Making Sense of It with Rachelle

In this long-awaited episode, Raelinn joins Making Sense of It with Rachelle to share her story in her own words. Listeners are invited into her perspective for the first time, offering a deeper understanding of what was happening beneath the surface. This conversation is honest, emotional, and centered on growth, reflecting on mental health, misunderstanding, and the ongoing work of finding connection again. It’s not a perfect ending, but a real one. As the Season 2 finale, this episode brings the story full circle while reminding us that healing is still unfolding, and that listening matters.Contact Rachelle by emailing [email protected]

New episodes return on May 2. Take some to catch up on Raelinn's story by listening to Season 2 episodes 6, 7, and 8. Reach out to reach by email at [email protected]

In this deeply personal episode, Rachelle reflects on the moment every parent fears but few talk about, the moment you have to let your child walk into something you cannot follow. What was supposed to be structured care and support becomes something far more complex, as hope, fear, and uncertainty collide at the doorway of an inpatient residential facility.This episode explores the emotional reality behind “getting help,” the grief that comes with separation, and the quiet, painful truth that love does not always look like rescue. It is a story about standing in that in-between space, between holding on and letting go, and learning what it means to trust a process you cannot see. This is a continuation of a powerful series on motherhood, mental illness, and the kind of love that stays, even when it hurtsReach out to Rachelle by emailing [email protected]

Season 2, Episode 7 — When the Scratches Became VoicesIn this deeply personal continuation, Rachelle shares what happened after the moment that changed everything. The faint scratching and whispers her daughter once described begin to take shape, becoming voices, shadows, and a reality no one else can see. As fear grows, so does the intensity of her daughter’s behaviors, transforming their home, their routines, and the very meaning of safety.After years of searching for answers, failed treatments, and systems that fall short, Rachelle is faced with an unthinkable decision: returning to a courtroom she once stood in to become a mother, now to temporarily give up her rights to try to save her child. This episode is a raw and honest reflection on motherhood in its most painful form, the kind that doesn’t fix or rescue, but stays, endures, and breaks when it has to.Email Rachelle at [email protected] to share your thoughts, comments, or show ideas. Rachelle would love to hear from you!

In this deeply personal episode, Rachelle begins sharing the story of her first daughter and the long, confusing road that followed. What started as small signs in early childhood slowly unfolded into something far more complex than anyone expected. After years of searching for answers, one moment changes everything when her daughter asks a question that stops her in her tracks: “Mom… can’t you hear the walls?”This episode is the first in a powerful series about motherhood, mental illness, grief, and the fierce love it takes to walk beside a child through the unknown.Reach out with your questions, comments, or show ideas. Emails can be sent to [email protected].

What does it mean to raise children in a world where attention is constantly pulled somewhere else? In this episode of Making Sense of It with Rachelle, we move past simple conversations about screen time to explore a deeper question: What kind of environment are we creating for our kids without realizing it?This episode looks at the quiet ways technology competes with connection, how notifications interrupt conversation, why boredom matters, and how children learn what’s important by where our attention rests. Instead of quick fixes, we explore the idea of building emotional “architecture” that helps kids stay grounded in a fast-moving world. If you’ve ever felt the tension of raising children in a world that never logs off, this episode offers a thoughtful and honest place to start.We would love to hear from you. Send your comments, thoughts, questions or show ideas to [email protected].

What if hope isn’t supposed to be light and shiny? What if it’s supposed to have muscle?In this episode of Making Sense of It with Rachelle, we talk about the kind of hope that doesn’t ignore what’s happening in the world but stays awake inside it. The kind that acknowledges the exhaustion of constant headlines, the toll of always witnessing, and the way it all settles into the body. This isn’t about “just staying positive.” It’s about building a steadier, more grounded way to live with what we know. If you’ve been feeling worn down, restless, or quietly overwhelmed, this conversation might feel like a deep breath.Download the episode and sit with me for a little while.I would love for you to share your thoughts, comments, or episode ideas. Email [email protected].

Rural life can feel like home in your bones,  a deep connection, shared survival, and belonging that runs generations deep. It can also carry silence, conditions, and limits we don’t always see until we grow up inside them. In this episode, we sit down with special guest Willie Carver Jr. to explore how place shapes us long before we have language for it, and what happens when the belonging we love turns out to be complicated.Through personal stories and reflection, this conversation holds both tenderness and grief,  especially when loving where you come from means confronting racism, exclusion, or harm while trying to build a different future for your children. This isn’t about rejecting home. It’s about telling the truth about it, together. You can love a place fiercely without staying where you were wounded. This episode invites you to sit inside that tension and listen to what this season of your life might be asking.Connect with us at [email protected]. We want to hear your stories, questions, and show ideas.

