Herbal Support for Survivors

When I’m asked about my support system as a survivor, I often think about my friends, therapist, and health providers, but I also think about all of the supportive plant allies I have in my life! Plants offer me so much support as a human. I have memories of specific trees who provided shade during the blazing summer sun, paired with garden mint that cooled my body after yard work. I have adored elderberry harvests simmered down into syrup for winter coughs and colds, and I felt protected with herbs that relieved me from the pangs and tightness after traumatic experiences, losses, grief, and anxiety.

As a survivor and someone healing from layers of trauma, I know I need a web of support. Herbal medicine is a daily practice for me. Whether I make myself a cup of tea with herbs to target my nervous system or I add a few drops of flower essence to a cup of water or my bath, plants feed me emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically as I heal. I can cook with herbs, bathe with them, touch them in a garden, visit them on a bike trail, read about them in books, or look up photos of them on the internet.

Herbal medicine broadens my network, feels reliable, subtle, and herbal remedies believe me as a survivor. They are consistent. I can interact with lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) in my garden in Massachusetts and feel a similar sense of calm when I see lemon balm in a garden in my hometown in Nebraska, or in a friend’s garden in another location, or on the side of the road. The sweet lemon smell, the soothing feel in my mouth when I make a tea, and the soft green leaves I can touch for tactile groundedness.

For about 15 years now I’ve been building relationships with herbs and plants who have different personalities, warm my heart, spark my creativity, and offer me comfort. If you are considering opening yourself up to the world of herbal healing, you won’t be bored! There are so many plants, flowers, and combinations to explore. If you feel overwhelmed about where to start, consider working closely with a clinical herbalist to help you find at least one new herb to experience and add to your team! Perhaps you already have a few herbs in your pantry.

Herbal Medicine comes in many forms! Invite these plant allies into your world as you build your support system. Consider visiting these plants in person, walking on a trail or in a garden, or browsing photos in books and on the internet!

Infusion – “cold brew” or long steep of an herb is recommended for herbs high in minerals and vitamins. Drink up to a quart a day of infusion herbs.

Tea – quick cup of hot tea, steeped for 5-10 minutes. Drink while warm, add honey. These herbs are for acute moments (before or after a meal, before bedtime). Cups of tea are also great to add to bath water to drink through your skin!

Tincture – potent herbal extracts preserved in alcohol, often mixed together in a formula and taken a few times throughout the day. These herbs might not taste as pleasant in a tea and also their chemical constituents are extracted with alcohol in a different way than water.

Cook – eat these herbs as you cook! Add them to soup broths, sauces, salad dressings, infuse them into apple cider vinegar, and incorporate them into your daily life.

Flower Essence – these are vibrational medicines captured in spring water and preserved with some form of alcohol, glycerin, brandy, or sometimes witch hazel extract for topical use. Add these energetic waters to your pillow, altar, wrist, tongue, bath, or glass of water to aid in spiritual and emotional healing.

Nervous System Support
insomnia, anxiety, sleep, relaxation, exhales, fear, kidneys

• Milky oats – tincture, infusion
• Tulsi – tincture, tea
• Alfalfa- infusion
• Oat straw – infusion
• Maypop – tincture, tea
• Skullcap – tea, tincture

Heart Menders & Grief Relief
tender heart, tears, loss, reflection, water, lungs

• Rose- tincture, tea
• Linden – tincture, tea
• Red clover – infusion
• Marshmallow – tincture, tea
• Mullein – tincture, infusion

Digestive Herbs
for butterflies in the stomach, gas, flatulence, bloating, appetite

• Ginger – tincture, tea, cook
• Fennel – tincture, tea, cook
• Anise hyssop – tea
• Hyssop – tea, tincture
• Orange peel – tea, tincture

Sexual Healing
warming, stimulating, energizing, skin, pelvis

• Ginger – tea, tincture, cook
• Damiana – tea, tincture

• Rose – tea, tincture, flower essence, massage oil
• Hibiscus – tea, tincture, flower essence
• Rosemary – tincture, tea, cook
• Cinnamon – tincture, tea, cook

Flower & Plant Essences for Emotional & Spiritual Healing

• Garlic – resilience & protection
• Black cohosh- untangling from abusive or addictive relationships
• Calendula – listening & acceptance
• Poison Oak – introducing physical touch
• Violet – self expression and liberation
• Agastache – relieving personal shame & guilt accompanying trauma
• Rose thorn – protection
• Prunella/Self-Heal – confidence
• Wild rose – heart mender, re-opener

**Consider working with a Clinical Herbalist to design an herbal plan that works for you! It’s important to tell them about all the medicines & supplements you are currently taking as well as allergies, sensitivities, and medical history.