Meet Marie

Additionally, through Pierce College, I earned a two-year certification as a Crisis Counselor, equipping me to handle sensitive topics thoughtfully, safely, and with empathy.

My wellness training includes advanced study in nutrition, herbalism, gut health, and lifestyle-based therapies, including courses with Nicole Apelian, Ph.D., studies with Sarah Otto (author of Healing the Gut Microbiome), and programs in herbal formulations and tea blending through The Herbal Academy. I also spent several years as a Nutrition Counselor and Classroom Facilitator for two of the world's largest weight loss companies, helping people make structured, sustainable changes to improve their health through nutrition, diet, and supplements.

I've studied Tarot extensively, including classes with Richard Knight (Tarot Mastery, Psychic Development, and Coaching with the Tarot), Sal Jade (Tarot Card Success and Remove Blocks to Psychic Power with Past Life Therapy), and advanced training with Biddy Tarot, where I also volunteered as an online consultant. While I no longer provide consultations, I do teach you how to use Tarot as a personal wellness tool. 

My Personal Journey

I've also coexisted with the Herpes Simplex Virus for over 40 years now, some being great and others being "terrible", which began my research into all-natural remedies, specifically relating to stress and herpes-related symptoms and conditions.

What began as only one or two outbreaks over a couple of decades turned into frequent, then back-to-back, outbreaks that went on for years. I was doing all of the right things, but nothing helped. I tried an antiviral prescription medication but experienced adverse side effects, including worsening outbreaks.

I was in pain much of the time, completely overwhelmed, exhausted, and without hope. But I've always been a "Why?" person. I kept researching, even when I didn't feel like it. But it seemed the more I learned, the less I felt I really knew. I kept running across mainstream advice on how to reduce the risk of herpes outbreaks.

• Reduce stress
• Eat a balanced diet
• Avoid too many arginine-rich foods
• Manage personal HSV triggers
• Take a lysine supplement or a specialty supplement
• Use natural remedies or prescription medications to help control outbreaks and heal lesions
• Exercise
• Get a good night's sleep (every night)

These are all healthy and essential suggestions for maintaining overall health and wellness. However, they didn't stop my outbreaks. My thought was that, for the more sensitive individual like myself experiencing frequent and severe outbreaks, mainstream advice wasn't ever going to be enough to reduce HSV flares.

It took 12 long years of wading through countless hours of research to understand why there's no one-size-fits-all remedy or treatment for herpes. It's because everyone is different. I just didn't know what my particular brand of difference was. During this time, as you can imagine. I was desperate for answers, so I began reading Tarot for insights, and I immediately found them. It was through Tarot that my intuition alerted me to the cause of my IBS. It was also through reading the cards that I began to understand the mind-body connection and particular patterns I'd been going through in life. I continue to use Tarot for personal guidance and teach you how to use Tarot as a reflective, symbolic tool for gaining perspective, strengthening self-trust, and making thoughtful, balanced decisions. I provide a free guide for managing the challenges that arise with "difficult" cards, with associated teas and somatic exercises.

Getting back to the subject of herpes, as you may already know, herpes lives in your nerve cells. This isn't random. The Herpes Simplex Virus chooses to live in nerve cells because the nervous system helps regulate the immune system. When either is dysregulated, inflammation develops, which herpes depends on to reactivate, which is why, when you have a highly sensitive or dysregulated nervous system, you can end up experiencing more frequent or severe herpes outbreaks. At one point, I had to wonder how many other sensitive people were also searching but not finding this answer for themselves. I mean, this information isn't easy to find if you don't know exactly who or what to ask. Even AI doesn't always get things right. 

While Nervous System Dysregulation is becoming a more popular subject, I've rarely seen it mentioned in correlation to herpes, which is why I teach you how to reverse it, along with inflammation, in my book, The Anti-HSV Cauldron: The 4-Week Plan for Reducing HSV Flares. You may also find it helps to lessen or alleviate other chronic conditions, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Histamine Intolerance, Interstitial Cystitis, and chronic pain. 

By the way, if you're in the midst of a painful outbreak, you'll want to grab my 24 remedy suggestions for quickly easing itch, burn, and pain. I also offer natural remedy recipes for easing stress and herpes-related symptoms, such as anxiety, headache, digestive upsets, aches and pains, sleeplessness, and of course, herpes lesions, here. 

My mission is to help you reduce your HSV flares so you can feel safe in your own body and enjoy life again.

If you have any questions or would like to comment on your thoughts or experiences regarding The Herpes Witch, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'd love to hear from you.