Are you looking for a practitioner who is kind, compassionate, empathetic and understands the health struggles you’re experiencing?

Andrea’s near encyclopaedic wealth of knowledge combines perfectly with her calm and compassionate nature to deliver an outstanding level of care.

At Dancing Willow Wellness, we pride ourselves on patient-centred care, and Andrea exemplifies this principle. She is always ready to meet patients where they’re at, and use her skills, expertise, and warmth to bring them closer to where they want to be.

Patients feel supported and heard throughout their journey and appreciate her kindness as well as the great results they achieve.

Throughout my career, I have asked clients about their goals: hundreds of clients, hundreds of goals. There is one answer that wins the majority, by landslide. The answer I typically get is “ I just want to be happy”. I hear this reply so often, it’s hard to remember if I’ve heard anything else in response.

If this is a goal you have set for yourself, the biggest obstacle in reaching this goal is your brain. This magnificent, complex, poorly understood organ. It is evolution's greatest marvel. It is the reason we have survived and evolved over millennia.

Ever wonder why you have a great sleep one night and then a less than stellar sleep another night?

Do you struggle to get even a decent night’s sleep? Have you got your bedroom optimized and your bedtime routine down and you’re still struggling?

What you do during the day has a profound effect on how well you sleep each night!

It’s amazing to meet with a therapist who puts you at ease and makes you feel comfortable.

Having the opportunity to talk with someone who’s open, a straight shooter and a great listener helps you to get to the heart of what’s really bothering you.

Working with someone who creates a space where you feel safe to spill your guts, without you even realizing it is incredibly supportive.

Being able to be in a kind, empathetic environment is conducive to healing and reflection, which in turn makes you look forward to positive changes. All of these things should be present when working with any therapist, but Alicia delivers all of this in spades at Dancing Willow Wellness.

Have you ever told yourself to remember not to do something, only to do it anyway?

A number of years ago, I took a college course that required a final exam. As my children were still young, I arranged to drop them off with my parents on the day of the exam. I had, coincidently, misplaced my spare car key.

So, driving the children to my parent’s house, anxious about this exam to begin with, and now concerned about losing my remaining car key, I reminded myself over and over, “don’t lock the keys in the car… don’t lock the keys in the car...” And of course, that is exactly what I ended up doing – I walked the children into their grandparent’s house and came back out to find I had locked the car and left the keys in the ignition.

As I tell my clients, “if self-care feels like just another thing you have to do, you're doing it wrong”.

There are many ways of taking care of yourself; getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising, etc. But I think many of us are missing a really important part of self-care.

Sleep is not self-indulgence or self-care. Sleep is a basic human need that’s critical to our health, well-being and self-preservation!

While I know I started the last sleep article with this same quote, it really is that important that we make sleep a priority.

It’s not accidental that we will spend approximately ⅓ of our lives sleeping.

Our bodies are really very busy when we sleep! Our bodies need this time to be able to heal, integrate everything that happened during the day, create new memories, reset our digestive system and so much more.

Hello again. If you’ve read the spring edition you know I’m passionate about wild medicinal plants – or weeds as many people like to call them.

Here are three more common plants that you may find on your lawn during the summer months.

We’ve all had our fair share of stress over the last few years with the pandemic and all that’s come from that. Some of you have felt more stress with the loss of work, while others have felt like they have been working like a dog. Some people have been called heroes by some and spit on by others. We’ve also seen one of the most concerning protests in Canada in recent memory. All these events add stress to our lives!

For many of us, spring means the opportunity to get outside and begin work in our gardens. Whether you are a novice or an expert, a vegetable or a flower gardener, there is one task that we all have to do many times over the growing season - weeding!

We treat sleep like a luxury, but it isn’t. Chronic lack of rest harms focus, mood, immunity—and that’s just the beginning. If you wake up exhausted, unfocused, or hitting snooze on repeat, it’s time to rethink your habits. Small changes can make big differences.

Picking a rehab center isn’t straightforward or easy. Private vs public, cost, titles, and glossy promises can be incredibly misleading. If you’re considering addiction treatment at a rehab center, knowing what to ask matters. Alicia shares the key insights and things families should know before trusting any rehab center.

Your brain is brilliant at keeping you safe—but it still reacts to everyday stress as if danger were lurking nearby. Bills, deadlines, worry: the alarm keeps ringing. What happens when your body never gets the signal to stand down? The answer isn’t obvious, but it might surprise you.

Most of us grew up believing periods were supposed to hurt, drag on, or come with a list of symptoms. But what if that isn’t true at all? The gap between what women are told is “normal” and what actually is might change how you see your cycle.

After working with COVID positive patients in direct healthcare for over a year Alicia thought she knew COVID. She was wrong. The real lesson had nothing to do with symptoms or recovery, and everything to do with how women are taught to move through daily life and at what cost.

When a client’s symptoms kept returning like clockwork, even after effective herbal treatment, it raised a different kind of question. What if the root cause wasn’t physical at all? This turning point opened the door to something unexpected and changed the way one herbalist approaches healing, from the inside out.

Overthinking thrives on mental clutter. If your to-do list lives in your head and your brain won’t quit, it’s time to dump it. Literally! This step-by-step method shows you how to clear your mind, sort the chaos, and finally breathe. It’s not complicated, but it is a game changer.

Starting recovery can feel impossible when you don’t know where to begin. Substance use and mental health struggles are heavy—but the first step doesn’t have to be. Real change starts with a shift in perspective. If you’re ready to move, even a little, here’s HOW to take that first step.

Overthinking messes with your sleep, spikes stress, and keeps your brain on a loop long after the lights are out. If your mind won’t shut off, this breakdown of why it happens and how to interrupt the cycle offers practical tools that actually work, starting with one powerful question.

Spices like ginger, turmeric, and garlic do more than flavour food, they activate your immune system. Simple, powerful herbal remedies like Golden Milk and Fire Cider can support your immune system and help you fight off winter bugs. Easy to make, deeply warming, and rooted in herbal medicine that works.