A psychotherapy and behavioral health practice located in Wilmington, NC, specializing in impulse co
09/19/2025
I took a big step back from posting because I am so conflicted about using Meta. Period.
But, I also feel like maybe silencing people is part of the goal??
So, I am here to say- there is nothing that devastates me more than having a session with a client and seeing system on system fail them and also bearing witness to the humans who are part of the systems upholding the system over the individual.
Things have to change. We cannot go on this way. The center will not hold.
Individually, we get to say no. I’m not doing this. I’m not participating in this any more. My humanity sees your humanity and chooses you literally IN SPITE of the system.
09/16/2025
There is a reason KPop Demon Hunters is so popular- beyond the catchy music, the story is so relatable. How many of us were raised in families where we had to hide parts of ourselves or what was happening behind closed doors?
This is a reminder that you don’t have to live in hiding. You have permission to show up in your entirety and to be seen and accepted- not always in terms that every behavior is acceptable- but in the context of being valued independent of what you do because of who you are.
I firmly believe that when we have the safety to be fully seen and to allow our hurt behaviors out- with boundaries and support- we are able to let down our defenses and to genuinely heal- no longer needing those behaviors to take care of us in the ways they historically have.
09/07/2025
When I was little, I thought that people were either good at things or bad at things, so if I tried something and wasn’t immediately good, at it, I assumed I would never be able to do it well. What I wish I had known then is that almost all of us start out bad at things, and we get better the more we practice.
Now, it’s a celebration to try something new and to do it badly (except maybe when it involves other people trying my cooking 🤷♀️😂); it’s the beginning of a possibility, the beginning of growth, the beginning of getting better.
I hope you give yourself permission to do new things badly and build consistency until you are able to do it as well as you want to!
Image credit unknown
05/27/2025
One of the most beautiful and difficult parts about aging is the recognition of all of the selves we carry forward. We have permission to honor those younger selves, to offer them care, and to acknowledge how they have taken care of us and gotten us to where we are.
Image credit via
05/19/2025
I saw a beautiful of a person talking themself through showing up late. Initially, it seemed like they were talking to a child, but it became clear they were talking to themself. It was so beautiful, so healing, so deeply lovely! I hope you can find the compassion and gentleness to offer that same love, care, and kindness to your inner child- and that you can know that you have permission to reparent yourself- gently, fully, and so filled to overflowing with love and kindness.
Image credit via
02/25/2025
It’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, and as anyone who works in the field of eating disorder recovery can tell you- weight and the body and how we think about our bodies are entirely political and are actively being shaped by our culture- and we have permission to engage with that shaping.
reminded me in supervision yesterday of the radical work of and most specifically of their book
As she shares in the book, “Pleasure is not one of the spoils of capitalism. It is what our bodies, our human systems, are structured for; it is the aliveness and awakening, the gratitude and humility, the joy and celebration of being miraculous.”
This week, I encourage you to look for the miracles of your body and your existence and to engage in the radical act of pursuing pleasure as a means of resistance to the efforts our culture has taken to deprive you of it and to separate you from yourself.
As always, welcome to the resistance if you’re new here. Continue the resistance if you’ve been here for a while. - Rachel
02/12/2025
I am struggling. Struggling to brush my teeth in the mornings. Struggling to make my bed. Struggling to keep going.
Sometimes, all the energy I have goes into showing up and being present in my sessions. Sometimes at the end of the day, I sit like a zombie on my couch.
Right now is really hard.
And so, I go to therapy. I ask for help. I let people know what I can and cannot handle. And- I keep brushing my teeth. Sometimes not until I am going to bed. One time for thirty seconds just to make sure I did it.
Because in the midst of everything that is happening- and wreaking havoc on my ability to cope- I still matter. I still have worth. And my body deserves to be treated with kindness.
If you are struggling, I see you. I am with you. We keep going together. And while my line in the sand is brushing my teeth, your line in the sand belongs to you. You hold on with every piece of you that you can onto that part that keeps you showing up for yourself. And remember. Remember this will pass. Remember you are not alone. And remember that kindness towards yourself is its own kind of power and resistance.
