection.