I approach herbal care through both a clinical, evidence-informed lens and a traditional, bioregional lens, with harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and individual autonomy at the center of my practice.

I also believe it is important to acknowledge the complicated history of Western herbalism. Much of the plant knowledge practiced today has been shaped and preserved by Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, traditional healers, midwives, and communities whose contributions have too often been erased or exploited.

At the same time, plant medicine belongs to a much broader human story. Cultures around the world have developed relationships with plants for food, medicine, ceremony, survival, and community care.

My own ancestral exploration centers Germanic, Slavic, Eastern European, and Appalachian plant traditions, including a family history of herbalism and birth work.

I don't view herbalism simply as “alternative medicine.” I see it as another form of care that can work alongside pharmaceuticals, physicians, therapists, and other modern healthcare resources while helping people develop greater knowledge and autonomy around their own health.

I was born in upstate New York among farmland and birch forests and grew up hearing stories about my Southern great-grandmother, who assisted her mother — a midwife and herbalist serving the Chestnut Ridge community and surrounding region.

That family history of birth work, plant medicine, and community responsibility continues to influence the way I practice today.

My own life experiences outside conventional systems have also shaped my understanding of survival, structural barriers, mutual aid, and the importance of making care accessible.

When I'm not working with clients or at Bloodroot, you'll often find me tending gardens, homesteading, pit-firing pottery, writing, talking to animals, or mothering my feral child, Moss.

For me, herbalism is about more than remedies. It is about relationship — with plants, our bodies, one another, and the communities we belong to.

Through my clinical herbal practice, I commonly support people navigating:

• Pregnancy, pregnancy release, miscarriage, postpartum, and reproductive transitions
• Pelvic floor and hormonal health
• Menstrual and reproductive health concerns
• Chronic illness
• Trauma recovery
• Nervous system and mental health support, including OCD, depression, and anxiety
• Digestive health
• Chronic vaginal concerns
• HPV, LEEP recovery, and cervical care
• Colds, flu, UTIs, and other acute health concerns
• Herbal first aid
• Pain support
• Queer and marginalized community care

My role as an herbalist is educational and supportive and is intended to complement, not replace, appropriate medical care.

• Northeast School of Botanical Medicine Intensive Program, 2013
Comprehensive clinical herbalism training including anatomy and physiology, botany, rural first aid, integrative medicine, plant identification, and community-based clinical care.

• Lindera Herbal Intensive with Jim McDonald, 2014
Western bioregional herbalism with an emphasis on Michigan plants, energetics, and traditional herbal practice.

• DONA Birth Doula Training, 2014
Completed through the Center for the Childbearing Year in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

• Full-Spectrum Doula Training — Cornerstone Doula Training
Training in reproductive justice, pregnancy loss, abortion support, grief and death, harm reduction, medical and maternal racism, trans-inclusive care, supporting sex workers and incarcerated individuals, and navigating CPS and foster care systems.

• Full-Spectrum Pregnancy Loss Training — Molly Dutton-Kenny

• Respectful Pelvic Exams — Molly Dutton-Kenny

• The Art of Distillation & Essential Oil Safety
Two-week intensive in Southeast France with aromatherapist Cathy Skipper.

• College-Level Health Sciences
Coursework including anatomy and physiology, microbiology, chemistry, and additional pre-nursing sciences.

• Camille Freeman — Menstrual Health Intensive

Continuing education is an important part of my practice. I have completed extensive advanced training with herbalists, naturopathic doctors, physicians, midwives, and clinical educators throughout the country.

Areas of advanced study include:

• Herbal pharmacology
• Herb-drug interactions
• Plant phytochemistry
• Herbal formulation
• Pain management
• Autoimmune conditions
• Mast cell disorders
• Interstitial cystitis
• Digestive and gut health
• Thyroid and endocrine health
• Integrative cancer support
• Brain health and cognition
• Trauma-informed herbalism
• Integrative support for OCD
• Compounding, Formulation & Dosages
• Herbs for Mood Disorders: Materia Medica and Formulation
• Biofilms and Botanical Medicine
• Botanicals for Acute and Chronic Respiratory Illness in Children
• Advanced Wound and Infection Management Concepts
• Herbal care for underserved communities
• Herbal Therapeutics 11: Analgesics and Anodynes for Pain
• Oral health
• Bacterial infections and biofilm

Teachers have included 7Song, Guido Masé, Jillian Stansbury, Margi Flint, Maria Noël Groves, Jody Noé, Althea Northage-Orr, Leslie Alexander, Leslie Williams, Erika Galentin, John Redden, Lindsey Feldpausch, Thomas Easley, Paul Bergner, and others.

Reproductive health has been a significant focus of my clinical education.

Advanced studies have included:

• Herbal support during pregnancy and birth
• Safe herbal use during pregnancy
• Herbal galactagogues and lactation support
• TCM and Gynecology
• Mushroom Medicine in Women's Health
• Abnormal Paps, Cervical Dysplasia and HPV
• Botanical Therapies for Pelvic Stagnation
• Energetics of Menses/Moon Time and PMS
• Multiphasic Dosing During a Woman's Cycle
• Luteal Phase Deficiency and Menstrual Cycle Health
• Women's Health: Pelvic Pain, Vaginitis and Abnormal Bleeding
• Botanical Strategies for Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis
• Abnormal uterine bleeding
• Menstrual cycle and multiphasic herbal protocols
• Ovarian cysts
• Intensive: Perimenopause/Menopause
• Hormonal and endocrine health
• TCM approaches to gynecology
• Pregnancy loss and abortion support
• Medications used in pregnancy loss and abortion care
• Pelvic health
• Postpartum herbal support

Training has included coursework with Mary Bove, Aviva Romm, Tori Hudson, Chanchal Cabrera, Katy Stage, Roy Upton, Katie Stage, Kat Mairer, Camille Freeman, Molly Dutton-Kenny, and others.

I have practiced clinical and community herbalism for more than a decade in settings ranging from private consultations to free community clinics.

My experience includes:

• Clinical herbal consultations
• Free and sliding-scale herbal clinics
• Herbal first aid and acute care
• Wilderness and rural first aid
• Wound care in warming centers
• Street medic and community care environments
• Reproductive and pregnancy-loss support
• Harm-reduction-centered care
• Herbal medicine-making
• Community herbal education
• Medic and herbal first-aid training

I have worked alongside physicians, nurses, EMTs, doulas, herbalists, and other care providers in both clinical and community settings.

• Black Locust Gardens
After moving to Michigan in 2014, I co-founded Black Locust Gardens, a 30-acre organic medicinal herb farm, plant nursery, and apothecary. We grew more than 30 varieties of medicinal plants and produced bulk herbs and herbal formulas distributed throughout the country.

• Great Lakes Herb Faire
For more than eight years, I have served as a coordinator for the Great Lakes Herb Faire in Chelsea, Michigan, helping bring together herbalists, naturopathic doctors, physicians, nurses, educators, and students for a weekend of herbal education. I have also served as First Aid Coordinator, providing herbal first-aid support for hundreds of attendees throughout the event.

• Southeast Michigan Doula Project
I served as an Outreach Coordinator for the Southeast Michigan Doula Project, a nonprofit organization providing free and low-cost doula services to families in the community.

• Bloodroot Herb Shop
In 2022, I opened Bloodroot Herb Shop in Ypsilanti, bringing together years of farming, clinical herbalism, teaching, reproductive care, and community work into one space.

Bloodroot is an apothecary, tea house, education center, and gathering place centered around accessible herbal care, sliding-scale consultations, herbal education, reproductive support, medicine-making, food access, and community resource sharing.