Poetry credit to via Learning to Live in the World: Earth Poems
02/07/2025
Over the weekend, I saw some of my best friends and carried with me a surprise gift I received- a hobby horse to commemorate the great hobby horsers of today (and their athleticism!👏💃🏼) and also because I am trying to not be on instagram much (not sure if you’ve noticed) and- as a result- will not be able to get as many updates on the hobby horsing circuit.
This gift got me a lot of strange looks, prompted some interesting conversations, and led to a lot of shared laughter. It turns out an awful lot of us enjoy watching hobby horsing. It brings A LOT of joy.
And, joy is an ACT OF RESISTANCE. It is not the only act of resistance but is a crucial part of connecting and remembering why we continue to build together TOWARDS.
01/26/2025
is the best at capturing moments in time. Right now, my texts, my sessions, and even my own thoughts are filled with worry- worry about what is happening. Worry about what is to come. Worry about what to do.
And, I go back to what I know to be true.
Breathe. This is the moment you have.
Show up and participate in community. This is when you need to be engaging with others.
Feel. Allow yourself to feel the full expression of your emotions; allow the feelings to pass through you; create space for your emotions to transform.
But, most importantly, breathe.
Image credit via
01/24/2025
I think about this all the time. All. The. Time.
I was raised in a very evangelical religious environment where a primary platitude was that god had a plan- and we were all part of it- and everything was good because it was working toward that plan.
And where I got stuck with that was with John the Baptist. Because while god’s plan might be good, John the Baptist still got his head cut off, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t feel that good about that outcome.
When we share platitudes, we need to be careful about what else we are saying- and where we might be blinded by our own privilege.
In this moment, real people with real lives are hurting, are being removed from their homes, have lost rights, are being forced to accept an identity that is not congruent.
To say things will get better and leave it at that is to devalue the very real pain happening right now.
Let’s choose to be more kind and more careful with how we share about this moment in time (and the moments that are to come).
Poetry credit
Also, please find him on YouTube on sharing this 👏👏👏
01/22/2025
I find myself really struggling with loving kindness at this moment in time. I find that there is a part of me who has people I don’t wish well, that I don’t want good for. There is another part that believes in the good of people and believes all people deserve kindness and dignity and respect. And, it feels like I cannot reconcile these two parts of myself.
If you have ever been in a similar space- if you find yourself there now- one thing you can try is opening up a conversation between these parts. Allow both parts to speak. See if you can tune in to your wise, adult SELF and how that SELF is able to respond with compassion for every part of you.
Our goal can be to live in congruence- and- we can struggle “towards” while we try to determine what actual congruence looks like.
Also, this is a good time to remember that sometimes in order to really get new information we have to take action- even if we aren’t certain what action is the “right” or “best.”
Image credit unknown
01/15/2025
Every breath is a moment where we can once again practice gentleness with ourselves.
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Honeybee Psychotherapy & Behavioral Health posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Contact The Practice
Send a message to Honeybee Psychotherapy & Behavioral Health:
Honeybee Psychotherapy Values and Practice Guidelines
· We believe in the power of transparency. Rachel will advocate for you to engage in direct, clear communication with others, and she firmly believes you deserve the same from her. If you have a question, please ask. If you have a concern, let us know. If you need another option, no problem!
· We believe in collaboration. No one person has all the answers. No one practice has all the answers. No one theoretical model has all the answers. No one field has all the answers. At Honeybee, we believe people work better together. That’s why we embrace collaborating with others. From medical doctors to psychiatrists to dietitians and personal trainers, if they are important to you or could be helpful to you, we want to include them in the healing process. That’s also why we never want you to feel like your only option is Honeybee. You have the right to choose who you want to work with and how you want to work with them.
