Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
About
Welcome to The Forest Studio: a place where you can naturally design a life that feels aligned and alive. Join over 500 women who have moved beyond the uncertainty of "What's next?" to design meaningful next chapters through reflective art, nature, and depth.
What does it mean to naturally design your life?
We often approach life transitions as problems to be solved with speed and logic, trying to force the next chapter before we are ready. But true transformation requires a different kind of effort: one that is patient, rooted, and intentional.
To naturally design your life is to stop forcing the "climb" and start listening to the terrain of your own experience. It is a process of returning to yourself when the old maps no longer work. And remember what is calling you forward is already growing, quietly, like the forest.
The Guide
Hello, I’m Rachel.
I work with women entering a new chapter of life—one that often arrives without a clear map, but with a quiet and sometimes unsettling sense that something is shifting. I help them orient themselves when life no longer follows a clear road.
I bring over 30 years of experience in social work, depth psychology coaching, and teaching, along with my own lived experience in my 50s. I live in a forest among 150-year-old trees; for over thirty years, this forest has been my greatest teacher, showing me firsthand that nothing in nature forces its becoming—it simply follows its own internal rhythm.
I have walked the landscapes of parenting, relationship and career shifts, loss, and grief, and the profound transition of aging. I also know the exhaustion of the "climb"—the effort of trying to force a path where none exists—and I know the relief of finally finding the road back to yourself. I am here to ensure you don’t have to walk this part of the path alone.
Steps to Naturally Design Your Life
1. Identity
Shift
Who am I now? Beyond the roles you have lived—worker, caregiver, partner, parent, or achiever—we gently reconnect with the parts of yourself that have been waiting for their turn to breathe. We explore who you are becoming in this specific stage of life.
2. Life Reflection
& Meaning-Making
Where am I today? We create the space to look honestly at your life as it is now. We identify what feels full, what feels complete, what feels empty, and what is quietly asking for change. This is the "forest floor" work of seeing what is ready to grow.
3. Life Design
for What's Next
How do I want to live? Rather than leaving your next chapter undefined or accidental, we begin shaping it with intention. We align your time, energy, and choices with your current values, ensuring your external life matches your internal rhythm.
4. Co-Designing with the Natural World
What is the land showing me? Through nature-based classes and contemplative time among the trees, we step out of the "noise" and into a sensory relationship with the world. Nature becomes the mirror that reflects your own inner wisdom back to you.
Kind Words
What Women Are Saying
Lola, 58
I came to Rachel feeling completely 'squished' by my roles as a corporate leader and a mother. Through the Forest Studio, I didn't just find a new career; I found the woman who had been hiding under the noise for twenty years. I finally feel like I am living at my own pace."
Robyn, 53
"Working with Rachel is a rare experience. She holds space with such care, insight, and wisdom that you immediately feel seen and supported. Her guidance blends reflection, creativity, and deep understanding of the inner life, helping you reconnect with parts of yourself that have been quiet or waiting for attention."
Sada, 47
"I thought I was just signing up for a nature class, but I ended up designing a whole new way of being. Rachel’s approach helped me stop the 'frantic climb' and start trusting my own internal rhythm. It’s the most grounded I’ve ever felt."