Herbalism - For the Long Haul

Herbal Consultation & Remedies

Bioregional ● Accessible ● Relational

What is a Herbal Consultation?

A herbal consultation is a session where we sit down together and discuss your whole health picture. We will go over your health history, your physical and emotional concerns, what has and has not been working in your care.

We’ll talk about how you currently feel, how you want to feel, and what herbal strategies can support moving you there. I will recommend a customized holistic herbal protocol specific to your needs and the issues we discussed.

Reasons someone might see an herbalist

Herbalists work with people on a variety of health issues and imbalances, both acute and chronic. It could be that you received a diagnosis and want supportive herbal care alongside other treatment strategies. You might go to an herbalist with trouble sleeping or insomnia, autoimmune conditions, for support with blood sugar management, if you are experiencing joint pain, low energy, or if you experience chronic digestive issues.

We could work together to support through through gender-affirming surgery, chronic low energy or post-viral recovery.

Herbal medicine isn’t so much a this-for-that matching of herbs to conditions, but works much better if we formulate with the whole picture of a person, their patterns and the whole picture of their health concerns.

What to Expect

The consultation

Sessions can take place in-person in Hamilton, ON or over phone or video-call.

An initial consultation is typically 60-90 minutes long.

I’ll ask you to fill out a short intake before our first visit so I can get a sense of your goals and we can use our time together most efficiently.

In the session I will ask you lots of questions to prompt a conversation where we explore your holistic health picture, body system functions and patterns of dysregulation. If you have lab tests or blood work we can look at them. We will discuss the challenges that keep you from your healing goals and how to achieve follow-through with your protocol.

After the consultation

After the consultation, I will send you a write-up summary of what we talked about with a description of your herbal formula, instructions for use and any other thoughts & suggestions.

Your protocol will likely include a daily herbal formula and might also include an as-needed formula. It will take time to see progress from daily formula for a chronic condition and the herbs will work cumulatively. Working with herbs will require your commitment and adherence to a protocol we choose together.

Formulas can be dispensed by me, or I will recommend other options. We will collaborate within your budget.

What are formulas?

There are many ways to work with plant medicines. The most common in my practice are herbal infusions, tinctures and glycerites. These are different ways of extracting the medicinal components of a plant and suspending them in a solution that best supports their work in your body. A herbal infusion is a water extract of dried plant material, essentially a tea blend you’ll steep at home for 20+ minutes. A tincture is a water + ethanol extract prepared in a way that best supports the medicinal constituents of the plant. A glycerite is an extraction in vegetable glycerine and in a non-alcohol-based option. Apple Cider vinegar is also sometimes used as a solvent when it is indicated. There are other ways to ingest herbs by using powders, capsules, infused oils, syrups and honeys, or lozenges. Topically we can work with herbs in salves, creams, topical honeys, herbal baths and liniments.

Follow-up appointments

Follow up appointments are ideally spaced 6-8 weeks apart to ensure your herbal formula is working well for you. This time frame is long enough to take note of any changes, obvious or subtle, and reflect on the time past. It also offers time to re-evaluate what herbs we are using, and the space to adjust, add or remove if required.

Scope

Herbalists neither diagnose nor directly treat diseases. We make assessments of imbalances based on patterns and physiologic presentation. We support healing using our understanding of physiology, pathophysiology, organ system dysfunction and energetics combined with phytochemistry and herbal therapeutics. We carefully assess all interactions that herbs may have with pharmaceutical medications, and can work with other health care practitioners if desired.

Book a Consult

Kaleigh is a clinical herbalist, a restoration ecologist and an educator.

My practice is based on the territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Mississauga,
Neutral, Erie and Huron-Wendat in Hamilton, ON.

I believe that our personal wellbeing, community health and health of the ecosystem are dependent on abolishing
the racist colonial Canadian state and the violent systems that uphold it.

kaleigh@forthelonghaul.ca