Rachel is nothing short of amazing. I experienced a traumatic event 10 years ago, and in the decade since, I was unable to tolerate any kind of pelvic exam. The slightest touch felt excruciating, and over the years, I made maybe 7-8 doctors' visits for a GYN exam - none of which were successful, and usually ended in tears. Pelvic pain was a part of life I tried to ignore, but something I wanted to try to address.
I clicked with Rachel immediately. She is wonderful to talk to, incredibly knowledgeable, and has patience, compassion, and kindness in abundance. She really took the time to understand my background, and explain the anatomy in that area and how everything interacted. I knew a bit about how the body can hold on to trauma, and assumed the physical pain was something I would just have to live with my entire life. Rachel helped me believe, for the very first time, that I could heal from it.
She really tailored our sessions to go at my pace, and I never felt rushed to move into internal exams. When I did feel ready, I was astounded by the progress we were making - not only could I tolerate internal work, but a lot of it was no longer painful. If/when I did get tense, she was great at helping identify the group of muscles to relax (very different than a GYN just saying, "relax!" - Rachel provided direction and helped me key in to specific areas that I was tightening involuntarily). Once, while we were chatting during an internal exam, I actually started laughing about something - a stark difference to the time I cried on the exam table at the OBGYN office.
The reason I'm writing all of this in the past tense is because yesterday, I had my first-ever successful GYN exam. There was only some small discomfort with the speculum, but the rest went smoothly and painlessly. Even the doctor was amazed at how well it went, and said she wanted to recommend Core Elements to other patients!
I cannot thank Rachel enough. I spent 10 years feeling completely disconnected from that entire area of my body, and now I feel integrated, whole, and incredibly happy. If you have experienced any kind of trauma in that area, and are looking for a PT to journey with you on your path to healing, I pray you'll pick up the phone and call Rachel. That first step can be a hard one, but it's one worth taking. I can honestly say that deciding to work with her was one of the best medical decisions I've ever made. Thank you, Rachel! read more