Irena Namayra Nayfeld, Ph.D.
Psychologist Gone Wild
About Me
Hello, dear human. I’m so glad you’re here.
My path to this work has followed two intertwined journeys: the personal and the professional. And, of course, the Magic.
I was born in the Soviet Union to a Jewish family who had to suppress their identity to survive. An intuitive, highly sensitive child, I learned early to attune to others while silencing my own needs.
After arriving in the U.S. as political refugees, I became the “good immigrant daughter”—eventually earning a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology and dedicating 15+ years to creating humanity-affirming spaces as a teacher, researcher, facilitator, coach, consultant, and professor.
I loved working with children, families, and educators. But, beneath the surface, I was not well. I lived with chronic pain, burnout, and a growing sense that something vital was missing—not just in me, but in the systems I was part of. Systems that prioritize the mind over the body, productivity over presence, and compliance over inner truth.
For nearly a decade, my body carried the symptoms of that disconnection—daily hip and back pain, hair loss, digestive collapse. I tried every conventional and alternative solution I could find, but the problems always came back.
Until I began to listen.
Once I stopped trying to fix my body and began to connect with the emotions beneath the symptoms, I unearthed not just personal childhood wounds but the deep imprint of ancestral survival, cultural coniditioning, and internalized systems of power that suppress our humanity, feminine wisdom, and embodied life force.
What started as just wanting to feel good again led to an unraveling, and a reclamation. It became a remembering of the joy, power, and wisdom that had always been there. It led me to a life led by soul, and a commitment to supporting others on their path to humanize, liberate, and reconnect.
My Approach & Training
I weave the spiritual, the intellectual, and the embodied, guiding others through a deep integration of mind, body, and soul. My work is grounded in psychology, somatic healing, and nature connection, blending years of professional expertise with lived experience and deep intuition.
More than anything, I trust the wisdom of the body and the truth of the soul to guide us. It works every time.
I bring together:
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A deep understanding of human development—with a Ph.D. in developmental psychology and years of experience as an educator and researcher, I have spent years studying and teaching how conditioning, trauma, and societal expectations shape the way we live, and how we can begin to unravel these patterns.
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Holistic healing practices—I hold certifications in feminine embodiment coaching, somatic and emotional release, along with extensive training in energy healing modalities, neotantra, and intuitive healing. My training AND my intuition guide you into what your body holds and knows, so that your healing comes from your own inner wisdom.
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Nature as a healing force—as a deep lover of nature and certified forest therapy guide, I help you reconnect with the natural world as a mirror, ally, and source of deep restoration.
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Lived experience—after nearly a decade of chronic pain and sense of being broken, I know firsthand what it’s like to feel sick, stuck, and disconnected. I also know grief, trauma, and hardship as much as I know aliveness, joy, and ecstacy. Wherever you need to be met, I can go there with you. I also continue to deepen my own healing, seeking out education, training, and guidance from the scientific to the spiritual. I am fully committed to this work, and to what is possible when we live whole, rooted, and free.
Education & Certifications
📚 Ph.D., M.S., Developmental Psychology | University of Miami
🏫 Postdoctoral Fellow | Stanford University & NYU Steinhardt
🌀 Certified Feminine Embodiment Coach | School of Embodied Arts
🌿 Certified Forest Therapy Guide | The Forest Therapy School
🌊 Certified Somatic & Emotional Release Practitioner | Temple Somatics Foundations
✨ Additional trainings: Strozzi Institute of Somatics, Deep Coaching Institute, Embodied Social Justice Institute, Animas Valley Institute, People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, Michaela Boehm's Wild Woman's Circle, International School of Temple Arts L1, Ll1, L2, Relational Awakening, and others.
Some Personal Nuggets
💃 Deep loves: Dancing, reading, poetry, live music, swimming, tree-hugging, barefoot wandering, cuddles.
🔥 Deep values: Liberation for all. Love for all. Wild joy and justice for all.
🌿Relevant identities: Auntie. Immigrant. Refugee. Queer. Gender-expansive. Jewish. Highly Senstivite Person (HSP). Priestexx. Wild woman. Poet. Moon dancer. Witch.
🗣 Languages spoken: Russian, English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese.
🚀 Recent soul journeys:
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2023: Sold everything to follow a soul calling to Brazil.
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2024: Lived and worked on an herbal farm.
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2025: Making a home in the Hudson Valley, NY.
🎶 Fact: I can (and will) dance forever.
