Vancouver Clinical Herbalist and Apothecary
Clinical herbalism is the practice of using plant medicines and lifestyle recommendations to support health and treat illness. It combines clinical assessment skills, traditional herbal wisdom, and modern medical/scientific knowledge to provide personalized care to people.
Connecting People & Plants
Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Territories
About Kiki Botanicals
Kiki Botanicals is the passion project of clinical herbalist, social worker, artist, and mama, Kiala Löytömäki. Kiki Botanicals includes their clinical herbal practice, a community apothecary, selected herbal products, and Kiala’s teaching and collaborations within community. Kiki Botanicals is part of Kiala’s life work in caring for the plants, uplifting community through education, and supporting people in their health and healing journeys.
Kiala is currently part of Ecosystem Medicine Collective, a group organizing medicine-making, workshops and distribution opportunities for community in Vancouver.
Kiki Botanicals is based on the stolen and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.
There is so much colonial history and violence to be accountable to every day, especially as a settler engaged in a land-based practice such as herbalism. As an herbalist and a person benefiting from living on stolen land, I aim to root my practice in making my services accessible to Indigenous people, supporting Indigenous rights and land back movements, uplifting the work of Indigenous herbalists, and limiting/seeking permission for wildcrafting of native plants. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a process I commit to engaging in and growing all the time.
Decolonization is not a Metaphor is one of my favourite resources about decolonization in action.
What is Clinical Herbalism?
For me, clinical herbalism is about building up the strength and vitality of the body/spirit/heart/mind rather than solely treating symptoms. It is about getting as close to the root cause as possible and developing treatment plans from this place. Herbalists work from a client-centred lens, meaning it is you who guides the process and makes decisions. It is you who knows what is best for your experience. An herbalist’s role is to provide suggestions and knowledge that may help in decision-making. I will always let you know when something is out of my scope, make referrals when possible and seek more knowledge from my mentors to ensure I am giving you the most up-to-date and accurate information.
Through deep listening and intentional questioning, we will spend ample time talking about your experience and developing personalized herbal recommendations for you. I do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach, as our experiences of health are all so unique. Having enough time with practitioners and actually being listened to is so rare in conventional medicine, and herbalism works to shift this fast-paced, depersonalized way of practicing medicine.
I stand by the belief that health looks different for everyone– there is no right or wrong picture of health. At the same time, I hold that there are some foundational care strategies that can help uphold the vitality of the body (ie. drinking enough water, access to food, sleep, etc.). Understanding harm reduction is central to this work, as is helping you feel like you are empowered in your own health!
Herbalism exists and functions best within a web of care. Integrative medicine–the collaboration between conventional medicine and “alternative” medicine–is often necessary for supporting people in the best ways possible. A web of care can also include community care, self-care, therapy, connection to land, and other health modalities such as acupuncture, massage, yoga, and the list goes on!
The above graphic in no way captures everything that goes into clinical herbalism, but it is a good start for understanding some of what this practice involves. Please contact me through email if you have any questions!