The Meaning of The Mantle
The mantle represents covering, responsibility, and care.
At The Healing Mantle, it represents our commitment to care for women with intention, compassion, and wisdom.
It is a covering through every season of womanhood. A place where faith, evidence-based care, and whole-person wellness come together to help women better understand their bodies and move forward with confidence.
To be seen. To be heard. To be cared for fully.
Our Mission
To provide faith-centered, compassionate, whole-person women’s healthcare that looks beyond symptoms, seeks deeper understanding, and supports women in restoring health through personalized, evidence-based care.
Our Philosophy of Care
We believe a woman’s health should never be viewed in pieces.
Hormones, metabolism, fertility, cardiovascular health, nutrition, lifestyle, and emotional well-being can influence one another.
That is why our care looks beyond isolated symptoms. We listen, investigate, connect the pieces, and work to understand what may be contributing to what you are experiencing.
No two women are the same, their care should not be either.
Core Values
FAITH
Grounded in purpose.
COMPASSION
Care that listens.
WHOLENESS
Seeing the complete woman.
EXCELLENCE
Thoughtful, evidence-based care.
PURPOSE
Care with intention.
My Story
Retha J. Howard, MSN, APRN, WHNP-BC
Founder, The Healing Mantle
Board-Certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner
Rooted in Faith. Guided by evidence. Created for women.
I’m Retha. Before anything else, I’m a mother, and that part of me has shaped how I approach women’s health more deeply.
I’ve spent over a decade in nursing, working my way through different areas of healthcare, from the ground up into high-acuity settings where decisions are made quickly and the body is often in crisis.
That experience taught me how to recognize urgency. But it also showed me something just as important: not every woman presents in crisis, but that doesn’t mean she’s well.
Over time, I began to notice the women who simply felt off. They knew something had changed, yet they often lacked the space to fully explore why. Concerns were minimized. Symptoms were managed, but not always deeply understood.
The Shift
Things became personal for me after having my third child.
My body changed in ways I didn’t expect. I felt different, physically and emotionally, and I knew something wasn’t right. I looked for answers, but instead, I was reassured that everything was fine.
I knew what it felt like to recognize that something had changed in my own body and still leave without answers.
So I started paying closer attention, not only as a nurse, but as a woman.
I began connecting what I had experienced personally with what I had seen in women throughout my years in healthcare.
Hormones. Metabolism. Weight. Cycles. Energy. Mood. Cardiovascular health.
These things weren’t separate. They were pieces of a much bigger story.
That was realization changed the way I saw women’s health and ultimately, the kind of care I wanted to provide.
Why I Do This Work
I created The Healing Mantle because I believe women deserve more than care that simply manages what is happening in the moment.
They deserve the time and space to understand their bodies, ask deeper questions, and receive care that considers the whole picture.
I wanted to create a place where women feel heard, where their concerns are explored with intention, and where we look beyond individual symptoms to understand what their bodies may be communicating.
I have experienced women’s healthcare from both sides, as a nurse and provider caring for women, and as a woman searching for answers of my own.
The Healing Mantle was created to be the kind of care I believe women deserve.
A Personal Note
The Healing Mantle is deeply personal to me.
Caring for women requires more than knowledge. It requires presence, discernment, compassion, and a willingness to truly listen.
My hope is that when you enter this space, you feel that difference. That you feel seen beyond your symptoms, supported in understanding your body, and cared for as the whole woman you are.
Wherever you are in your journey, you deserve care that meets you there with intention.
With care,
Retha