Refer with confidence.
Your families are in good hands.
Everything you need to know about working alongside Shine Om — and how to support the families you serve through the new sibling transition.
Download Your Referral Pack →“Every family is beautifully supported through birth. Then the village packs up — and the sibling transition begins.”
The firstborn is forgotten
Every card, every meal train, every check-in goes to the newborn. Your firstborn — who has just lost their entire world — gets told to be a good helper.
The parents are depleted
Split between two children, running on no sleep, trying to hold it all together. Their window of tolerance is narrower than it has ever been.
Nobody is talking about it
The sibling transition is one of the most significant seasons in family life. And it is almost completely unsupported. That is the gap Shine Om works in.
Who to refer to Rachel
Your clinical judgment always comes first. This is simply a guide to help you identify when Shine Om might be the right next step for a family.
Consider referring if your client…
- Has a newborn and a firstborn who is struggling — hitting, regressing, withdrawing
- Is pregnant with their second and wants to prepare intentionally
- Is expressing concern or asking questions about how they will cope with two children, or how their older child will respond
- Mentions the sibling transition, firstborn regression, or family disconnection
- Is asking about parenting support beyond the birth window
- Seems depleted, reactive, or disconnected from their older child
- Is navigating the emotional load of splitting themselves between two children
Better referred elsewhere if…
- They are seeking birth trauma processing (refer to somatic therapist)
- They need clinical mental health support (refer to psychologist)
- They want an in-person or online group program or parenting class format
- Their primary need is postnatal physical recovery
Your referral partner offers
Two ways families you refer can access the Joyful Parenting Project at a reduced investment.
What you receive as a referral partner
This is a genuine two-way relationship. Here’s how Shine Om supports your work in return.
Listed on the Shine Om Referral Partner page
Your name and practice featured on shineom.com.au as a recommended specialist.
Free nervous system quiz for your clients
A 3-minute self-assessment with personalised support — a genuinely useful resource to share with the families you work with.
Free resources to share with your community
Access to Shine Om resources, content, and tools you can share with your clients as a value-add to your own services.
First access to new offerings for your clients
Priority access to Shine Om workshops, group programs, and events for you to share with your clients — before they open to the general public.
A practitioner who takes care of your referrals
Every family you send to Rachel will be treated with the same quality of attention you give your own clients. That is the promise.
A cuppa and a conversation
Rachel loves connecting with the practitioners in her community — in person in Canberra, or over Zoom if you’re elsewhere.
The Joyful Parenting Project
The JPP is a boutique 1:1 coaching program for families navigating the new sibling transition — before, during, and after the baby arrives.
Rachel works with a maximum of three families at a time. This is not a course. It is not a group program. It is personal, daily, nervous-system-informed support — tailored to the specific family, delivered via Telegram so Rachel is present in the actual hard moments.
Available Australia-wide.
What’s included
- 📱 12 weeks of daily voice & text coaching via Telegram
- 💻 Opening, mid-point & closing Zoom calls with Rachel
- 📋 Weekly content drops tailored to the specific family
- 🎙️ Voice memo coaching in real time
- 🧠 Nervous system tools, play prompts & printable resources
We recently completed eight weeks with Rach through the Joyful Parenting Project, and it has genuinely changed our family life. She gave us practical tools, but more importantly, the confidence to use them. We can now recognise when a situation may be dysregulating for our son and have really effective techniques to support him through it. Rach supported us as parents too — helping us understand our own nervous systems and create simple habits that help us feel more regulated and connected as a family.
Questions from referral partners
The things practitioners most often ask before referring a family.
Who is this program for?
Families with a younger child (typically ages 2–6) who are adjusting to the arrival of a new baby, and who may be showing signs such as big emotional reactions, difficult transitions, changes in sleep, or a need for more connection and reassurance during this period of change.
Is this therapy, or a clinical or medical service?
No. JPP is a parent coaching and education program. It is not therapy, counselling, or a medical or mental health treatment, and it does not diagnose or treat any condition. Rachel draws on nervous-system-informed and attachment-based parenting approaches to support families practically and emotionally through a specific life transition.
Does this replace professional medical, psychological, or allied health support?
No. JPP is designed to complement, not replace, any medical, psychological, or allied health care a family is already receiving. If a family has concerns that may benefit from clinical assessment or diagnosis, Rachel encourages and supports families to seek that alongside this program, and will refer where appropriate.
How long before a family sees any change?
Every family and every child is different. Some families notice shifts in the first couple of weeks; others find change builds more gradually across the full twelve weeks. The program is intentionally paced, with the first stretch focused on nervous-system foundations before building further tools.
Can both parents/carers be involved?
Yes — the program is designed with both parents or carers in mind, and content is shaped to work for different learning and communication styles within a household.
What if a family needs more support after the 12 weeks?
Extensions are available for families who would like to continue, and the door is always open for a family to return at a later date if new challenges arise.
How does someone refer a family, or find out more?
Referrers and parents are welcome to reach out directly via shineom.com.au or info@shineom.com.au to ask questions, share this information pack, or arrange an initial conversation about whether the program is a good fit. Download the referral pack →
Download your referral pack
Sign up below and we’ll send your pack straight to your inbox. You’ll also be added to the Shine Om referral partner list and we’ll be in touch personally.
Your pack includes:
Rachel personally reviews every sign-up and will be in touch. 💜
Rachel Whytcross
Sibling Transition Specialist & Founder of Shine OmRachel is a yoga teacher, mindfulness coach, primary school educator, and mum of two based on Ngunnawal Country, Canberra. She has spent years working with children and families — in classrooms, in clinics, and in the messy, beautiful reality of real family life.
Her work is grounded in nervous system science, attachment theory, and conscious parenting — and delivered with a warmth that makes families feel safe enough to do the real work.
She works with a small number of families at a time. Your referral will always be treated as the trust that it is.
People & services we recommend
These are the practitioners and services Rachel genuinely trusts and refers families to. This list grows as the referral community does.
Lo Mathias — Tall Trees Pelvic Care
An endorsed midwife based in Canberra specialising in internal pelvic release work and pelvic floor health. Deeply experienced, trauma-informed, and genuinely wonderful with families in the perinatal space.
Amanda Jezek — The Mumma Hub
Prenatal and postnatal yoga community based in Canberra. Amanda creates a warm, honest space for mothers to connect, move, and be held — exactly the village every new mum deserves.
Want to be listed here? 💜
Download the referral pack and reach out to Rachel directly. Listing is available to all active referral partners whose work aligns with the Shine Om community — trauma-informed, nervous system-aware, and genuinely caring.
Want to connect first?
Rachel would love to have a cuppa with you — in person in Canberra, or over Zoom if you’re elsewhere. No pressure, no pitch. Just two practitioners who support the same families.
info@shineom.com.au · 0424 027 623 · @shineomau