AromaGnosis Online Classes

Hydrosol Making
(SALE $49)

Alchemy of Menopause
(SALE $79)

Intuitive Plant Communication
(SALE $79)

Get Your FREE Shadow Work Checklist

Our Shadow can destroy us or it can become our ally on the path. Sign up for our newsletter to get your FREE “Shadow Work Checklist” and 3 Videos on Shadow Work.

When you sign up for newsletter, we share our aromatic adventures and keep you up to date on live classes and other opportunities. We never sell your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

You are intrigued by shadow work but don’t know where to start. You used to be frightened of looking at your shadow but now you sense it may hold the answers you are looking for. Subscribe to Aromagnosis to get your FREE “Shadow Work Checklist” and 3 Shadow Work Videos.

The Teaching Team

Passionate, authentic and knowledgeable

Cathy Skipper

I work with aroma to facilitate healing the whole person and have learnt that developing intimacy with our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual selves and learning to be guided by how these parts of us feel is the way to fulfilling our soul’s purpose.

My passion for working with aromatics for deep, soul healing enabled me to overcome cancer and develop a powerful and transformative modality of coaching and healing with my husband Dr. Florian Birkmayer. We facilitate workshops and give consultations both in our home in New Mexico, internationally and online, using aromatics, depth psychology, journeying and much more to help people peel away the layers that are keeping them from living their best lives.

I believe aromatics are a key to accessing our unconscious selves. I am committed to helping others discover the power of aromas for healing mind and emotions and building relationship with those parts of themselves that lie beneath the surface.

Are you ready to take the plunge and discover what is holding you back or are you ready to learn the framework of this powerful modality?

Cathy is the author of the books “Aromatic Medicine” and “The Alchemy of Menopause workbook”.

Florian Birkmayer, MD

My calling is to help people find their soul’s purpose in collaboration with my wife Cathy Skipper. I have found aromatics in the form of essential oils to be powerful allies to heal the relationship between the different parts of ourselves, so that these parts cooperate instead of clashing.  We have developed a unique, unparalleled approach, working in partnership with aromas – the expressions of the plants’ souls.

Through my commitment to my own Wounded Healer’s journey, I share with our clients and students my deep understanding of what it is to be human and find your own personal myth or soul’s purpose.

After a career in mainstream academic psychiatry and addiction treatment, I became frustrated by the overemphasis on pharmaceuticals to cover up symptoms and decided to use my knowledge and experience to help people recover from pharmaceutical medications.

I received my bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at Princeton University, where I learned to question assumptions and discover the hidden gifts of the unseen side of life, the shadow. I received my medical doctorate from Columbia University, which taught me how to think critically about ‘business-as-usual’ medicine and inspired me to become an addiction psychiatrist, since I felt that all physical disease has its origins in imbalances in the psyche, especially trauma, an idea which had been shunned by most of medicine.

We can help you transform life’s challenges, such as traumas, into stepping stones on the path of your personal myth. When you work with us, you learn enduring methods to help live your soul’s purpose.

Selected Publications

Birkmayer F., Skipper C., “The Role of Aromatherapy in the Treatment of Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Disorders”, chapter in Modir S. & Munuz G. (eds.) Integrative Addiction and Recovery, Weil Integrative Medicine Library, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780190275334 (2018).

“I really appreciate the depth of your knowledge on the subjects of alchemy and aromatherapy, and the many years of experience you each brought to the course. The concepts of alchemy have always been somewhat elusive for me, and I’m so thrilled to gain some understanding of them with the support of aromatherapy.”
-Billie K
“I would describe this class [Aromatherapy & Medicine of the Soul] as an exploration of the anatomy of the psyche using botanical aromatics to guide and express one’s inner knowing.”
-Mary Beth