EP 137 – Beyond Talk Therapy with Rachel MichaelsenEP 137 – Beyond Talk Therapy with Rachel Michaelsen
Kaleidoscope of Possibilities
Rachel Michaelsen joins Dr Adriana Popescu to talk about combining energy psychology and sound healing with talk therapy. Together they outline practical tools, group work and humanitarian projects that aim to shift trauma, anxiety and addictive patterns in simple, repeatable ways.
52:56•22 Jul 2026
Beyond Talk Therapy: Energy Psychology and Sound Healing with Rachel Michaelsen
Episode Overview
- Simple energy psychology tools like tapping can act as emotional first aid to quickly calm the nervous system.
- Connecting a current issue to its original root experience makes it easier to shift patterns such as fear, procrastination or compulsive eating.
- Sound healing with tuning forks, chimes and bowls can lower cortisol, bring people out of dissociation and create a sense of safety.
- Group sessions around trauma and addictive behaviours reduce shame, increase support and often lead to stronger, shared change.
- Therapists who tap and use sound with clients can clear their own energy during sessions instead of absorbing distress and burning out.
“I have to tell you, I went on the website, I learned how to tap, I'm tapping in my classroom, the kids are calming down.”
Understand the complexities of addiction with insights from a therapist who has stepped far beyond traditional talk therapy. This conversation centres on how energy psychology and sound healing can shift long‑standing patterns of anxiety, trauma and even addictive behaviours. Rachel Michaelsen, a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and certified energy psychology practitioner, chats with host Dr Adriana Popescu about feeling stuck in classic psychodynamic work and only finding real change once she combined it with tapping and sound.
Rachel explains how she uses techniques like Emotional Freedom Techniques and her own protocol, Release Issues Past and Present (RIPP), to connect a current problem—such as procrastination, fear of dental work or compulsive eating—back to its original root experience. You’ll hear how simple, reproducible tools become “emotional first aid” for the nervous system.
One standout moment is Rachel’s story of a teacher using tapping in a stressed classroom: "I have to tell you, I went on the website, I learned how to tap, I'm tapping in my classroom, the kids are calming down." Another powerful example is her humanitarian work in Uganda, where villagers and schoolchildren learn basic tapping and havening, then sing together while tapping to reduce worry and survival stress.
Rachel also shows how tuning forks, chimes and sound baths can help people come out of dissociation, lower cortisol and feel safe enough to process trauma. She shares a “dirty little secret” therapists may love: by tapping and using sound alongside clients, she clears her own energy and finishes the day energised instead of depleted.
Group work, especially around trauma and addictive patterns, gets special attention as Rachel and Adriana talk about how shared tapping in groups can reduce shame, increase support and make change more affordable and sustainable. If you’ve ever wondered whether therapy could feel more embodied, practical and even a bit fun, this episode might spark a fresh way of thinking about healing. What simple tool are you curious to try first—tapping, sound, or both?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.