A little about me.

Me, then? I'm Henriette Kress, and I'm a herbalist in Helsinki, Finland. My folks and me moved from Germany to the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland when I was -this- little, so I speak Swedish, Finnish, English and German fluently.

My first contact with herbs was when my grandma (cool lady!) took me out in the woods and showed me the red color you get when you crush the yellow flower of St. John's wort. I was perhaps knee-high ... it's been herbs ever since, except for a pause in my teens for boys.

I'm a M. Sc. (Econ), graduating from the Helsinki U of Economics in 1991 (the Swedish one); I worked in logistics first, then did a few years as finance manager for the local branch of a huge multinational, said "this is boring", and went off to attend the SWSBM in 1998. That gave me confidence to see clients, which I have been doing ever since. Other things I do is lectures, herb pics, books (in Finnish, Swedish and English), and articles for local glossies and newspapers. I also have Finnish and Swedish distance students. In 2003, I applied for professional AHG membership, which was pretty much immediately granted, so I can put "AHG" behind my name now.

What does a herbalist do? I correct imbalances, using herbs in combination with diet and lifestyle changes. An herbalist can probably help you if you're feeling tired all the time, have digestive or sinus troubles, if you have recurring infections (like, for instance, cystitis), if your period's too long, short, crampy or just too much, if you can't sleep, and even if you get the flu too often to suit you. Small uncomfortable things like that, which doctors usually can't do much about.

However, I don't do this over email. You'll probably find somebody in your neck of the woods if you look hard enough. Bulletin boards at health food stores, co-ops and vegetarian restaurants are a good place to start. You might be helped by this tidbit from the Medicinal HerbFAQ: 5.6 How to find an herbalist / ND. And in Helsinki? There's me.

Henriette