About Wild Bee Herbals
Hi, I’m Jessica Elise Clark, Clinical Community Herbalist, Educator, Homesteader and Bee Lover.
As a (w)holistic herbalist, I believe that herbs, flower essences, self care practices, and dietary/lifestyle improvements can feed the human vital force for true, long-lasting health.
As an educator, I love to share the beauty of the natural world with other people.
As a homesteader, I am a passionate gardener, poultry tender, experienced beekeeper, and I truly enjoy spending time working with the land.
My Story
I began my journey in the world of herbs by reading herb books and perusing the bulk herb section at my local Co-Op. I was so fascinated with the different colors, textures and scents, and I would take things home to make tea with. I had already been a gardener for many years, and had a strong connection with plants. Herbs were a whole new world that I really wanted to get to know.
I decided to go deeper, and in 2013, I studied with Donna d’Terra at Motherland Botanical Sanctuary in Mendocino County, CA, where I was part of the Yerba Women nine-month Herbal Apprenticeship Program. This was a deep introduction into the Western Herbal Medicine folk traditions of herbs, medicine making, plant identification, and the old ways of using herbs as primary healing agents by women. My world was blown open, and after this program, I studied, grew many herbs, and practiced in my off-grid mountain home before venturing out to broaden my knowledge.
After the apprenticeship, I embarked on two years of study at the California School of Herbal Studies (CSHS) in Sonoma County, CA, where I completed both the Roots of Herbalism program, as well as the Intermediate Community Herbalist Training. Both courses gave me further skills in plant identification, growing medicinal herbs, ethical wildcrafting, medicine making, anatomy and physiology, energetics, and client assessment.
My fourth year of herbal study was a Clinical Program, led by one of my teachers from CSHS, Bryan Bowen. We dove into the details of working with clients one-on-one, and our group built a mobile free herbal clinic called Bay Herbalism Mobile Clinic. We manufacture many liquid herbal preparations to use with the communities we serve. I have since been working with clients in this clinic, offering free herbal consultations to underserved populations. It is a joy to give back to my community in this way.
During this final year of training I also worked at the historic herbal apothecary in Sebastopol, California, Rosemary’s Garden (founded by the “godmother of herbalism”, Rosemary Gladstar). Here, I was immersed in a busy community setting, fielding scores of people coming in the door looking for answers to their health needs. This offered me invaluable experience, and led me into developing my clinical practice.
I now work at Farmacopia apothecary in Santa Rosa, CA, where I am able to see clients in the Low Cost Clinic. This clinic has a sliding-scale rate, allowing for folks with lower income to be able to access holistic herbal health care.
Working with clients in this way deeply resonates with what I believe Herbalism should provide: accessible, affordable health care for the common person.
What is (W)holistic Herbalism?
The term holistic refers to looking at each person as a unique whole, rather than a given diagnosis or set of symptoms. I choose to use a “W” in front of “holistic” to imply the wholeness embodied by the word. A Wholistic Herbalist evaluates the client based upon the wholeness of their individual being, taking into account body, mind, emotions, soul, and spirit. What is their diet like? How do they feel about their lives? What do they do with their time? What feeds their spirit? These, and many other aspects of a person are considered when evaluating the whole person.
This approach is also called Vitalism, which considers the vital force of Nature, mirrored within the individual, has an inherent intelligence responsible for wellness. It acknowledges that nature is wise, and as human beings are a part of nature, our bodies carry innate wisdom powerful enough to heal ourselves.
A Vitalist, or Wholistic Herbalist, seeks to get to the root cause of a health issue, developing protocols that feed the Vital Force and what it needs for true, lasting healing. The Vital Force is never suppressed, as this goes contrary to this healing model in support of vital energy. It goes beyond “this herb for that condition” (ie. Osha for a cough, Elderberry for immunity, or Ginkgo for memory), taking into account the energetics and tissue state(s) of each client, as well as each issue, seeking support. In this way, herbs are matched exactly to the unique issues being presented through the individual. Supportive lifestyle adjustments are concurrent with herbal remedies, allowing for a well rounded, health-promoting protocol.