She and her sister were brought up in California, with spirituality and natural healing in their background. Their mother had a Catholic background and follows no set religion, and their stepfather was native American.
"He did healing so we sort of did both really," Bernard said.
She came to New Zealand 15 years ago, with her Kiwi husband Brian Bernard. Her sister came to visit, liked Wanganui and decided to settle there.
Bernard has 20 years' experience dealing with sports injuries. She used to have At Ease Massage & Natural Therapy, in the city's Victoria Court, but had to give that up during her full-time distance study at the Naturopathic College of New Zealand in New Plymouth.
She got her naturopathy diploma in April and opened the Natural Healing Centre upstairs above The Cake Connection on Putiki Drive in May.
She said naturopathic medicine involved nutrition advice, herbal medicine, homeopathy and massage among other modalities. One of her priorities with new patients was to find out which one suited them.
Her sister has been doing reiki for 10 years, and also teaches it. Reiki channels life force energy through her own body and into the person she is treating, Mrs Bernard says.
Bowen Therapy is provided by Glennie. The therapy works through gentle movement on soft tissue to release knots and tension.
