Sunny Rucker, LCMHC-A, NCC
Clinical Therapist
Sunny is a bilingual licensed clinical therapist at Advaita Integrated Medicine who offers purposeful and holistic counseling services for individuals, families, couples, and groups in English and Spanish. Sunny provides an authentically safe space that supports individuals in their healing journey while facilitating processes for self-discovery, self-compassion, and self-advocacy.
Sunny is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate and Nationally Certified Counselor. She earned her Masters of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Several years prior, she earned her Bachelors of Arts in International Studies and Spanish with
minors in Political Science and Nonprofit Management from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.Sunny discovered her passion for counseling while developing a non-profit in Latin America. This work allowed Sunny a platform to support communities to identify their needs and creatively collaborate to develop programs to address them. This experience guided her to realize that above all else, humans crave to be seen, heard, and accepted. Many of us go through life without having spaces that are conducive for authentic and deep connection, which are ultimately so helpful for self-actualization. She went from working in community-based projects for holistic healing, to focusing on understanding how to support individual journeys of transformation.
Sunny now has three+ years of experience working in community mental health supporting a vast array of needs, backgrounds and ages. She specializes in working with trauma of all forms. She loves to support individuals in understanding how their life experiences impact their daily life. She also has extensive experience working with depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, identity questions, faith and spirituality exploration, life transitions, stress, grief, disordered eating, academic and career challenges, and other mood and personality disorders.
Sunny operates from a person-centered, trauma-informed approach. She considers herself an “eclectic” therapist, bringing in tools from a wide range of therapy theories and modalities such as Gestalt, Humanistic, Existential, Attachment-Based, Somatic-Based, Mindfulness, Acceptance & Commitment, Cognitive Behavioral and Dialectical Behavioral therapies. She loves to bring in body-based practices, mindfulness exercises, and other ‘new age’ approaches when they are a good fit for the client.
Sunny is very passionate about supporting and advocating for all communities who’ve experienced the many forms of oppression. Sunny is a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community and believes strongly in fostering an inclusive environment for all identities and orientations. She would love to welcome you, exactly as you are, to a loving therapy space. Outside of therapy, you can find Sunny taking nature walks, practicing yoga, meditating, cooking yummy new things, dancing, reading, writing, painting, exercising, traveling, and spending time with friends and family. To learn more about Sunny, check out our recent blog post.
Education
University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Greensboro, NC) — M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
University of North Carolina at Wilmington (Wilmington, NC) — B.A. in International Studies and Spanish
