About Me

Rachel Burns, M.Ed., LCMHC, is an EMDRIA-certified therapist specializing in religious trauma, complex PTSD, and relationship trauma. She understands the courage it takes to question what you were taught and trust yourself instead, and brings almost a decade of clinical experience to her work with LGBTQ+ individuals and adults leaving harmful relationships and belief systems. Rachel's EMDR practice is deeply informed by nervous system awareness and somatic experience. She honors the pace of each client's nervous system, following what emerges in processing rather than pushing toward predetermined outcomes. Her approach integrates EMDR with Gestalt therapy and embodiment practices, creating space for clients to work experientially—not just talking about trauma, but processing it in real time through the safety of the therapeutic relationship. Rachel specializes in using EMDR to address religious trauma and spiritual abuse, where traditional authority structures have taught clients to distrust their own bodies and inner wisdom. Her work helps clients reclaim embodied spirituality and personal authenticity through trauma reprocessing that respects the complexity of faith deconstruction, identity exploration, and relational harm. With training at NC State University's Prevention Services and Counseling Center and experience across multiple therapeutic settings, Rachel offers skilled, attuned EMDR therapy grounded in this truth: your body holds intelligence that no external authority can provide.