What is your specialty / what types of conditions do you work with?

As a holistic, community-based care provider practicing in alignment with disability + healing justice, marketing myself as a specialist on certain health “conditions” is not something I prioritize. The vast majority of people living on this planet rely on and collaborate with herbal medicine and other forms of traditional healing practices for their primary forms of healthcare. I see my work as a method of ancestral remembering, reclaiming, and revitalization. My ancestors were not specialized healers intent on marketing themselves as miracle workers. When living on ancestral homelands, they were village healers situated within their communities + willing to met with folks wherever they were at — while also acknowledging the limitations of their own understanding + consulting / collaborating with fellow healers as needed.

That being said, my focus and aim is in supporting marginalized communities in navigating, coping with, thriving despite, + dismantling white supremacy + late stage predatory racial capitalism — with an emphasis on disabled, chronically ill queer + trans folks. I recognize that thinking of health in terms of “disorders and diseases” is a white, western, allopathic, disembodied colonial construct. At the same time, I recognize that sometimes for those of us living with disabilities, receiving a diagnosis can be a very powerful and affirming experience that enables one to access certain types of healthcare under our current convoluted healthcare + insurance system. And of course all of this necessitates we navigate the violence of the medial industrial complex. As a community-based practitioner, I am careful and intentional with the language I use here as I am not legally qualified to “diagnosis or treat medical conditions”. I also recognize that many people I see have received multiple medical diagnoses and want to know if I have experience working with other people with the same or similar conditions. I also see many folks without any formal diagnoses.

Here are some examples of the kinds of seeking / situations / conditions / experiences that I have supported some of my clients through with deep listening, herbal supports, bodywork, ritual work, and divination practices since 2012:

• Physical, emotional, and spiritual pain and/or disassociation resulting from living in oppressive, white supremacist, transphobic, ableist, capitalist socioeconomic system

• Establishing, recognizing, and deepen practices around ancestral connection + healing-Depression, Anxiety, PTSD / C-PTSD

• Trauma of all kinds: Generational, Ancestral, Developmental, Physical, Emotional, Sexual, + Microaggressions-Grief, Loss, + Remembrance Ceremonies-Grounding + Centering

• Boundaries + Energetic / Psychic Protection-Interrupting cycles of shame, guilt, + fear

• Ritual Work, Magical Practices, + Spells for Recognizing, Remembering + (Re)Connecting with Self, Spirit, Ancestors, and Guides without Cultural Appropriation or Spiritual Bypassing​-Chronic Pain-Insomnia / Sleep Disturbances

• Fatigue

• Fibromyalgia

• Autoimmune Disorders-Compromised Immune Systems

• Cancer

• Allergies, Eczema, Psoriasis

• Acute Care: Colds, Flus, Headaches, Musculoskeletal Injuries

• Gender + Sexuality Affirming, Supportive, + Integrative Care: Complementary / Alternative Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Skin, Tissue, + Lymphatic Care for Binding, Tucking, Packing, and/or utilizing Electrolysis, and Pre + Post Surgery Integrative Care

• Care for Bits + Whatever We Call Them: Reproductive / Generative Health

• Uterine Health + Womb Care-Fertility, Pregnancy, Birth, + Postpartum-Abortion + Miscarriage

• Addiction, Harm Reduction, + Recovery-Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Leaky Gut / General Digestive Care

• Neurological Conditions

• General hormonal imbalance

• Hashimoto’s

• Marfan’s

• Lymphedema​

• and much more!
  

I need an herbal consultation ASAP for an acute situation. How can I schedule with you?

I am not always able to accommodate urgent requests for herbal support, but sometimes I can. Please book an Accessible Care Consultation and/or email me if you need to be seen sooner than what pops up for my availability in the online booking section of my site.

What's the best herb for _______?

I love making custom herbal elixirs, gem & flower essences, teas, balms, syrups, and hydrosols for my clients. A lot of times I get messages from folks asking “what’s the best herb for _______?". It’s actually really hard to answer this question because there

1) there is a really long list of herbs that you could probably use for _______ &

2) there isn’t an herb that is necessarily the “best” herb for _______. It depends on the person, their environment, & many other factors - that’s why herbalists offer herbal consultations!

As an herbalist, I don’t just address the most superficial signs and symptoms of disease / imbalance. I work collaboratively with my clients to get at the root issues of what ails them & that’s where we focus the medicine and the magick. I’m concerned with knowing what’s going on in the body at all levels, how it connects to current, past, & generational trauma, & what type of herbal support does this body need right now. Please note that for herbal recommendations for 3rd parties ("I have someone I care about and I want to get them something for ______"), I always recommend people book an herbal consultation or purchase a gift certificate for the friend instead. Would you like a potion crafted just for you? That's exactly what herbal consultations are for.

I'm currently pregnant, taking medications, and/or have concerns about my allergies. ​Can you recommend some specific herbs or herbal formulas?"

I would be happy to! In this case I recommend scheduling an herbal consultation.

Where do you get your herbs from?

I grow as many herbs as I am able to as someone who lives with chronic pain on land covered in snow for half of the year. What I am not able to grow myself I am grateful to source from local beloveds who have more medicinal garden space than I do.

From there, what I cannot find in my own local community I source from medicinal growers in the Midwest and sometimes beyond. Many of my herbal formulations change from season to season and year to year. This is because I prefer to work with what is in season and/or what I have access to at the moment.

I am an active participant in the BDS movement, meaning that I *do not* source any of my herbs or other supplies from Mountain Rose Herbs.

Why boycott Mountain Rose Herbs tho?

Because I am a supporter of Palestinian Liberation and Jewish Voices for Peace. There have been multiple requests made for Mountain Rose Herbs to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Israeli products. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law. Join the facebook group to learn more.

This is a collectively created list of alternative sources for bulk herbs.

Where / from who did you learn the healing modalities you practice?

You can find an extensive list of my teachers, training, certification, degrees, and workshops here.

Where do these practices come from?

I have taken time to write introductions to each of the modalities that I practice here.

As a person with white settler privilege, it is important to me that I am actively + continuously self reflecting + working to dismantle my own internalized racism as well as the structural racism in the world around me.

I am deeply committed to uprooting cultural appropriation and theft in my practice. An example of my own learning process around whiteness, colonization, + the healing industrial complex, shared for transparency: in the past I offered Reiki and taught Yoga. As I’ve moved into a place of deeper integrity, accountability, authenticity, and integration in my own practices, I have intentionally moved away from offering these healing modalities, which have been extracted, appropriated, and separated from their cultural homes, contexts, and traditional healing systems.

At this point in time I aspire to center my practice and offerings that my ancestors had a cultural connection to. From there I focus on practices that come from my lineage as a queer, femme, nonbinary disabled witch.

Can I pick your brain? Or, do you offer free 15 minute consultations so I can see if I want to work with you?

I am a disabled and chronically ill community care worker with a limited amount of spoons, therefore I am not hyper-responsive with my email, and I am not able to offer free 15-minute get-to-know-me consultations. I hope that my free newsletter, my written words on my website, my community work, and my patreon — which you can access for as little as $3 per month — will support you in deciding if you would like to work with me. A mentorship session is a great option if you are wanting to pick my brain. This ensures I am compensated for my time, labor, and expertise.