We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel E. Humphreys. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel E. below.
Rachel E., looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
I have had experience working with, or knowing, many highly successful and highly paid individuals. I’ve watched them show up to their work every day, crush it, and then go home and drown their emotional and mental stress with a a bottle of wine or other substances. I’ve known intelligent and hard working professionals who had to jump through hoops to keep their mental illness a secret from colleagues and superiors. I understand these pains. For many years, I too felt forced to suffer silently, and could count on one hand the number of people within my life who were aware of my psychiatric diagnoses. The defining moment came for me when I realized the only reason I felt so alone in my journey was because so few understand how to transform their mental health, and those who did, were also too afraid to speak up due to societal stigmas. So although I was scared, I knew what I had to do. I felt called to break my silence and to help others transform thier physical and mental health as I did. I started doing so by sharing my story and teaching the methods I used to become psychiatric medication and substance abuse free. In 2022 I published my first book where I provide a step by step guide on how to reduce or eliminate psychiatric medications and become substance abuse free. My vision for my life then changed, and my new mission was to help transform the way mental health and addiction is both viewed by society, and treated by medical professionals.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Prior to recieving proper psychiatic treatment, I spent multiple decades with serious mental health issues, in a suicidal state, and severely addicted to drugs. After receiving proper diagnosis and treatment, I then spent many years obese, feeling like a zombie from medication side effects, and unfortunately still a slave to my addictions. It took many years of hard work but I was able to lose over 90 lbs naturally, become clean and sober, and completely eliminate all my psychiatric medications. I then began treating my illnesses naturally and desired more people to become aware of all the options available to them for treatment of mental health. So I started my coaching business, and I am proud to also be happily married, and be a mother to my 3 amazing children. I am passionate about helping my clients lose weight, feel great, and also become medication and substance abuse free. I am neither anti-medication nor anti-doctors, but rather an advocate for those struggling with mental illness and addiction issues. I desire them to find balance with thier treatment plans, and to have a sense of vitality, even while living with severe mental illness. I am passionate about natural approaches such as fitness, nutrition, supplementation, meditation, and the use of self-regulation tools to help naturally treat mental health conditions. Those seeking assistance can find free guidance and tips from me online, through my social media platforms. For those interested in a safe and medically supervised way of reducing or eliminating psychiatric medications, I encourage them to purchase a copy of my book ‘The Self-Regulated Mind’. Additionally I love public speaking, and offering 1-1 online mental health and fitness coaching to my private clients.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Living with mental illness and struggling with addiction issues is hard. Having the courage and determination to transform and create lasting change is also hard. So I have found we must simply choose our version of hard. We must all choose whether to be a hero or a victim. I have had many moments over the last four decades where I wanted to give up on life, I was scared, or simply tired of putting in the work and sometimes without seeing any results. It takes vision, courage, action, patience, faith, and resilience to turn our weakness into strengths. I am grateful that my faith has never failed me, and I am immensely proud of my determination to never give up. I understand how hard this fight is, which is why I feel compelled towards this mission of helping others. If I can help even one person make it through to the other side, or help inspire even one person towards having the courage to change, then it feels like all my pain and struggles will have been worth it. Everyone deserves the joy of knowing this life is always worth living. With resilience and the willingness to fight for ourselves, it is possible to achieve a life beyond our wildest dreams. This is my hope for all who are currently suffering in silence.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
While I do have a bachelors degree and a myriad of other professional health and fitness certifications, what I find most helpful to me is my ability to deeply connect with others. I find I am generally able to see both the big picture, as well as have the ability to zero in on my clients core issues or desires. From that I am then able to better understand what motivates them, and by extension, better assist them in feeling inspired towards overcoming any obstacle. My clients generally report feeling safe when talking to me, and appreciate feeling empowered right from the start of our working together. So while my education is important, I find my ability to connect with others on a deeper level is what ultimately helps me be the best I can be within my field.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rachelehumphreys.com
- Instagram: @mentalhealthmasteryacademy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MentalHealthMasteryAcademy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-e-humphreys-54b094167/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mentalhealthmasteryacademy
- Other: PODCAST: The Rachel E Humphreys Show
BOOK: The Self-Regulated Mind: A Step-by-Step Guide to Naturally Reducing and Eliminating Psychiatric Medication. Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/akXlMk3
Image Credits
James and Monica Photography