Join us for a new episode on Feburary 1st with special guest Willie Carver Jr.

In this episode of Making Sense of It With Rachelle, Rachelle explores grief not as something we “get over,” but as something we learn to live with. Through personal storytelling and reflection, the episode looks at how grief appears in many forms, through death, broken relationships, lost futures, and the quiet ache of what never came to be.Drawing from her own experiences of loss, including watching her mother bury a child and later carrying her own devastating grief, Rachelle reflects on how we are taught to survive through strength and service, and how healing sometimes means learning to soften. A powerful moment from an Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert conversation on suffering weaves through the episode, naming grief as an unwelcome but lasting teacher that deepens our capacity for love, presence, and connection.The episode also speaks to the collective grief many are carrying right now, grief for safety, trust, and stability, and invites listeners to sit with loss not in isolation, but in shared humanity. In a culture that rushes past pain, this conversation offers space to pause, reflect, and remember that grief, when carried together, can lead us toward greater compassion and a deeper way of living.Connect with us by emailing [email protected].

Reach out to us with your comments or topic suggests at [email protected].

Making Sense of Who We Are explores identity not as a fixed label, but as something living and evolving. This episode explores how we learn to be who we are to belong, through family roles, expectations, survival, and adaptation, and what happens when those identities no longer fit. Through reflection and conversation, we name the quiet grief, courage, and relief that come with outgrowing versions of ourselves that once kept us safe. This is an invitation to notice who you’ve been, who you’re becoming, and to remember that becoming yourself is not betrayal, it’s an endless return.Connect with us by email at [email protected].

Making Sense of It with Rachelle is a conversation-centered podcast about the things that shape our lives. This podcast isn’t about fixing people or offering advice. It’s about slowing down, listening closely, and staying human in complex conversations. Some episodes include guests; others are reflective monologues. All are grounded in care, curiosity, and lived experience.This podcast is for anyone who has ever felt like their life was complicated, unfinished, or hard to explain, and wanted a place where that complexity is allowed.You don’t have to have it all figured out to be here.You’re welcome just as you are.Connect with us by emailing [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.

We all find a million reasons not to practice it, we guilt, shame and dismiss our way out of it. Without it we will never be at our full potential...we can dream more, do more, and love more effectively. Self-care...listen in and then get out there and do it. Join the conversation by emailing your thoughts to [email protected].

Current research and data show LGBTQ+ youth are more than 4 times as likely as their cisgender peers to attempt suicide. One attempt every 45 seconds... The future of our LGBTQ+ youth is even more threatened under current bills being pushed through state legislation. Our youth need our protection, our most vunerable youth need our protection. Please reach out with any comments or questions to [email protected].

Concern and compassion take a seat at the table as we discuss cutting and self harm, and we are asking silence and shame to excuse themselves from the gathering. It is a heavy and hard subject, one we can't run from because it is not going anywere. Our youth need us to assist in building a bridge of communication and arm ourselves with understanding and resources. Take a deep breath and come join us. Please reach out with your thoughts, questions, or share your experiences by emailing [email protected].

Tip of an iceburg, tackling the topic of social media and the varied ways our daughters are falling victim. Besides packing up shop and heading to a wifi void to raise our families... what can we do? Share you thoughts and questions at [email protected].

When we see a inappropriate behavior from a child in a store, or when the community rumor mill is running full force with stories of an out of control teen, the worst possible thought or sentence that could cross our lips is "that would NEVER be my kid." No matter what the behavior is, your immediate perception is probably off and the only thing I can encourage you to do is use your energy and mouth as a tool to offer help. Coming from a parent who can say it IS my kid, we need each other's support to get through this "no manual given" parenting journey we are in...hopefully together. Listen, join the conversation, and contact us at [email protected].

Wow, do we all make a habit of taking most things negatively and assuming it is about us. We need to be asking ourselves a few simple questions to get to the truth. Listen and learn some of the questions we should be asking, and send us your thoughts and feedback at [email protected] so we can continue to conversation.

Rachelle introduces her new podcast where we begin the conversation. Together, we take a realistic approach to tackling the daily issues of parenting, self improvement, mindfulness, joy and struggle, and, in the end, make sense of it. Reach out to Rachelle with your thoughts, comments, and questions at [email protected].