Dr. Rachel Allen-McHugh
OTD, OTR/L, RYT, CEIM
BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Rachel Allen-Mc-Hugh’s bio spans over 20 years of experience serving children and their caregivers in a variety of practice settings. I have worked as an Occupational Therapist both in Europe and the United States. It was during her practice as an occupational therapist in Ireland that she started to research and embrace contemplative practices. She found the model of healthcare in Ireland embraced health and well-being of the whole self. This exposure to varied health models has enabled her to develop a unique perspective of contemplative practices, therapeutic use of self, and relationship building within diverse communities. She first became a certified educator of infant massage while living in Ireland and has used it in her practice as an OT since.
Dr. Allen-McHugh has a deep interest in serving children and families who have suffered trauma and feels mindfulness and contemplative practices should inform care of the individual and care of self. She is also registered yoga teacher and meditation facilitator and uses these mindfulness practices alongside infant massage to support the family. These practices assist her to nourish her well-being while serving these challenging populations.
Dr. Allen-McHugh recently accepted a position as a junior faculty member in July 2019. She took this position because she wants future occupational therapists to continue to consider the whole person in its approach to treatment. It has been her experience that therapists are pressured by their employer to choose the intervention that is the best for reimbursement and not necessarily the best for the client’s whole self. Her hope is that by empowering a student to have personal contemplative practices, specifically infant massage they in turn will advocate for the client and caregiver’s needs.
It is her goal to further develop and learn how to train future occupational practitioners through infant massage. Her current interests as Drake University Assistant Professor for the OTD program include teaching health and wellness, pediatrics, advocacy, and community engagement courses. They have hosted infant massage trainings at the university on 3 occasions and hope to restart post-pandemic.