Historically, a curandera(o) may be either born into a family with a tradition of curanderismo, receive the gift of healing later in life, and/or participate in a long-term apprenticeship with an experienced curandera. 

While Grace's background includes an aunt who was a curandera and an uncle who was a huesero (bonesetter) in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. Her formal training in Curanderismo and the Toltec arts began in 1998 with respected Nagual, Tezkalci Matorral Kachora of Tecate, Baja California (Yaqui/Maya).

Unofficial curanderas and curanderos are often found in Mexican American neighborhoods of the United States as well as throughout Central and South America. They are usually an older woman or man who has some knowledge of herbs and folk remedies, and who may also have other gifts and abilities such as clairvoyance which they use as part of their practice. Often they are long-time residents of their barrio or neighborhood and are known by word of mouth for their particular healing specialty. 

Curanderas who have advanced training are often asked for help in the removal of negative spirits or the spirits of deceased persons which may be affecting the family's health by attaching themselves to a family member or the home -- this is a more advanced form of limpia (ritual purification). 

In such cases, the curandera will conduct special ceremonies to purify and bless both the client and the client's home. These rituals are especially important if the family has experienced a death, unexplained illnesses, drug or alcohol addiction, or chronic job losses. In most cases, members of the entire family will be included in the ceremony.

Curanderismo can address a wide array of situations, including:

• Treating persons suffering from cancer by helping to decrease the debilitating side-effects of chemotherapy.
  
• Addressing the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of facing potentially life-threatening illness (by patient and family).
• Chronic long-term stress of anxiety and depression.
• For some women who have experienced the termination of a pregnancy, it is often noted that there is an energetic connection to the spirit of the fetus/baby that must be dissolved in order to restore balance to her physical/spiritual/emotional well-being. This also allows the spirit to return to its spiritual home. 
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder such as that experienced by returning veterans.

It is important to note that curanderos never impose their will on another. The goal of the curandera unlike a bruja (practitioners of coercive magical techniques such as trabajos more commonly referred to as witchcraft or sorcery) is to heal and protect those who seek their help. Deep compassion, generosity, dedication to life-long learning, and commitment to their community and all people, is the hallmark of the true curandero/a. 

There are various specialities within the curanderismo system of healing:

• Yerberas: specialists of herbal remedies who use herbs, roots, and teas brewed from plant leaves to treat disorders such as diabetes, heart problems, and ulcers. They may also use herbs for purification bathing ceremonies. (Herbs may be used by other types of curanderas as well).
• Sobadoras/Hueseros: massage therapists who use massage and acupressure or shiatsu-like techniques to treat blockages in the stomach (known as empacho) or digestive tract, constipation, and indigestion. Massage is also used to relax the body and the muscles, and to soothe patients who are frightened or in pain. Hueseros help set bones and at times may do spinal alignment.
• Parteras: midwives who attend births and provide prenatal, postpartum, and well-woman care.
• Consejeras or Señoras: provide counseling for problems ranging from grief to shyness to bereavement, and utilize platicas (heart-to-heart talks) to relieve sadness, anxiety, and emotional pain. They often use divination tools such as card readings, mediumship or special tools specific to their tradition.
• Curandera total: considered the most well-rounded, and in some cases, the most “shamanic” of healers, they are gifted in utilizing herbs, platicas, massage, and spiritual techniques. Most often these curanderos or curanderas are the ones that persons consult in serious cases of susto (fright), salaciones (chronic, long-term bad fortune), trabajos (when the situation is suspected to be of supernatural origin) -- or when seeking help for problems that have not been able to be resolved through mainstream means or western medicine.