Practitioner Interview Series by the CHA of BC Student Subcommittee member, Liza Couse.
Meet Holly Fourchalk, Ph.D., DNM, MH, HT, RHT
Holly Fourchalk is a director of the CHA of BC and a Dr. of Natural Medicine (DNM ®) with PhDs in Psychology and in Nutrition, an MA in Herbal Medicine, and training in Ayurveda, reflexology, and homeopathy. She also sees energy and therefore trained in all the energy medicines from Reiki to Theta.
She is committed to life-long learning and helping others with her vast knowledge of holistic medicine. She is located in Pitt Meadows, BC where she has her home office, fruit orchard, and vegetable gardens. She travels throughout the lower mainland for speaking engagements and to work with clients. Holly has a rare genetic disorder that has been a catalyst for her curiosity and passion for health. She grew up with seizures and various other issues that she has been able to control through the use of food, herbs, movement, and meditation.
Holly has had a fascinating journey of learning and discovery. Her pursuit of higher education began when she entered university to study astrophysics and finished her degree as a psychologist. She then worked as a clinical counsellor for 20 years. Holly began incorporating natural medicine into her practice, merging conventional and holistic medicine. She then switched over to focusing solely on natural medicine and incorporated various areas of specialization into her work. With a PhD in Nutrition, she identified the biochemistry of cellular healing, and with her PhD in Psychology (Psychoneuroendocrinology), she initiated the movement to bring different fields of study together.
Holly’s interests and her work is largely focused on cellular health and genetics. Rather than simply treating specific organ systems or pathologies, Holly seeks to eliminate the root cause of illness by shifting the body back into its natural healing processes. She is quoted saying, “Don’t Manage your symptoms, eliminate the cause.” This is done through a combination of advanced medical technology, traditional herbal medicines, and whole-foods diet.
Most commonly in her practice she uses herbal medicine and nutrition. She explains, “Food is to maintain your health, herbs are for dealing with any areas you’ve gone sideways.” She encourages her patients to grow their own food and has set an excellent example by doing so herself. When asked her favourite herb, Holly provided a list of favourites, as seen below. However, if she had to choose one it would be Urtica dioica (stinging nettle). She explained this is because it cleans out the blood and lymphatic system, rebuilds the blood, and is very nutrient dense.
Holly’s other go-to herbs:
• Gut: Filipendula and Althaea
• Liver: Burdock and Wormwood
• Kidneys: Uva ursi
• Cardio: Hawthorne
• Adrenals: Eleutherococcus and Rhodiola
• Respiratory: Lungwort and Eucalyptus
• Ayurveda: For bones, joints, arthritis – Mahanarayana oil and clove bud oil
• General healing: Ashwagandha and Yarrow
Holly is an incredible resource of information, she has written over 30 books and contributes articles for many medical and alternative journals. For deep learning into herbal medicine beyond her work, two books she recommends are:
• The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine by Bridgette Mars
• The Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier
She also suggests any book by David Hoffman.
When asked about important lessons she would like to pass on to future practitioners, she emphasized the importance of truly listening. She explained that by deeply listening to tone and attitude and through observing facial and body language, underlying issues of a client can be identified. Further, she wants to encourage new practitioners to keep on learning and expanding their offerings of modalities. She stated, “Every time you add in another modality or another capacity you deepen the understanding of the prior modalities you’ve worked with.” For self-care, Holly is committed to her home grown whole-food diet, daily movement, and meditation.
She uses 8 different forms of meditation eclectically and runs a meditation group each week. Holly is always expanding her practice. She is currently working with a new program that uses scalar technology to capture the vibrational frequencies of plants/compounds in a holographic patch that is applied topically to provide dramatic healing effects. Her unique, eclectic practice combines traditions and knowledge from the past and current technological innovation.
Holly currently offers 2 hour health assessments that involve an ASYRA assessment (which can assess over 60,000 variables in the body), urine analysis, nitric oxide analysis, and a deep past medical history. She does house calls, international consulting, and even offers E-Courses. So, wherever you are, Holly can help!
If you would like to learn more about Holly’s practice you can visit her website here.
About the Author:
Liza Couse is a holistic nutritionist and herbalist. She has practiced in Canada and Mexico as an independent consultant, and has worked with a wellness based start-up and a herbal dispensary. She holds a deep interest in sustainable food systems and has studied regenerative agriculture abroad. She currently contributes to an organic herb farm on Vancouver Island, BC.
Since 2017, Liza has been committed to furthering her education in holistic health by pursuing a Diploma of Phytotherapy at Pacific Rim College. She is excited to be augmenting her nutritional and agricultural background with the study of Western Herbal Medicine.