· We believe that all people deserve to be treated with kindness, dignity, and respect. We also think the world would be a better place if everyone else believed this too (but that’s just us- we aren’t trying to impose our values on you). To that end, we ask that clinicians, admin staff, and fellow clients be treated with the same kindness, dignity, and respect you would offer to the person or animal (because let’s be honest, sometimes animals are easier to treat well) you love the most. And, we expect ourselves to provide that to you. If ever something rubs you the wrong way or doesn’t feel like it matches this value, please let us know, and we will work to hear you, develop an understanding of where you are coming from, and try to resolve the situation until you feel your needs have been met. If that’s not possible, we will talk to you about options for next steps.
· We believe in boundaries. Boundaries make everyone feel safe. That means when you come to therapy, you can expect your information to be kept confidential. You can also expect that your physical space will be respected, and you will be treated with kindness and dignity. Boundaries also mean that therapy time is used for therapy. Contact between sessions will be kept to a minimum to ensure maximum use of session time. Boundaries are also why we at Honeybee do not give out our personal information. Therapy is meant to be about you- NOT us. And, when we are not working, we cannot provide good therapy. That means we are not available outside of office hours. Please use emergency resources if you need immediate additional support, or please wait until your next appointment to explore what has been happening in your life. Boundaries help in everything, and we could go on and on but will stop here for now.
· We believe in practicing what works. Sometimes therapy takes a long time- and that’s okay. If there is a lot to work through, it’s going to take a long time to do it. That said, therapy should be productive. Sure there will be sessions that don’t feel as powerful or meaningful, but if you feel really stuck or like you haven’t made meaningful progress in a while (or if we get this feeling), we will discuss treatment options. Maybe we switch theoretical frameworks. Maybe we add some additional support. Maybe we recommend trying someone new. Ultimately, you should see movement and feel like you are getting better. If you don’t or you’re not, then we need to look at our options to see what else to do. Similarly, with practicing what works, Honeybee providers will only ever recommend evidence-based interventions. We know that there are great interventions that have anecdotal evidence of working. That’s simply not good enough for us. We take your health seriously, and we are only willing to provide interventions that have a strong scientific evidence base for support. This also means that if you share a recommendation that is not grounded in science (detox cleanses, I’m looking at you), we will not support that recommendation. There is fundamentally no evidence basis for it. In a world where so much is unknown, we believe in using science as a resource to practice what is known- and if we learn something better, we will practice something better. We believe you deserve more than a shot in the dark or something based on our own personal opinion or experience, and that is what we at Honeybee will provide.
· We believe in honoring our scope of practice. Social workers know a lot and are amazing! But, they don’t know everything. As a result, if there is something that comes up that is outside our scope of practice, we will tell you that you need to see someone else. Sometimes there will be issues where the lines get blurry (like in family based treatment), but if you need additional support, we will always recommend doing so and will recommend a provider that can offer those services. Similarly, even when some things are in our scope of practice, for the scope of therapy, we may recommend an adjunctive treatment. For example, if you want to work on OCD but also have a lot of trauma, it might make more sense to do separate work. You are learning skills for both but are actually getting more comprehensive treatment in doing so. Where this often really comes up is with medication management and with other co-morbid (meaning happening at the same time) conditions. Our limited scope of practice means we rely on you consistently seeing a medical provider, as needed, to make sure your medical needs are adequately addressed so you can do the work of therapy.
· We believe in recovery. We believe there is hope for fundamental and complete change. We believe that therapy and medication and support works, and we believe that with the right combination, you can live the life you value. We also believe in brains and structure and vulnerabilities, so we know that relapses happen. They don’t have to be part of the recovery process but often are. Relapses do not make recovery impossible. They just create space to work on another aspect of your life to increase your resiliency in that area. Some brains will always need a little additional support to do what they are supposed to do (just like some pancreases or some hearts; bodies are complex and tricky!), so even when recovery is possible, sometimes medication is ongoing. That doesn’t mean you’re not in recovery. It simply means your brain and/or your body needs this additional resource to be at its best. No big deal!
