Meet Our Chiropractor - Rachael Talbot

Since I was young, I’ve been interested in health, particularly the mind-body connection and even considered studying Psychology as a career. Pressure from school meant and I made a different choice and aged 18, I had a place at Edinburgh to study medicine. An accident playing hockey and a few other events in close succession made me reassess (especially the fact I really don’t like blood or needles) so instead I studied chemistry in Sheffield, which led me to multiple jobs in the Pharmaceutical Industry for seven years, but none of these inspired me.

Then, by chance, a back injury took me to a chiropractor and I’ve never looked back. I was amazed by the improvements in my back pain and a long-term shoulder injury after he had worked on me. 

That’s why in 1998 I decided to follow my heart – a decision that led me to chiropractic school. My UK-based education was very conventional. I learnt a huge amount about medicine, how to diagnose illnesses, and also how to adjust the spine to treat back pain, neck problems and a variety of musculoskeletal conditions.

For my first few years in practice I had a thriving back pain clinic. I used spinal adjustment as my primary technique and my patients loved it. While studying the Webster Technique in London, I received my first Network chiropractic (NSA) adjustment – a gentle approach that changed my world.

My colleague used several incredibly soft touches to my pelvis and neck to treat my back pain and I felt my body fall into deep relaxation. That night, I slept the best I had for years and my back pain melted away.

I was fascinated by how seemingly little she had done and how dramatically better I felt the next day. That’s how I ended up studying this innovative technique a few months later.

After I completed the course, I offered it to my first patient and her words will stay with me forever – “I have no idea what you have just done, but I want more!”. No-one had ever expressed that amount of enthusiasm towards my adjusting and, needless to say, I was hooked.

Little did I realise how much my life and health would change after studying NSA, and how much more I could now offer my clients. The transformations I have witnessed personally and professionally by switching to NSA have surpassed my wildest dreams.

Finally, here was a technique that not only released patients from their physical pain and suffering, but also empowered clients by helping them to develop new strategies to dramatically improve their own wellbeing, allowing them to experience a new lease of life.

So since 2007, I’ve been on a journey to learn everything I can about Network Spinal Analysis, including all the tools offered by developer of NSA Donald Epstein, to help people “reorganise their body and life”.

I am one of the few facilitators in the UK certified as a Somato-Respiratory Integration (SRI) Wellness Faciliator, and it continues to be a big part of my practice. I love it because it enables me to empower my clients to get involved in their healing journey, not just through physical strength/flexibility exercises, but because they can learn how to match their mental state to what is going on in their body, and use SRI as a tool for connection and growth. I’ve come across very few approaches that enable this so effectively.

I was among the first UK practitioners ever certified at the top level in NSA and am still one of only a very small list in Britain certified in SRI.

Over the last two decades, I’ve made it my mission to learn as much as I can, so I can make the biggest difference to my clients, helping them to fully heal, discover a new level of health and give them a fresh vitality for life.