Bay area lgbtq+ reiki guide
Meet Rachel Pray, MA
Rachel brings her professional experience and clinical skills to her counseling work.
She guides clients in learning or honing mindfulness practices and coping skills to become more grounded, less reactive and to deepen compassion and authenticity of self.
Rachel has been trained in Reiki since 2021, when she began working with Bronwyn Ayla, Reiki Master Teacher and Licensed Acupuncturist in Berkeley, CA. Bronwyn founded the School of Wu Wei Reiki and has practiced and taught Reiki for more than twenty years in the UK and US. She is dedicated to holistic, feminist healing practices that counter our consumerist culture by emphasizing one’s own innate resources. Rachel has received transmission from Bronwyn to practice Wu Wei Reiki energy healing and continues to train with her at the Reiki Master Level.
Rachel holds advanced degrees in Clinical Psychology/LGBTQ-Affirmative Psychotherapy from Antioch University, Los Angeles and English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. She has taught ecofeminism, literacy, creative writing workshops and self-defense, and worked for more than a decade in community mental health settings in both northern and southern California. Rachel has trained and cared for horses since 1985 and has facilitated equine assisted learning sessions since 2002.
Rachel brings exceptional clinical skills to her Reiki Energy Healing and Counseling work, with an emphasis on supporting her LGBTQI+ community. Rachel spent more than a decade working with at-risk populations and with LGBTQIA+ clients in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Los Angeles. Rachel has advocated for more inclusive and affirmative mental health practices for the LGBTQIA+ community. Ethical practice and client-centered approach is at the heart of her work. Her current practice of Reiki and counseling is firmly rooted in these values.
In 1995, Rachel began to attend Zen Buddhist retreats at Green Gulch, SF Zen Center and Tassajara. By 1997, she had taken the Buddhist Precepts of ethical conduct with Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Teacher, author and social activist. Rachel has deepened her study and practice of Mahayana and Vipassana Buddhist meditation for more than twenty-five years, learning from the Dharma and striving to embody the Noble Eightfold Path of ethical conduct in her life and work. Rachel brings many years of expertise in facilitating mindfulness meditation groups and attending retreats to her work as Reiki Healer and Wisdom Counselor.
“My experience with Rachel was amazing. I had suffered a concussion and my symptoms were very persistent, making everyday life a struggle. Rachel took the time to sit and talk with me about what I was experiencing and what I wanted to focus on.
“Her energy is so calm and peaceful, which helped set the tone for the rest of our session. From the moment she started, I felt her Reiki Energy healing and working in my body. She asked for consent before touching me and continued to check in throughout the session, which I really appreciated as well. I felt comfortable, as she created a very safe space for me to be vulnerable and open up for the healing I needed. Afterwards, I felt a shift in symptoms and I’m so grateful! Rachel is incredibly gifted and I’m lucky to have found her.”
