RHT
Gina Badger
(they/she) is a clinical energetic herbalist
and the founder of Long
Spell, a multi-modality virtual wellness clinic. They are a queer nonbinary femme of mixed western
european ancestry born on Cree territory and currently living on the unceded
territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. Gina's lifework is contributing to a collective
vision of holistic health care that’s equally heartfelt and irreverent,
down-to-earth and visionary, gentle and rigorous.
Gina launched Long Spell in 2018,
and she has
been growing and making their own
medicine, offering workshops, and serving as a community herbalist for more than
ten years. As a Registered Herbal Therapist (RHT, BCHA), Gina has
completed 2,500+ hours of training in herbal medicine, botany, and first aid.
Before pursuing herbalism as a career, they
worked as a visual artist and editor for over a decade, having earned an MSc in
Visual Studies from MIT (2010) and a BFA in Studio Art and Art History from
Concordia University (2008).
Karyn Sanders and Sarah Holmes of the Blue Otter School of Herbal Medicine and
Colleen Emery are Gina's primary herb
teachers, and she continues to benefit from their mentorship. Thanks to their
teachings, Gina's practice is
informed by both Indigenous energetic principles (via Karyn’s Choctaw lineage)
and the western herbal tradition. As a white settler practicing earth-based
medicine on occupied Indigenous lands, Gina is
committed to a lifelong process of transparency and reciprocity with respect to
the knowledge they have been entrusted
with.