Rachel Nagelberg, Somatic Release& PNE Practitioner

Rachel specializes in codependency & relational trauma, CPTSD, substance abuse, sexual trauma, accident trauma, Self realization/embodiment & psychedelic integration.

Rachel is a writer turned somatics practitioner & educator. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of San Francisco, and has integrative certifications in Somatic Release Technique (SRT), The Points Holding Process & PsychoNeuroEnergetic (PNE) therapeutic modalities from the Somatic Institute in Los Angeles. Her debut novel, The Fifth Wall, was published by Black Sparrow Books in 2017 and was deemed by Chris Kraus in i-D Magazine as “falling within a new and exciting tradition of female philosophical fiction.”
Rachel’s transition from writing to the world of healing evolved from her lifelong investigation of the gut-heart-brain disconnection that can occur from trauma. Growing up with severe autoimmune responses (from chronic gut inflammation to full-body paralysis to depression and dissociation), Rachel’s explorations in numerous alt-therapies lead her to find PNE as a method that works safely on the deepest levels to produce real and lasting nervous system shifts.
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Rachel incorporates her continued practices of Vedic meditation, studies in non-dualism and explorations of consciousness and healing via plant medicine into her facilitation approach, alongside polyvagal regulation techniques taught by Dr. Stanley Rosenberg and his protege, Thor Philipsen, DO & the somatic-based practices of Dr. Peter A. Levine, offering a deeper dual spiritual + scientific component to the work.
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In addition to her private practice, Rachel runs somatic-focused recovery groups in Los Angeles focusing on addiction and body-based self-regulation practices, as well as creative writing, and is also developing a Jungian-influenced Somatic Dreamwork practice, currently offered as 1-hour sessions over Zoom. She is currently deepening her training in Transactional Analysis at the Southeast Institute for Group and Family Therapy, and is beginning to study craniosacral unwinding techniques to incorporate into her in-person sessions.
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It is my honor to hold space for you on your journey to realignment and reconnection with your be-ing.

Degrees
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
University of San Francisco
Aug 2009 - Aug 2012
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Bachelor of Arts in English Writing
University of Pittsburgh
Dec 2006 - Dec 2009
Trainings/Certificates
Cranial Sacral Unwinding
Life Energy Institute, Topanga, CA
Sept 2023 - present
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Transactional Analysis Practitioner
Southeast Institute, Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 2023 - present
PsychoNeuroEnergetics Teacher Training
Somatic Institute, Los Angeles
Aug 2021 - Dec 2022
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Somatic Release Technique, Points Holding Process & PsychoNeuroEnergetics Certifications
Somatic Institute, Los Angeles
Jan 2020-Aug 2021
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100-Hour Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Certification
Dharma Moon & Tibet House
Nov 2021 - Feb 2022
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Polyvagal Theory: Neural Exercises for Safety & Connection
w/ Stephen Porges
Oct 2021 - Nov 2021
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This Jungian Life Dream School
Oct 2020 - Feb 2022
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Mindfulness & Stress Reduction Course
Mindfulness & Trauma Course
Mindfulness Care Center, San Francisco
2013