RADA’s Story.
Rachel grew up in a small surfing village on the east coast of Australia, surrounded by the ocean, rivers, and lakes. Her home sat on a peninsula, with the beach wrapping around it from three sides, while the national park lay just beyond her doorstep, abundant with native wildlife.
Raised amidst nature, Rachel developed a profound understanding of its patterns—the seasonal cycles shaping fires, floods, scorching weather, and the mating rituals of animals. She grasped the tidal rhythms and moon cycles, influencing extreme tides.
However, Rachel's childhood was overshadowed by unresolved generational trauma and untreated psychological illness and addiction within her family. Consequently, her own nervous system became dysregulated, leaving her trapped in fight mode for much of her childhood. Aggravated by a compromised immune system, Rachel grappled with skin and gut allergies from a young age, resulting in childhood insomnia and challenges with concentration. Early puberty brought hormonal imbalances, gut parasites, and bullying at school.
By her mid-teens, chronic fatigue syndrome took hold due to her overwhelmed nervous system. At fifteen, she faced grooming and paedophilia by a neighbour, prompting her to flee home. This marked a turning point, triggering a downward spiral of deteriorating health, escalating stress, and mental health struggles. Her journey became a relentless battle against self-abuse cycles, further dysregulating her nervous system.
As she entered her late teens, hormonal issues worsened, culminating in a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and encounters with bursting cysts, prompting doctors to recommend ovary removal. By her early twenties, Rachel lived in constant chronic pain, battling skin allergies, gut issues, food intolerances, insomnia, weight gain, and chronic stress. Eventually, she received a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, with doctors predicting a lifetime of heavy pain management.
Feeling completely failed by allopathic medicine with doctors only ever offering pain relief treatment for acute symptoms and never taking the time to get to the root cause of her health she took it upon herself to study, educate and treat herself as she came to understand that no one was prepared to help her. She began her career in Beauty Therapy at sixteen, fascinated by her ongoing skin conditions. At twenty, she delved into Remedial Massage to understand her chronic pain, and at twenty-three, she pursued counselling to explore the mind-body connection, recognising emotional and psychological blockages manifesting in physical symptoms.
At twenty-four, Rachel relocated permanently to Europe, moving between Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Disregulated for years, she found herself drawn to chaotic patterns and situations, unable to ground herself or create a permanent home. Struggling to find balance, her health improved only to be sabotaged by her own belief system, reinforcing her sense of deserving the pain she endured. Nature, once a solace, now felt daunting, reflecting her excessively hypervigilant nervous system.
Rachel's breakthrough came with biodynamic treatments, reshaping her outlook on life. Unlike traditional approaches, biodynamic therapy addressed the root cause of her pain and trauma, unlocking her nervous system and enabling her to navigate her emotional landscape without overwhelm. With each session, Rachel felt her nervous system gradually unlock, freeing her from deep-seated patterns of pain and trauma.
At thirty-one, she pursued further studies in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST), reigniting her childhood love for nature and holistic interconnectedness. This journey prompted a shift in her beliefs, allowing her to see the world with clarity, free from the shadows of trauma.
After graduating, Rachel founded RADA, drawing on her education and personal experiences with pain and trauma. Her illnesses, she has come to understand, stemmed largely from high stress levels during utero and childhood which led her to into self abuse cycles and chronic liver sickness, exacerbated by environmental factors like dental amalgam fillings, heavy metals, pesticides, and viruses.
Understanding the liver's pivotal role in health, Rachel recognised its neglect within allopathic medicine. She identified stress as a root cause of illness, manifesting in physical, chemical, and emotional forms. These stressors disrupt the body's delicate balance, leading to disease.
Since founding RADA, Rachel has expanded her studies to include Sound Healing, Chi Nei Tsang, Breath Work, Meditation, and Heart Coherence. She continues to study Buddhism daily as part of her journey to optimal health, recognising the enriching value of holistic mind-body healing.
*A message from Rachel:
I've always been a very sensitive person, but it wasn't until my twenties that I came to understand that I am both a physical and emotional empath. I feel the nervous systems of people and the places around me, and sometimes I struggle to distinguish between my own and the outside. As a child, I wasn't aware that this was rare, but I grew to understand its potential as an adult. While it's an extremely beautiful gift to have, it can also be extremely overwhelming and exhausting, as it's not something you can choose to shut off when convenient.
As a child, and even more so now, I've always sensed a deep connection to the Earth, recognizing that the patterns in nature mirror the patterns within my own body and those around me. I've always been able to connect into the mood of nature and people, understanding that there is a universal field of energy connecting everything to each other. I believe that our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs influence an interconnected energy network, shaping the world around us understanding that events in one location can deeply impact others in another location.
I became a therapist as it was the natural path to study and heal my own stress, trauma, and illness. However, the love and passion I have for holistic health is deeply rooted within me. There's nothing more rewarding than working with someone suffering from chronic pain or illness and seeing their nervous system start to regulate, their quality of life improve, and them take back control of their life.