Kathy Abascal, BS, JD, Herbalist RH (AHG)
I am a practicing herbalist and a professional member of the American
Herbalists Guild. I divide my time between doing herbal consultations for
clients, gathering and making herbal medicines, teaching and writing.
My path to becoming an herbalist was circuitous. I graduated with a degree
in neurobiology with a minor in biochemistry and French from the University of
California at Berkeley. After graduation, I worked on numerous clinical
research studies and helped conduct physician peer reviews at a local
hospital.
When that work no longer challenged me, the doctors I worked with
recommended that I apply to medical school. In retrospect, I should have
followed their advice but instead completely switched directions and got a
Juris Doctor from Hastings College of law in San Francisco. I worked as a
research attorney at the California Court of Appeal for a number of years and
then went into private practice specializing in complex consumer litigation.
While a delegate to the State Bar Conference of Delegates, I drafted a law
requiring California attorneys to file pleadings on recycled paper and allowing
them to use unbleached rather than pristine white paper . My proposal was
voted down at the conference but the Sierra Club subsequently got the law
enacted. As time passed, the California courts became more conservative
and less receptive to litigation on behalf of consumers, and I once again
found myself looking for a new direction.
After a year long sabbatical, I realized that I needed to be involved in some
aspect of health care. I had always been interested in medicinal plants, and
when I learned that Michael Moore, had a school, I moved to New Mexico to
complete his program. After graduating, I practiced for a year and then went
through his program again, this time in Bisbee, Arizona. Michael has a
voluminous knowledge of both the traditional uses and the science of herbs.
I loved being out in the field with him gathering plants, making medicines, and
learning how to use them. I especially loved learning about the desert plants.
Thanks to Michael, I came to have a deep respect for traditional plant
knowledge, the Eclectics, and the value of using whole plants as medicines.
While in Bisbee, I met Eric Yarnell, then a recent graduate of Bastyr
University who was working with Silena Heron, an herbalist and naturopathic
physician in Sedona. Eric and I began working together on some projects
and found that we complemented each other well. We co-authored a
textbook, Clinical Botanical Medicine, and write articles on botanical medicine
for each issue of Alternative & Complementary Therapies and a number of
other journals.. We also teach an Intensive Seminar in Botanical Medicine
with Dr. James A. Duke each year. This year's seminar will be held
September 14-17, 2007. We are presently working on a research study to
learn how the use of fresh or dried plant material and various extraction
methods affects the constituent profile of the medicine.
A number of years ago, I moved from New Mexico to Vashon Island in
Washington, and am enjoying learning about the plants of the Northwest.
