10/13/2026
October 12, 2026
An open letter to Abrah Arneson,
We write this letter to you so that our voices may be heard and our concerns expressed. We are some of your former students. We are the ones who looked up to you, admired you and were so excited to learn from you. We are the ones who hoped you would be a mentor to us.
We are also the ones who feel harmed by you. We are the ones who witnessed others being treated in ways that, in our opinion, were deeply harmful. We are the ones who tried to understand what we could have done so wrong to deserve your treatment of us. We are the ones who repeatedly tried to resolve conflict with you. We are the ones who were met with denial, defensiveness and accusations.
Some of us felt so bullied and humiliated by you that we believed our only choice to protect our psychological safety was to leave your program and walk away from our clinical training, with little to no access or resources to continue our herbal studies elsewhere.
Some of us witnessed our fellow students being treated in similar ways. Some of us tried to privately raise our concerns with you as respectfully as possible, hoping that you would be open to self-reflection and taking responsibility for your actions, only to find ourselves a target and subject to retaliatory threats. Some of us raised our concerns with other members of the herbal community through both formal and informal channels. Some of us decided to share our concerns publicly.
Some of our concerns were acknowledged and taken seriously by others. Some of us were criticised by a senior herbalist for publicly disparaging our teacher and trash-talking a colleague and were told that our behaviour was ‘disappointing and despicable’. Some of us were criticised for trying to destroy your livelihood. Some of us were told that legal action against us for speaking out should be considered.
Some of us, out of fear of retaliation, not being believed, or being dismissed, did not feel safe going to you or anyone else with our concerns at all. Some of us simply stopped studying with you and quietly distanced ourselves from you. Because of our concerns over your treatment of others, we no longer felt comfortable learning from you or being closely associated with you.
Some of us kept our heads down and carried on, hoping we could stay under your radar, in order to complete your program that we had invested so much time and money in, in order to continue our herbal calling. Some of us distanced ourselves from you once we were no longer in your program in order to stay in alignment with our moral values. Some of us did not write a testimonial for you when you asked us for one.
Some of us are grieving the loss of a person we admired and looked up to. Some of us are grieving the loss of access to the wider herbal community because we no longer feel safe or supported in these spaces.
Some of us feel that if there is ever any possibility of repair it would be important for you to acknowledge the impact of your actions, apologise to those who have been harmed and demonstrate an ongoing commitment to being accountable going forward. Some of us don’t think repair is possible at this point. Some of us sincerely hope that you have access to a supportive network for healing.
All of us are now part of a group that we didn’t ask to be a part of and didn’t deserve to be put in. And we do not want this group to grow any larger, which is why we feel we need to write this open letter.
As long as you do not acknowledge and show that you understand the impact you have had on others and engage in authentic repair, we are deeply concerned that your current and future students are vulnerable to experiencing the same type of behaviour that left us feeling harmed. All of us believe that no one else should ever have to feel that way from their teacher and mentor. And that is why we are the ones who have signed below.
Amber Westfall, RH
Ashley
Erin Whittingham
Kayla Lewry
Nikki Horton
Tanya
