Hi! I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing individual virtual therapy to clients in California. I bring 9 years of clinical experience working with adults, young adults, and adolescents facing a range of mental health issues and wellness concerns. I am your go-to therapist for all things grief. Before becoming a therapist in private practice, I started my career working in schools and then shifted into the world of hospitals. Through working in these environments, I have a deep understanding of the world of grief, loss, and complex trauma. How can I help? My specialty areas are traumatic loss, fertility concerns/pregnancy loss, and cancer support. What do these areas have in common? Grief. That's where I come in. I have a deep capacity to hold someone's grief while they experience it in its entirety and then learn how to cope with it as it shows up in different parts of their lives. Have you suffered the loss of a parent? Have you experienced pregnancy loss, termination, birth trauma or a NICU stay? Do you need a space to process a new diagnosis, such as cancer? Do you feel angry, lost, or alone in adjusting to life after cancer treatment? Do you feel hopeless, invalidated or misunderstood in the grief you're experiencing? Is grief bringing up trauma you've experienced at any point in your life? While I am absolutely a therapist for those needing support through a life transition/stressors or wanting to improve their sense of self, my area of speciality is grief and all that comes along with it.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session, we will explore what brings you to therapy and what you are looking for from therapy. While it will take several sessions for us to establish a therapeutic relationship, in this session, I will ask you questions about your past experiences with therapy, what you like and did not like, your support system, how you see yourself and what your day-to-day is like. We will also talk about how I can help you with whatever you might be facing. If appropriate, we will set goals (which are always adjustable) that feel right to you. For future sessions, we might work on skill-building (emotion regulation, mindfulness, and distress tolerance) or processing past traumas or current barriers to your healing. How much you get out of therapy has so much to do with transparency and your level of comfort with your therapist. I always encourage my clients to share how they feel therapy is going and I make sure to ask these kinds of questions as well. The goal is for you to leave therapy feeling lighter, calmer, and more confident in the way you cope. Therapy can leave you tired! But the hope is that you leave with more clarity and insight.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My personal and professional experience informs the work I do. My work with clients always includes honoring all parts of who you are and how you identify. Central to my approach is the recognition that each individual's cultural identity and intersectionality are vital aspects of their lived experience. I am fully and completely comfortable sitting in the depths of painful emotions and stories with my clients. I do not believe that relentless positivity leads to lasting change or improvements in coping. Humor absolutely has a place in my virtual therapy room, so if that is you, I'm here for it! I believe that my ability to provide validation while also offering insight to change is the foundation upon which I provide therapy.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
My specialty areas are traumatic loss, fertility concerns/pregnancy loss, and cancer support. What do these areas have in common? Grief. That's where I come in. I have a deep capacity to hold someone's grief while they experience it in its entirety and then learn how to cope with it as it shows up in different parts of their lives. The client population I am best positioned to serve are female-identifying BIPOC clients between the ages of 17-55 who are interested in a somatic, mindfulness/meditation, acceptance & commitment, IFS approach to therapy. I am also clinically well-equipped to provide therapy to clients who have a history of childhood trauma, whether that be attachment, sexual, physical or psychological, especially if they have experienced recent triggering events that are bringing up the past for them.
About Rachel Prabhu
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VirtualMy treatment methods
Grief Therapy
Grief and loss tend to transcend words. Along with grief can come hopelessness, emptiness, and feeling paralyzed. It tremendously affects the way we see the world and ourselves in it. It causes an alteration to your consciousness. Whether you are in the throes of raw grief or grappling with how to integrate it into the long-term, therapy can help you find the ground beneath your feet. In grief therapy, I provide psychoeducation around what grief looks and feels like and also hold space for you to freely speak about how your loss has affected you. When you're ready, we will explore how to cope with grief and what it means to integrate it into your life.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
This kind of therapy is focused on skill-building to bring us closer to being able to balance two seemingly opposing forces. It specifically focuses on mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
Somatic
Somatic therapy integrates bodily sensations and experiences into the therapeutic process. I guide clients to explore physical sensations related to emotions or trauma, helping them connect with and release stored tension or trauma held in the body. Techniques like mindfulness, body awareness exercises, and somatic guided visualizations may be used to foster a deeper understanding of how emotional issues manifest physically. This approach aims to promote healing by addressing both the mind and body in tandem, allowing my clients to access and process emotions that may be difficult to articulate verbally.
Narrative
Narrative therapy is a therapeutic approach that focuses on helping clients reshape their life stories to reflect their strengths and resilience. It operates on the idea that people’s identities are shaped by the stories they tell about themselves and the meaning they assign to their experiences. By examining dominant narratives and exploring alternative ones, my clients can start to rewrite their stories in ways that are more affirming and aligned with their values. Narrative therapy emphasizes the importance of context, culture, and relationships in shaping a person’s experiences, allowing my clients to build new, hopeful narratives that support healing and growth.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
This kind of therapy supports clients in grief by helping them make space for painful emotions without trying to suppress or control them. ACT encourages my clients to sit with the natural, often challenging thoughts and feelings that accompany grief, fostering a compassionate relationship with these experiences. Through mindfulness, my clients learn to stay present with their grief, which can lead to greater emotional resilience. This approach allows my clients to create a life that honors both their grief and their commitment to living in alignment with what matters most to them