Hello, I’m Emily
I’m a witch and spirit worker, and a community herbalist who learns most of what she knows from the plants themselves. I live and tend Land in Mni Sota Makoce, the Dakota homeland, and my work happens outside: in parks, nature preserves, out in the forest or online if you’re farther away.
I call in guides and helping spirits. I work with the drum, with plant allies, with flower essences, and with the slow practice of forest bathing. Nature is the one who leads. The more-than-human world is a co-healer in every session, and I mostly try to listen well and stay out of the way.
I also write on Substack (and cross posting here) I follow what Nature is teaching me through the seasons: ancestral memory, language loss, climate grief, and what it might mean to belong to a place again. Some of that becomes classes and workshops, and some becomes herbal preparations and sacred tools in my Etsy shop.
Many of us carry a bone-deep rupture from the living world and from our own ancestral roots. It’s a wound handed down through displacement, extraction, and forgetting. Part of my work is making room to reckon with that honestly, especially for those of us with settler and colonizing white ancestry, to grieve what was lost, and to start the slow work of reweaving relationship with the Land, the plants, and the ancestors who knew how to belong somewhere. This is our birthright- should we choose to heal the ruptures and do the work.
I spent 15 years as a mental health therapist, and that training still shapes how I hold space. But the heart of my work now is tending: Land, plants, spirit, and each other. Healing ourselves is inseparable from healing the planet we belong to.
Sessions available in person and virtually. Reach out to learn more.
-Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor #01946
-Registered Art Therapist #14-198
-Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Certified
-HeartMath Certified
-Master’s of Herbalism- Green Wisdom School of Herbal and Botanical Medicine
-Board Approved Clinical Supervisor
-Climate Aware Therapist
-Seabhean Apprentice
Braving Uncertainty- A coloring book
Check out my coloring book! This coloring book features aspects of creativity and Exposure Therapy-a unique type of therapy that aims to help folks manage and understand their distress or discomfort. Each coloring sheet depicts a variation of fear in the artwork and is accompanied by a description of symptoms experienced. There are many variations of OCD and Anxiety—this coloring book only scratches the surface!—so if you do not experience OCD or a related Anxiety Disorder, I hope you become curious about Exposure Therapy and learn more about these disorders. If you do experience OCD or Anxiety, I hope this book causes you some discomfort in true exposure form!
Land Acknowledgement
Still Wild Healing does not have one location. Sessions are held at various parks around the Twin Cities. But I live and tend land located on the ancestral lands of the Dakota people. Humbly, I offer respect and honor to the Dakota people, the Plants, and the Land themselves. All foraging and gardening are done respectfully and with immense gratitude. Pilamayaye.
I am still learning and working through being a “land owner” on Indigenous stolen Land. Here is a brief, historical, snapshot of the vibrant living history of Kaposia Village:
The primary Indigenous group that lived in the area of what is now South St. Paul-Kaposia Village was the Mdewakanton Dakota, specifically the Kaposia band.
Kaposia, also known as "Little Crow's village," was a significant seasonal village for the Mdewakanton Dakota. It was established around 1750 and led by a succession of chiefs all known as Little Crow.
While the location of Kaposia Village shifted over time due to factors like flooding and treaties, it was consistently situated along the Mississippi River, moving from the east bank in what is now St. Paul to the west bank in present-day South St. Paul after the Treaty of 1837. The Dakota people were eventually forced to move to reservations on the Minnesota River following the Treaty of Mendota in 1851.
Today, the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community continues to live in the region and celebrates its connection to the historic Kaposia Village and its leaders.
Do you have additional information about Kaposia Village? I would love to hear more. Please email me at emily@emilyrisinger.com to share your own stories or research.
National Park Service. (n.d.). Kaposia Indian Site. Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Retrieved July 24, 2025, from [https://www.nps.gov/miss/planyourvisit/kapoindi.htm](https://www.nps.gov/miss/planyourvisit/kapoindi.htm)
Saint Paul Historical. (n.d.). Chief Little Crow's Village (Kaposia). Retrieved July 24, 2025, fromhttps://saintpaulhistorical.com/items/show/115
Plains Art Museum. (n.d.). Kaposia. Retrieved July 24, 2025, fromhttps://plainshistory.org/tours/show/6
~What Clients Are Saying~
“Flower Essence Session Review 🌿 Emily led me through my first flower essence nature experience, where I had the freedom to choose a stunning ravine as our location, complete with water features, vibrant flowers, trees, and lush grass. During our session, I shared with her my thoughts and questions about the natural elements, guided by my intuition. Throughout the clarity and grounding, appreciating Emily ’ s attentive presence as she held a sacred space for me to explore my senses, thoughts, feelings, and visualizations while working with the flower essences. Feeling accepted and secure to delve into my sensory journey was important to me. Emily even selected fresh flowers for teaching purposes (one of which resonated called to me!), guided me through interpreting what the flower essences meant to me in a self-directed exercise, assisted me in creating personalized flower essence misting sprays tailored to my needs, and concluded our session with expressions of gratitude. Now, I spritz myself with these unique concoctions, sans scent but packed with soul-soothing powers - I noticeably can feel a spiritual adjustment/cleanse after using them. I LOVED my experience and highly recommend enjoying a guided session with Emily, she has so many gifts to share and I look forward to working with her again!” -Katherine
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“Emily has been an informative and empowering therapist to work with. I appreciate that our sessions feel focused on actionable shifts in perspectives and behaviors that I can apply to every day life. Highly recommend!” -Siri
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“Working with Emily was transformative. She provided a safe space to engage in a process that was cathartic and enlightening. I was able to express myself in a variety of mediums using color shape and texture revealing insights I had in consciously recognized. Overtime I developed new coping strategies and a deeper self- understanding. For anyone seeking a unique approach to personal growth I highly recommend Art Therapy with Emily! ” -Carol
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“Emily is a breath of fresh air. She helped me when I was at a super low point in my life and with my struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder. During sessions, she guided me through steps to alleviate the anxiety and panic. She gave sound advice and therapy progressed each week. She always went with the pace that I felt comfortable with and needed. Emily truly is great at her craft and is an expert when it comes to anxiety and OCD. I am forever grateful for her! ” -Amanda
Contact
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