About Embodied Wellness

Embodied Wellness was founded by Rachael Bonaiuto, MA, BC-DMT, LPC in 2008. The vision for Embodied Wellness emerged from a lifelong journey rooted in compassion and acceptance, along with peaceful ways of empowering individuals and communities. While this vision emerged, so did the struggles of life. Several years ago, Rachael began to re-member - after a series of illnesses, injuries, losses, and devastating encounters with medical professionals - that she was the real authority of her body. Through this recognition, she began to reclaim her own power and learn to trust her own process... While working with others - of all walks of life - Rachael discovered that this understanding was invaluable to their journeys, as well. Feeling heart broken by our broken system, Embodied Wellness was created to offer a new system for people - supporting self-knowing, empowerment, and growth. Embodied Wellness uses proven tools and interventions, along with a deeply studied intuition, to help you make the change YOU want to make, to discover your own balance, and to learn to love, trust, and value yourself. Through this process, Embodied Wellness has witnessed countless individuals, families, and groups engage in more intimacy, find freedom and trust in their own bodies, and achieve intended goals in career, creativity, relationship, health, and personal growth. It is my joy and mission at Embodied Wellness to support my clients' development of new patterns and attainment of optimal wellness. 

About Rachael

Rachael Bonaiuto holds her BA in Psychology and Philosophy from Indiana University and an MA in Somatic Counseling Psychology from Naropa University. Rachael is a Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, and has extensive training in Authentic Movement, Akashic Records Consultation, Buddhist Meditation, Dance, Motivational Interviewing, Jungian Psychology and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.  She has been active in the mental health profession for over 20 years. Rachael has served as a community development specialist, teacher, counselor, sustainability consultant, spiritual mediator, Peace Corps Volunteer, and Life Skills Trainer. As a Psychotherapist, she has worked with individuals, couples, families, and groups since 2003. Rachael has an authentic presence and relates to each client with heartfelt acceptance, wisdom, and power. She listens deeply, responds intuitively, incorporates inclusivity, and applies useful interventions with humor, creativity, and joy. Rachael's approach is centered around building genuine connection, developing somatic awareness, and exchanging honest presence. Rachael believes that each of us are our own agents for self-change and deeply trusts the inherent wisdom of healing potential in every body. 

Rachael also deeply benefits from being a part of a rubust community that supports her continued development. She is an active member of the Golden Bridge Somasource Leadership Team and a Learner in the Circles of Four international Post-Graduate Program
for the Preparation of Teachers of the Discipline of Authentic Movement.

EMBODIED WELLNESS is dedicated to being of service in the lives of individuals, families, and groups. I support increased self-love, deeper connections, and greater access to intrapersonal and interpersonal resource. I welcome the opportunity to support you in your evolving journey and look forward to co-creating healthy relationships rooted in trust, mutual respect, and movement.

EMBODIED

Embodied refers to the "biological and physical presence of our bodies, which are a necessary precondition for subjectivity, emotion, language, thought, and social interaction."

Life is experienced through our Embodied presence. It is with embodied breath, sensation, and movement that we connect to ourselves and others and it is from this embodied awareness that we heal, grow, and make sustainable change. 

WELLNESS

Wellness describes the existence of positive health in an individual as exemplified by ones quality of life and sense of well-being. Wellness is a choice, a path, an efficient channeling of energy...

The process of achieving and maintaining Wellness involves the loving acceptance of Self. It is an integration between mind, body, emotions, and spirit evolving into wholeness. Wellness is when we allow ourselves to live in balance...

““It may be that when we no longer know what to do, 
we have come to our real work, 
and when we no longer know which way to go, 
we have begun our real journey”

— Wendell Berry

  • My theoretic approach to psychotherapy is eclectic. Eclectic psychotherapy selects what is valid or useful from all available theories, methods, and practices. The eclectic approach rejects adherence to any one school or system, and instead utilizes what is most effective or relevant from the whole therapeutic spectrum. It is composed of contributions from many different sources, used according to whether they are valid, applicable and indicated. The eclectic method thereby becomes a basic scientific approach to the problem of matching suitable clinical methods to the needs of specific cases.

    I have been working in the mental health field in a variety of settings since 1997. For as long as I can remember, I have been a "helper", a "listener" and someone who needed creative outlets to express myself - dancing, writing and nature to name a few. I began my professional career working in a residential home for schizophrenics. I discovered a deep capacity to connect with these individuals and make them feel safe, at times using modalities other than verbal communication. This continued in my work overseas - counseling recovering addicts, designing curriculum and effective plans for community re-integration and supporting health and wellness. After beginning my Master’s program, I was hired to work with developmentally disabled youth, expanding my ability to relate to different populations and offering me the opportunity to further integrate my somatic training and interest in developmental psychology. I completed my internship on the Family Team at Access Counseling, working with children, adolescents, individuals, families and couples. I then worked at the Center for Change with high-risk teens and women, running groups and offering individual counseling. Following this rich experience, I worked at Living Well Transitions, supporting young adults to integrate life skills and develop autonomy through independent living and self- introspection. My most recent professional opportunities, in addition to tending to the fullness of private practice, include guiding a group of teenage girls through an educational curriculum in Thailand, teaching Authentic Movement at Naropa University, learning to open and read the Akashic Records, and leading local 5-rhythm dance experiences through Golden Bridge.

    Through my professional experiences along with my studies, I have discovered my personal openness to various ways of incorporating diverse theories and techniques. I am strongly influenced by Dance/Movement Therapy principles and the psychological values established by Carl Rogers and later applied to family systems by Virginia Satir. I share with these Pioneers an emphasis on the therapeutic relationship, body awareness, and an experiential approach to communication and healing. I also acknowledge clients as their own agent for self-change and identify the healing potential in the present moment with trust that the inherent wisdom of each individual will be actualized.

  • CANCELLATION POLICY Due to the current fullness of my practice, if I receive a cancellation, this is a slot that someone else would have gladly taken. Thus, I do charge for cancellations less than 24 hours in advance. I know this can be challenging with illness and last minute emergencies. I will allow for the first of these type of cancellations to be waived. Beyond that, you will be charged full fee for any cancellation that is less than 24 hours in advance.

    FEE POLICY Service fees are based on hour long sessions and are billed at the current hourly rate as determined by Embodied Wellness. An hour long session consists of 50 minutes of therapeutic counseling and 10 minutes of administration time for note taking. Hourly rates are subject to change periodically, at the discretion of Embodied Wellness, who will communicate directly with clients regarding any changes to the fee structure prior to the initiation of any changes. Embodied Wellness requires full payment for each session upon completion. Insurance is not accepted, however, a super bill can be provided upon request. Please inquire directly for more information related to payments.