Dr. Rapkin’s Bio

photo-for-bio-page-350pxDr. Jenn Krebs Rapkin is a licensed naturopathic physician with over ten years of experience in private practice and twenty plus years of experience in movement and body therapies.  While her medical training at the University of Bridgeport’s College of Naturopathic Medicine prepared her for a general family practice, Dr. Rapkin has always found herself interested in and passionate about mental health and mind-body exploration.  Her interest in the mind-body connection began while she was a modern dancer earning a BA degree at Connecticut College where she was introduced to the concepts of the Feldenkrais Method and Laban Movement Analysis.  Later while she was performing and working in New York City, she became an avid student of the Alexander Technique and was forever changed by her personal journey of self-discovery.

In her earlier years as a physician, Dr. Rapkin found herself more and more interested in how stress and emotions manifest physically in the body as pain, tension, or illness.  As a physician working with patients experiencing all types of physical and mental illness, she became intensely curious about why patients struggled to make real and lasting changes in their lives.  She underwent professional training in Craniosacral Therapy and Rosen Method Bodywork and attended lectures and workshops in mind-body medicine.  Over time her private practice began to evolve as she integrated bodywork, chakra assessment, meditation, guided imagery, and biofeedback with her naturopathic modalities including lifestyle and nutritional counseling and herbal and homeopathic medicine. The result of this integration was A Mind-Body Practice, the first and only naturopathic medical practice in Connecticut to specialize in holistic and integrative mental health.

Dr. Rapkin has developed and practices a unique form of bodywork called Narrative Body Therapy.  This bodywork operates under the assumption that every body has a story to tell, and that given a voice, every body can find increased wellness, vitality and healing.  It explores how our life experiences, memories, and stories imprint upon our bodies and consciousness.  The work is unique as it combines touch therapy with the active participation of a patient, integrating imagery, mindfulness, dialogue, and narrative.  Narrative Body Therapy’s purpose is to facilitate change and transformation in patients’ lives by initiating a dialogue between our body and mind.

In addition to her private practice, Dr. Rapkin teaches both the clinical and academic aspects of mind-body medicine at the University of Bridgeport’s College of Naturopathic Medicine.  She is a member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and has served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Holistic Health Association.  For a number of years, Dr. Krebs had an auxiliary weekend practice in her hometown of Nantucket, MA.   She lives in Guilford, CT with her husband and two children.