About | Mindfully FIERCE

Meet Rachel

Caring, Authentic, Open-Minded

First hometown: Little York, Illinois

Current hometown: Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Go Heels!)

Education and Licensure:

Bachelor of Arts, Illinois College, Jacksonville, IL, 2002

Master of Social Work, UNC @ Chapel Hill, NC, 2005

Licensed Clinical Social Worker in NC since 2011

Career Experiences:

I have worked as a professional social worker for nearly 20 years in the following institutions and organizations: Center for Child and Family Health, UNC School of Social Work, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Chapel Hill Police Department Crisis Unit, UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, and UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.

Going inward requires vulnerability, trust, and patience.

I would be honored to walk alongside you on this journey.

Rachel has been a professional Social Worker for 18 years and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in North Carolina for 12 years. Since childhood, she has been working to alleviate suffering, stop injustice, nurture belonging, and spread compassion. Her social work roots took hold when she was a child and involved in community service projects with family and friends. From a young age, she was deeply bothered by the discrepancy in living conditions and access to resources and opportunities that were afforded to some and not others.

Rachel is engaged in a lifelong commitment to working, personally and professionally, to create a more compassionate and just world. She believes in personal and collective responsibility for alleviating suffering in the world. She believes that feeling a sense of belonging and loving connection to others is critical for personal and collective wellbeing. Rachel helps to heal wounds, new and old, and to nurture the wisdom, curiosity, and love that lies within each of us.

Relevant Certifications and Trainings

Responding to a Disaster Using EMDR Early Intervention Protocols (2024)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR, 2024)
Relax and Renew® Level 1 Restorative Yoga teacher training (2023)
Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss Pregnancy Loss (2023)
Maternal Mental Professional Certificate Training (2023)
200-hour Trained Yoga Teacher through Lead with Compassion Yoga Teacher Training (2022)
Trained Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher (2021)
Transformative Educational Leadership (2021-2022)
Ruth King Racial Affinity Group Development Program (now called Brave Space); (2021-2022)
Co-Developer and Lead Author of the Be CALM Program and curriculums for Middle and High Schoolers (2019)
Learning to BREATHE Mindfulness Curriculum for Teens Intensive Teacher Training (2018)
Mindful Educators Essentials Course, Mindful Schools (2018)
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course, Duke Integrative Medicine (2018)
Certified The Incredible Years® Small Group Dina Child Treatment Program Teacher (2017)
The Incredible Years® Teacher Classroom Management Training (2016)
Experienced Teacher of The Incredible Years® BASIC Parenting Program
North Carolina Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 2011

“Rachel's smile lights up the day, her joy radiates, her realness creates waves of compassion and humor especially when you need it most. Her fierce heart is kind and loving, wrapping you up in sweet hugs."

- Alyson Baumgartner