Herbalist Journey: Veronica Ricksen

Every month we have the opportunity to touch base with a graduate of one of our certification programs and share their herbal journey with you.

This month we have the pleasure to hear from Veronica Ricksen. She fell in love with herbal medicine in a very unlikely way – boiled toad bones! She found us through our Botanical Beauty class, and never looked back! Now she’s the owner of a Kapu. An herbal brand dedicated to women’s health.

Here’s Veronica’s Story:

The Herbalist Journey of Veronica Ricksen

My journey with herbalism began while I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, South America. My interest began with my host mom teaching me about the medicinal plants that grew in our yard, and piqued when I befriended a 90+ year old man who taught me how he stayed so healthy– boiled toad bones (like bone broth) and medicinal herbs!

When I returned to the states, I quickly became stressed with home, personal and work life. I felt lost, and interpersonal turmoil was sending me a message through my body– acne! The Berkeley Herbal Center appeared in my life when I needed it the most. 

One day, while googling “holistic solutions for acne,” I saw a post for a class called Botanical Beauty at the Berkeley Herbal Center. I signed up for it, attended the 3-week class, and fell in love with the teachings!

The Botanical Beauty class reminded me how much I loved learning about herbs during my time in Paraguay. One thing led to the next, and I ended up enrolling and graduating from the 4-year clinical herbalism program at the Berkeley Herbal Center, becoming a trained clinical Western herbal practitioner, teacher, and mentor to the first year herbal clinicians. 

How Berkeley Herbal Center Impacted Veronica’s Career

Herb school taught me how to take care of myself physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and every other possible way. It helped me mature and blossom in ways that are priceless, and helped me find my path to right livelihood– working as an herbalist and teaching people about plant medicine.

During my first year of clinical internship with BHC, it was a requirement that we partnered with a fellow herbalist in our cohort during client appointments. This was challenging because each herbalist comes with their own perspective, and customizable  way to formulate with herbs. After a couple of months, I realized this requirement was there for very good reasons

Not only did I gain first hand experience formulating for clients, I also witnessed the unique insights and thought processes of my herbal colleagues. We learned from each other and became more well-rounded clinicians because of each other.

Connect with Veronica Ricksen

Currently, I have a herbal practice named Kapu, with a focus on serving women and supporting reproductive health. I’m also a Fertility Awareness and Sexual Health Educator. With these offerings, I especially love to teach women how to track their menstrual cycle and fertility signs which can be used to gauge overall health, as a self-care tool, naturally avoid conception, or achieve pregnancy, and so many other helpful things!

I love using fertility charts as a tool to help select what herbs may be best for a client based on what their hormonal patterns and fertility signs are indicating about overall health. 

Please come take a look at my website for more information at www.kapu.community or my instagram account @kapu.community

Thanks for reading and I hope to connect with you! Warmly, Veronica