Hi! I’m Roses.
I’m a medical herbalist, mycotherapy practitioner (mushroom herbalist!) and somatic educator, serving folks living in the Dyfi valley of mid Wales (in person) and the UK (online).
I offer herbal medicine for acute and chronic health and wellbeing, and teach skills for embodied resilience and behaviour change.
I also work as a clinical supervisor in an integrative, mobile clinic providing acute care, emergency first response and herbal first aid at festivals across the UK.
Weeds are my favourite medicines! They’re abundant and generous, and they do more than survive hostile environments: they help to transform them into places where they and other beings can thrive.
I work relationally: this means I believe the relationship we co-create is important to healing, as well as the herbs and/or practices.
My practice is informed by an understanding of how trauma lives and heals in the body, and awareness of power and oppression.
I weave mulitple ways of knowing into my practice: the sensory language of our bodies; a rational, systems-led understanding of human physiology; traditional, ancestral knowledge of herbs of the British Isles and northern Europe; the cumulative experience of medical herbalists all over the UK (I’m grateful to be part of a thriving, well-networked professional community); and keeping up with medical and phyotherapeutic research through scientific journals.
You can read about my training here.
Come as you are
I support and affirm all bodies, including queer, trans, black/brown, fat, disabled, young, old and survivor bodies.
All parts of you are welcome in my clinic: the parts that feel resilient and powerful, and those that feel confused, vulnerable or afraid.
You may have experience of systemic oppression, trauma or neurodivergence that makes you less able to access the benefits of mainstream healthcare. I am flexible to both our needs – feel free to contact me to discuss.
I am trained to work safely alongside any mainstream healthcare and pharmaceutical medications you may be taking.
If you decide to work with me, I hope you might feel…
- Deeply listened to and seen
- Supported and held
- Empowered to make life-affirming changes
- Fewer and less-severe symptoms
- More resilient, physically and emotionally
- More deeply connected with yourself, loved ones and the more-than-human.
Core training
Following a year-long foundation course in herbal medicine in 2016, I did a five-year diploma in the clinical practice of herbal medicine, for which I earned 97% in my final clincial exam. This degree-level qualification adhered to European standards for medical herbalist training, comprising:
- anatomy & physiology
- clinical skills and diagnostic techniques
- differential diagnosis
- therapeutics
- nutrition
- materia medica (plants as medicines)
- herbal pharmacy and dispensing
- 500 supervised clinical hours, including in an NHS hospital.
This core training allows me to:
- interpret blood and urine test results
- carry out routine physical examinations, similar to an old-fashioned GP
- recognise signs and symptoms that need referring to a GP for further tests
- prescribe herbs safely alongside any conventional medication you may be taking
- work integratively with your mainstream healthcare provider
- follow developments in medical and phytotherapeutic research.
Further training
I’ve continued to develop my skills with further qualifications:
- Resilience Toolkit Facilitator, certified by Lumos Transforms
- Mycotherapy Practitioner, certified by the UK & Ireland Mycotherapy Practitioners Register
- First Response Emergency Care level 4 in the curriculum set by the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
These allow me to:
- facilitate trauma-informed somatic education for self-regulation, resilience-building and stage 1 trauma resolution (stabilisation and safety-building), 1:1 and in groups
- forage and make mushroom medicine, and prescribe a wider range of medicinal mushrooms than medical herbalists are typically trained to
- work in an ambulance crew or integrative pre-hospital care team, providing first response emergency care.
I’ve also completed further training in gender-affirming surgeries, scar care, endobiogenic medicine, the neurobiology of trauma, and somatics for social change, among other subject areas.
Background
I came to herbal medicine as a grassroots community organiser, burnt out in body and mind, and spiritually disconnected from the more-than-human. In both ways plants helped me reconnect with myself, my comrades and the wider planet.
I had worked for ten years with survivors of interpersonal and state violence – particularly queer, male and gender-non-conforming survivors, people incarcerated under immigration powers, and activists experiencing repression. During that time I delivered and managed emotional support services, co-founded a radical casework project, and (as I still do) delivered training in related topics.
While training to become a medical herbalist I did a herb growing traineeship at Hackney Herbal. This led to a role designing and delivering courses in herbal craft in an NHS Recovery College for adults accessing mental health services. I’m excited to be returning to these roots now as I work with local organisations and herbal practitioners in the Dyfi valley to establish a community herb project, aiming to provide low-cost herbal medicine and workshops from 2026.
“Working with Roses has literally changed my life. I came to them with chronic stomach problems on top of a chronic illness. I’m happy to say that at this moment, both are under control thanks to the care provided by Roses and this has allowed me to reduce the number of drugs taken.”
“I appreciate the way Roses communicates with me, particularly in non gendered ways regarding reproductive/ovarian health. … I couldn’t imagine working on this with anyone else, which is a credit to Roses’ skills and practice. It is a true blessing to be supported by Roses.”
“You struck a wonderful balance between maintaining structure and inviting me to lead which the direction we go in.
“You held space for me to share in as much or as little detail felt relevant for me, at times gently digging deeper. Felt very much like co-created exploration.
“You were very encouraging of my existing efforts, and inspired hope in the possibilities of change.”
Katherine (therapist):
I mostly work Tuesdays-Thursdays and some weekends
Roses (herbalist & somatic educator):
I mostly work Mondays-Thursdays
Training enquiries:
hello@fireweedcollective.org.uk