I came to herbalism the way most people do — not through a course or a book, but through necessity. I was dealing with chronic anxiety and a digestive system that seemed to object to everything. Conventional approaches helped some. Plants helped more. That curiosity turned into twelve years of study, practice, and a garden that now takes up more space than my partner would prefer.
My training is rooted in Western clinical herbalism, with significant study in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine frameworks — not because I practice those traditions directly, but because comparing how different healing systems use the same plants reveals things that no single tradition captures alone. Valerian shows up in ancient Greek medicine, European folk practice, and traditional Chinese medicine for exactly the same application. That kind of convergence is evidence worth paying attention to.
How I approach this work
I am not interested in herbalism as a replacement for medicine. I am interested in it as a complement to it — and as a body of knowledge that most people have largely lost access to. When I write about a herb, I look for clinical research first, then traditional use, then my own experience. When those three things point in the same direction, I feel confident. When they conflict, I say so.
The health content landscape online is full of overclaiming and dismissiveness in equal measure. Neither reflects what the evidence actually shows. Most herbs have modest, real effects on specific conditions, at specific doses, used in specific ways. That nuance is what I am here to document.
Background
I hold a clinical herbalism certificate from a North American school of botanical medicine, with additional study in foraging, wildcrafting, and herbal pharmacy. I have worked with clients in private practice, led herb identification walks in the Pacific Northwest, and spent several seasons apprenticing with a working herb farm. Before that, I spent a decade in nutritional science — which is where I developed the habit of reading actual research rather than summaries of it.
Everything I write on The Herbalist Life reflects my own practice and study. I cite sources when I use clinical data. I note when evidence is traditional rather than clinical. I flag contraindications and drug interactions, because those matter.