Katherine Bellchambers MNIMH Medical Herbalist

I'm Katherine Bellchambers, The Nottingham Herbalist and my mission is to help women and people assigned female at birth feel well and enjoy life by sorting out their hormonal problems from at all stages of life.

BALANCING LIFE HOLISTICALLY

My business was awarded an equivalent of an Oscar in late 2015 – we are back at the top of our game, which is where we were before I allowed my personality and business to be affected by my health issues – physical and mental. The support that Katherine gave me meant that I was able to refocus and regroup and expand my team and grow even further.

Linda, Nottingham

I have been a lifelong insomniac, in part because I struggle with anxiety and my worries become a lot more intense at night. Over the last six months, my insomnia reached unbearable levels—I was barely seeing daylight, constantly tired, and even more anxious than usual. Since the last thing I wanted was to take heavy medication that would leave me even more groggy during the day, I saw Katherine for help. She genuinely listened and didn’t make me feel foolish or like I was making a fuss over nothing..

Carole, Nottingham

I had been suffering with an arthritic knee for 3 years, was in constant pain and using a stick - which made me feel ancient and useless! Having been offered injections of steroids I decided this was not the route I wanted to take. Katherine was recommended to me by several friends so I got in touch.

Katherine undertook an in-depth interview with me which lasted 1.5 hours, to provide her with a really deep view of my health. Her remedy started having an affect by a week, within a month my knee had improved enormously and my walking stick was put back in the cupboard! After 3 months, I felt no pain, no stiffness and to all intents and purposes - I’m arthritis free! If it does ever come back - it will be Katherine rather than my GP to whom I make the first call.

I feel utterly transformed. I can now go for walks with friends and family with complete confidence that I will be able to join in without constant rests or pain. I’m a keen gardener, so being able to bend without stiffness is really precious.

Katherine’s knowledge, expertise and experience is second to none. I’m about to receive treatment for another condition and I feel fully confident that my goal of improvement to my health will be achieved with her help.

Penney Poyzer-Schalom

West Bridgford

Nottingham

Hi I'm Katherine

I grew up with plants (thats me in the blanket). My mother (with the cool 60s spectacles) and father are amazing gardeners and taught me all about wild flowers and what they were for. Growing is in the family. My great grandfather was an amazing horticulturalist and my great uncle and his wife were market gardeners and my brother went on to be one of the youngest RHS qualified landscape gardeners. I spent my childhood outside and credit my parents with my love of plants and growing.

My first hard backed grown up book was the observer book of wild flowers which i got for my 5th birthday*. I still have it and it has pride of place on my book shelf. It is a little battered as my 5 year old self was more enthusiastic than careful.

Since then my love of wild plants, (and books about them) weeds or, as I prefer to see them, herbs has grown and flourished and now I use that knowlege to help people improve their health and free themselves from the exhausting problems of ill health.

*I also received a tin of quality street, a toy ironing board and a toy iron. I can't say the love of ironing stuck...

Why I'm passionate about herbal medicine

I have two grown up children of my own. When they were born i wanted a more natural approach so i started to learn about essential oils, nutrition and herbs. I used raspberry leaf in my pregnancy and had two uncomplicated births that lasted 4 hours in the first instance and 2.5 hours in the second. I felt the daily ritual of picking those leaves and brewing them up nourished more than just my uterine muscles. It was a deeper connection with nature and my pregnancy. I love sharing that connection with my patients.

Best of Both

Over the years I used herbs to deal with colds, flu, chest infections and all manner of familiy issues. However I have the greatest respect for modern medicine. When you need a doctor you need a doctor and I'm not shy about saying so-Its an important part of being a safe effective practitioner. However looking after yourself naturally can mean many fewer trips to the GP and minimise the impact of medicines they might need to prescribe you when you do.

Herbs can also improve the outcomes if you need to take antibiotics or heart medication for instance. They may also mean you don't need to take medicines for as long!

Training

I trained at first the College of Phytotherapy in Battle near Hastings then at the University of East London. This blog is all about what my training involved.

In short, I'm a scientist, I got an ology. Anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, immunology, pharmacology, pathophysiology, embryology, therapeutic relationship, phyto pharmacology, materia medica (all about the herbs) clinical medicine, clinical diagnosis and over 500 hours of clinical experience with patients. I then sat (well shaked through) a final clinical examination where a GP and two of the most experienced herbalists in the country watched me take a new patient and prescribe for them to ensure i was safe and effective. So you can be sure I know my plants and my people inside out!

Being a Herbalist

Being a herbalist is the most wonderful job in the world. It helps you get better, feel better and to have the healthy families they so want and deserve. and enables me to share my love of the natural world with you along the way.

The fruits of the earth combine synergistically to help on physical and emotional levels. This enables me to treat you as a whole, not just a collection of symptoms and organs. I have the privilege of getting to know the most interesting people and to share their journey.

I'd love to meet you and help you on yours!

Do you suffer with:

Difficulty getting pregnant

Period pain

PMS and related problems like pain, moods up and down congestion and heavy bleeding

Menopausal symptoms

Stress

Fatigue

Thyroid problems

PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome)

Endometriosis

Our Hormones

Most people don't know why they feel the way they do but in my experience often the problem is hormone imbalance.

Hormones are the body’s messengers in perfect harmony they create a sense of wellbeing and we easily become pregnant. If even one is out of balance it throws the whole delicate system into disarray. Finding the root cause of your hormonal problem is the key to optimum health and a sense of joy in just being.

Hormones affect whether you are happy or sad, energetic or lethargic, ovulating or not ovulating, in pain or not in pain.

Holistic Approach

The process starts with a full medical history which gives us a baseline from where I can unpick the knitting of the problem. My patients develop a confidence in my abilities because of the time we spend together and that allows them to relax and engage with the process.

Together we look at your lifestyle, your diet, the challenges you are dealing with and how those affect your health and wellbeing.

We will agree a treatment program and a plan that is acheiveable and i will prescribe herbs that many women have found helpful in the management of their baseline health issues and in promoting fertility health. The health programs at Nottingham Herbalist are designed individually to fit the needs of each client.

No two people are the same so it makes sense that no two approaches are the same.