About Ashlie Hempstead
I am an eclectic generalist practicing the healing arts in a world of specialization. My offering is an interdisciplinary approach to preventative medicine, meaning-making and the Earth-body relationship.
I am a mother, a healer, a death doula. A lover of soil and rivers. A guardian of liminal spaces. A myth keeper. A grief and heart tender. A rhythm dancer, a pulse listener. A seeker, a reader, a traveler and humble companion. A crone in training. I am made of sea and stone. I live at the edge of the forest, a bridge between grief and joy, heart and skill, and it’s from this place that I weave my offerings.
I am trained in traditional naturopathic and Chinese medical healing arts, and hold certificates in ecopsychology, interpersonal neurobiology, end-of-life support and psychedelic-assisted therapy. I am grief-literate and trauma-literate and position myself inside of interpersonal ecotherapy and slow medicine principles as an adjunctive healer. I have spent the majority of my practice understanding the neurobiology of trauma, and through narrative storytelling how we come home to ourselves. I work with folks 12 and older, but specialize in adults who are in middle to later life with a focus on life-transitions, climate grief and anxiety, death anxiety, healing the mother wound, healing exile. I work with those who stand at the margins of death —caregivers and the bereaved — sensitives and healers, tenders, teachers and artists, and anyone called to this work.
Pedagogy
Your stressed system, or most vulnerable system, is also highly attuned and for that, the most intelligent.
I am here to tend to your heart and body though the arc of your healing process.
I use the body as guide and Earth as my root.
I practice nervous system restoration through nourishing relationships with the natural world, using principles of fortification and drainage to help dysregulated bodies find resonance and grounding. I trust in the intelligence of the Earth, and in the spine as a deeply attuned intermediary between our internal and external environments. By regulating the nervous system and supporting neuroplasticity we achieve deeper, more meaningful levels of healing and self-knowing.
I specialize in supporting people seeking relief from:
Chronic pain:: migraines and headaches, muscle tension and tightness, fibromyalgia, hypermobility, chronic inflammation, pain in the emotional or spiritual body, grief and loss.
Hormonal system imbalance:: hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, PMS, PCOS, menopause.
Gastrointestinal disorders:: constipation, diarrhea, reflux, abdominal pain, bloating, poor digestion.
Nervous system imbalance:: anxiety, depression, panic attacks, PTSD, developmental and complex trauma, insomnia, geopathic stress, psychedelic-medicine integration
Chronic fatigue, ADD, lack of motivation, overwhelm.
((Trainings))
Northwest Narrative Medicine Collaborative - facilitator training
Dougy Center — grief and bereavement training
Peaceful Presence Project — end-of-life doula training
Integrative Psychiatry Institute — psychedelic-assisted therapy training in psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA
Portland Community College — Interpersonal Neurobiology certificate
Austin Attachment Counseling Center — Transforming the Experience-Based Brain, certificate in developmental trauma support
Education for Racial Equity — anti-racism for white community members
Pacifica Graduate Institute — certificate in Ecopsychology
Anne Hill, Carol Gray, Moving Mountain Institute — craniosacral therapy training
National University of Natural Medicine — Doctorate in Naturopathy, Master of Science in Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist
Virginia Commonwealth University — Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies, Psychology
((DEI))
All people and all bodies are welcome here.
I defend against discrimination based on gender identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, cultural background, sexual orientation, ability or socio-economic circumstance.
I am committed to decolonizing healing spaces and deconstructing the systemic, hierarchical belief that the doctor is expert of your body, or that your healing should look a certain way.