Hi there, I’m Kaci B. Warren.
I’m a 22-year-old licensed massage therapist, student herbalist, & wife.
My family moved to Western Kentucky in the summer of 2016 after my dad retired from the Marine Corps, and Murray is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a hometown. After getting married in 2023, my husband Jack and I settled in Bowling Green, and we love being able to call this city our new home.
Above all else, my goal is to give back to the region that has allowed me to put down “roots” for the first time as I help facilitate the healing and wellness of those battling chronic pain and illnesses, such as myself.
My Story
It took me a while to get here.
When I graduated high school in 2019, I dreamed of becoming a women’s health provider and eventually decided to pursue a career as a physician assistant. Being a “gifted student” all my life, I thought it’d be a breeze. Around the same time, I took a job as a CNA at a skilled nursing & rehab facility— COVID-19 hit the facility less than a year later.
Two years after I started, I dropped out of my bachleor’s program with a 1.7 GPA, less-than-ideal mental heath, and no idea of where I wanted to go.
I took a semester off to focus on my health and future while continuing to work full time. By fall of what was supposed to be my junior year, I’d enrolled at Palpation Prep School of Massage, excited but wary of the new adventure waiting for me.
I graduated in October of 2022, feeling more excited and hopeful for my future than ever before.
My Approach
My passion for sustainable wellness evolved out of a diagnosis of my own.
At 16 years old, after years of battling seemingly mysterious symptoms, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). It was such a relief to finally have answers and to be offered a “catch-all” solution: hormonal birth control.
Over the next several years, I lived relatively comfortably with my symptoms at bay. However, my mental health was slowly deteriorating. Fits of severe anxiety kept me in a constant state of nausea and bouts of debilitating depression affected my social life, work ethic, and academic performance. I thought I was crazy. When I was 20 years old, I finally put the pieces together and quit “the pill” without telling my doctor. Within months, my PCOS symptoms began to return but the storm inside my mind calmed. There was no going back.
Today, I value holistic health care, where symptoms are investigated as part of a whole-body issue instead of bandaged with the default pharmaceuticals. I have no qualms with general modern medicine- in fact, I still rely on it. Although I no longer jump to the medicine cabinet when I have a headache or trust a so-called safe pill to balance my hormones, I will never encourage my clients to abandon current treatment regimens or forego the advice of their medical practitioners for the sake of holistic treatments. My first responsibility is, and always will be, client safety.
Values & Beliefs
I am Christian, but my practice is religiously ambiguous and evidence-based. It is a completely safe space for all people from every walk of life.
I believe that every individual is responsible for their health, and that it is healthcare providers’ resposibility to educate and enable their patients/clients to be good stewards of their own health.
I believe that plants were given to us for our use- to nourish and heal our bodies- and that doing so is our duty and right.
I believe in the efficacy of the effects of aromatherapy on the nervous system, and do diffuse them in my workspace, but I do not believe that essential oils will cure diseases or manage chronic illnesses.
I do not support (financially or otherwise) multi-level-marketing organizations such as YoungLiving, DoTerra, or Herbalife. I will not, and will never, use their products on my clients or use my workplace as a retail area to sell them.
My Next Adventures
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There are quite literally dozens of continuing education classes and workshops on my to-do list, but I’m most excited about:
Cupping Therapy
Reflexology
Herbal Poultice Massage
Hot/Cold Stone Massage
Herbal Detoxification
Manual Lymphatic Drainage
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Board certification through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork is commonly regarded as the highest possible credential in the massage therapy profession. According to the NCBTMB, “Choosing to become Board Certified demonstrates your advanced assessment and critical thinking abilities; and provides credibility to current and prospective clients and employers.”
To earn this board certification, I must take and pass BCETMB exam, a 140-question exam that covers assessment, anatomy & physiology, kinesiology, pathology & injury, pharmacology, modalities & techniques, communication & ethics, and more. Long story short: I may be done with school, but I’m definitely not done with my textbooks.
It is my goal to be board certified by the end of 2024.
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This is what I’m most excited about.
I’ve chosen to study under the direction of Commonwealth Holistic Herbalism, and online herbal medicine school based in Boston, MA. Over the course of the next several years, I’ll work my way through their Family, Community, and Clinical Herbalist programs until I have the required hours and documentation to apply for registration with the American Herbalists Guild.
My intended specialty is pain relief and endocrine management, focusing on the formulation and use of tinctures and teas.
Maybe one day I’ll even be using my own self-formulated massage oils and lotions in my practice!
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Not wanting to overstep as a woman who isn’t currently a mother myself, of course, this will probably be one of the last things I pursue. More details to come!