Rachel Astarte(She/Her/Hers)

Rachel is a licensed psychotherapist and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing. She received a diploma in Mind-Body Wellness from Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, where she also received her certifications in Transformational Life Coaching and Clinical Hypnotherapy. She studied Theater and Acting at Loughborough University (UK) and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She has also received shamanic training from The Foundation for Shamanic Studies.

Along with a professional life in the arts as a writer and performer, Rachel has been an adjunct professor of writing at East Coast colleges including Philadelphia University, Bucks County Community College, and Emerson College. She is currently a member of the online faculty at Southwestern Institute of Healing Arts, where she teaches courses in spirituality and modern mysticism, Jungian archetypes, and ethics for healers.

Rachel is an author of both fiction and non-fiction books, all of which promote individual healing and wellness. She was also a nominee for the Pushcart Prize in Poetry and was the 1996 Poet Laureate of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Rachel has been a human rights activist since the South African anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s. She has marched for AIDS research, gun control, LGBTQ+, and women’s rights. She has been a Palestinian-Israeli peace activist since 2003—both as a member of Women in Black in New York City (serving on their Board in 2004), and as the founder of The Astarte Project, through which she organized art events and lectured at such venues as New York City’s New School on the topic of employing the arts as a means toward conflict resolution.

Rachel brings to her therapy practice the vision of unity through individuality.

The stronger our foundation of self, the better we can contribute to the world around us.