Heal Your Chronic Pelvic Pain

Radical Responsibility: What Changes When You Stop Outsourcing Healing

Heal Your Chronic Pelvic Pain

Show Notes

This episode covers one of the most important and most resisted concepts in healing chronic pelvic pain: radical responsibility.

This is not about blame, fault, or doing everything on your own. It’s about what shifts when you stop waiting for someone or something outside of you to fix this, and take the lead in your own healing.

If you’ve been holding out hope for the next doctor, test, medication, procedure, or protocol to finally be the thing that saves you, this episode gently but honestly explores why outsourcing can keep you stuck, and what becomes possible when you claim radical responsibility for your healing.

Please note: This episode may feel activating. If you’re not in the place to hear this message yet, that’s okay. You can come back to it when you’re ready.

In this episode, we cover:

What radical responsibility actually means (and what it does not)

Why outsourcing healing reinforces waiting and helplessness

How the Western medical model conditions us to look outside ourselves

The grief that comes with accepting no one else can do this work for you

Why healing must happen inside your own nervous system

Reflection questions to help you apply this shift to your own healing

Reflection Questions from the Episode

Where am I still waiting for someone or something to fix this for me?

What am I afraid will happen if I fully stop outsourcing my healing?

What feels unfair about having to do this work?

What grief have I not yet allowed myself to acknowledge?

If I stopped waiting today, what would I do differently today, this week or this month?

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

Even though no one can do this work for you, you don’t have to do it alone.

If you want guidance, structure, and support applying this work to your specific symptoms and your life, Rachel offers a coaching program designed specifically for healing chronic pelvic pain.

✨ Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain includes:

A self-paced curriculum grounded in modern pain neuroscience

Weekly live group coaching calls for support and clarity

A grounded, compassionate space to stop waiting and start healing

👉 Learn more about the program here

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

More from Heal Your Chronic Pelvic Pain

Oct 12, 2026

What can you do when a pain flare is loud, uncomfortable, and not something you can make stop in the moment? A building fire alarm kept going off for two weeks, sometimes during coaching calls and sometimes in the middle of the night. The experience reminded me of what it was like to live with chronic pelvic pain: knowing what was happening didn’t make the sensations disappear, and I couldn’t always change the situation right away. In this episode, I share how I supported myself through those moments, from putting in earbuds so I could keep coaching to noticing the comfort of my bed while I waited for the alarm to turn off. We talk about acknowledging discomfort without pretending it isn’t there, choosing what might support you, and considering whether you want to take a values-aligned action or rest. There’s no right or wrong choice. For me, showing up for the things I cared about, even when my symptoms were intense, supported my sense of agency. Your choice may look different. The invitation is to ask what you need and how you want to spend the time while you wait for the flare to pass. In this episode: Why knowing a symptom is a false alarm doesn’t always make the discomfort go away

Oct 6, 2026

If you've ever frozen on the exam table, or spent the drive home replaying everything you wish you'd said, this episode is for you. For so many of us with chronic pelvic pain, gynecologist visits are part of the recovery journey. And they can be really hard, both physically and emotionally. Many providers aren't trained in trauma-informed care or familiar with conditions like vaginismus and vulvodynia, which means it often falls on us to speak up for what we need. In this episode, I'm sharing the things I didn't know I could ask for when I was healing, so you can walk into your next appointment feeling more prepared and a little more in control. In this episode: Why telling your provider about pain with penetration out loud matters (even if it's already on your intake form)

Sep 28, 2026

When I was living with chronic pelvic pain, I believed that if I had symptoms, I was suffering. It felt impossible to enjoy my life or loosen my urgency to heal while pain was still there. Because I felt like I was always suffering.

Sep 21, 2026

Do you have to quit your job, leave your relationship, move, or completely restructure your life in order to heal?

Sep 14, 2026

Even though no one can do the healing work for you, that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.

See all episodes →