photo by Heather McBride

About Kelly

Healing Philosophy

I am a community herbalist and educator with a clinical practice based in Philadelphia, PA. I practice herbal medicine on Lenni Lenape land, specifically Chingsessing, (now called Kingsessing), meaning "the place where there is a meadow.," and I am in deep gratitude to the people who's ancestral land I am on.

My role as an herbalist is to help people connect with themselves, have a positive embodied experience, and build a relationship with the natural world. I believe people are the experts of their bodies and should feel empowered to take care of themselves.  I will meet people where they are at, in order to educate and support them in creating daily practices that heal and sustain. I believe in the power of intention. The low cost DIY aspect of herbalism is what first appealed to me - I wanted to take care of myself and my friends by making medicine from plants growing where I lived.  I offer a sliding scale for all my services because I want to be a part of breaking barriers to accessing healing work.

As a queer person, serving queer community is my joy (but my books are open to everyone!)

My blood ancestors were midwestern farmers and tavern keepers and I trace those lineages back to Ireland and Germany.  I'm in the slow lifelong process of learning more about my ancestral healing practices,  and how those were given up in exchange for the hollow promise of whiteness. 

It's hard to have a body and a spirit under late stage capitalism. I believe using herbs and somatic tools, both of which ask us to slow down and pay more attention to our bodies, can offer us profound resources for navigating the world. 

Humans and plants evolved together and human bodies function best when they ingest plants everyday (like eating vegetables!). Plant medicine affects all aspects of our being - physical, mental, spiritual. Our bodies are incredibly wise and often just need some attention and TLC. They need to be heard and responded to. Herbs and somatic practices both respond to the requests and demands of our bodies asking to be well.

I offer individual healing  in the service of our collective healing. I long and work for liberation, understanding that individual healing only goes so far in a world that is sick and dying, where racism, classism, ableism, sexism, transphobia, fatphobia, homophobia and more are literally deadly.

I believe all bodies are good bodies, and I welcome clients that are neurodivergent , fat, disabled, and chronically ill. 

Education

Herbal Community Work

I began seriously studying herbal medicine in 2009 in Minneapolis, MN. There, I studied with herbalists Lise Wolff (her main teacher being Matthew Wood), Cynthia Thomas (who studied with David Winston), Julia Graves, and Matthew Wood. One of Matthew Wood's primary teachers was TisMal Crow, a Cherokee and Hitchiti healer. Wood also deeply studied the Eclectics (Thompson, Scudder, King, Felter, Ellingwood). The eclectic herbalists, practicing in this country in the 1800s, learned much of what they know from peoples Indigenous to this land. It's important for me, as a person of settler descent, to name that much of my initial studies in herbalism were drawing from the knowledge of Indigenous healers. And I'm figuring out how to honor that, and not perpetuate the stealing of knowledge.

For 3 years, I studied at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism in Montpelier, VT. The school trains herbalists primarily in Western herbal medicine tradition, physiology and pathophysiology, phytochemistry, holistic energetic systems, and nutrition. I gained clinical skills working as an herbalist at the school's sliding scale clinic. My teachers there were Larken Bunce, Betzy Bancroft, and Guido Masé.  While all of these teachers studied with many people, some of their primary teachers: Larken Bunce studied at Tai Sophia (now know as Maryland University of Integrative Health.) Betzy Bancroft studied and worked with David Winston and Tom Brown, and Guido is primarily self-taught.

I learned cupping from Julia Graves and Sandra Lory.

In 2022, I will finish my 3 year Somatic Experiencing trauma resolution training.

I also study my ancestral healing lineages, (Irish and German). I have studied with Sharon Blackie and Lisa Fazio, as well as a lot of self-directed research in books and archives. 

I believe so deeply in the political act of mutual aid, and am committed to sending herbs to mutual aid projects, Black and Indigenous land projects, and communities requesting herbal support on  an ongoing basis. 

I currently help run the Philly Herb Hub with Desiree Thompson (of Nana Catherine's Apothecary), a project that moves herbs from growers and medicine makers to Black folks in Philly for free. 

​I'm part of a growing movement of white people who budget a portion of our income to redistributing our money to Black, Indigenous and people of color. I share this not for kudos, but in hopes of normalizing this practice amongst all white people. You can read more about the case for reparations by Ta Nehisi Coates and see the Movement 4 Black Lives' Reparations Toolkit if you want to learn more. It feels relevant to include in my herbal community work because all of my income is from my work as an herbalist. I put that money towards local community based efforts around land and healing justice. 

I have taught herbal medicine through EXCO (a free school in Minneapolis), at the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, Mariposa Co-op, The Philadelphia Free Library, and Bartram's Garden and many other community organizations.