116. Emotional Alchemy and Feeling Whole Again with Psychotherapist Rachael Spyker

In this episode of It’s Karmic,

In this powerful and deeply moving episode, I sit down with psychotherapist, plant medicine facilitator, and 8th house soul Rachael Spyker to explore the underworld of trauma, nervous system regulation, and emotional healing.

Rachael Spyker is a psychotherapist, depth guide, and medicine woman who walks people into the underworld and back again, holding space for the parts they’ve had to abandon just to survive. In this episode, she shares her powerful story of growing up inside a religious cult, the trauma that fractured her sense of self, and how she reclaimed her identity, her power, and her truth through somatic healing, nervous system work, and deep emotional presence.

We talk about how trauma gets stored in the body and how so many of us have been taught to suppress, override, and shame our emotional experiences when in truth, those very emotions are the gateway to relief, reclamation, and wholeness.

Together, we ask the questions no one else is asking:

• What if your binging, your disassociation, your Netflix spirals are actually forms of medicine?
  
  

• What if healing isn’t about fixing yourself, but remembering who you were before you had to leave?
  
  

• What if you could stop performing, stop trying to “do healing right,” and start simply being with what is?

This episode is an invitation to come home to the parts of you that have been exiled… and to hold them like the sacred wisdom-keepers they are.

The Core Themes of the Episode include:

• Trauma-Informed Healing: How trauma is stored in the body and why emotional healing must involve the nervous system, not just the mind.
  
  

• Shadow Work in Action: Reclaiming the parts of ourselves that had to be exiled for survival, and how these parts are the very source of our power and aliveness.
  
  

• The Myth of Quick Healing: A callout of spiritual bypassing and narratives like “you don’t have to feel it to heal it.” We discuss why you do need to feel it to heal through the brain.
  
  

• Embodiment as Medicine: How returning to the body, through sensation, shaking, presence, is the gateway to integration.
  
  

The Role of Dissociation: Rather than demonizing coping strategies like disassociation, binging, or Netflix, they explore how these are adaptive tools the body uses to survive.

This episode is for anyone who:

• Feels overwhelmed by the pressure to heal and “do it right.”
  
  

• Struggles with nervous system dysregulation, anxiety, or trauma.
  
  

• Is reclaiming their identity after religious, familial, or cultural programming.
  
  

• Is doing shadow work and wants to understand how to actually bring lost parts home.
  
  

• Believes there's a connection between healing the self and healing the collective.

This episode is a balm for anyone who has felt too much, held too much, or believed they had to do it all alone.

It’s not just about healing. It’s about becoming.

🎧 Tune in and let this be the reminder that your body knows the way home.

👉 Listen to the full episode here

Who is Rachael Spyker? 

Rachael is a dedicated professional with a Master’s in Counselling Psychology and is a Registered Clinical Counsellor in Kelowna, BC, Canada. With a passion for holistic healing, she specializes in trauma-informed therapeutic modalities, drawing from a diverse toolkit that includes Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

With deep respect for sacred medicines, Rachael has trained extensively in the therapeutic use of ketamine, cannabis, psilocybin, and MDMA. She approaches medicine work with reverence, integrity, and a strong commitment to safety, supporting individuals with attunement and care. Passionate about the ethical and intentional use of these medicines, she sees them as powerful allies in healing and transformation.

Beyond individual work, Rachael facilitates group ceremonies, women’s retreats, and integration circles, holding space for profound healing in community settings. She is also the host of Deconstruction Podcast, where she explores the intersections of psychology, spirituality, and relational healing.

Rachael is devoted to relational and somatic healing, trusting in each person’s innate capacity for transformation. Grounded in deep presence and attunement, she supports clients in moving from protection to connection, from fragmentation to wholeness. With expertise in trauma healing, interpersonal neurobiology, and experiential psychotherapy, she offers a deeply engaged process where clients feel seen, met, and empowered to rediscover their inherent aliveness.

Connect with Rachael on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachaelspyker/

Work with Rachael https://www.alchemycounselling.ca/

Read Rachael’s Work: https://substack.com/@psychedelicpsychotherapist?utm_source=user-menu