Below you'll find a brief overview of each course in the Clinical Herbalist Path Package to familiarize you with what you will learn from them. If you find you have particular questions, please feel free to email us!
The Introductory Herbal Course starts with an overview of the herbal approach and introduces herbal traditions including European Herbalism (the Greek humoral system), Ayurveda, and Chinese medicine. It discusses choosing and storing herbs, selecting equipment for making herbal preparations, making an herbarium, developing a materia medica, and gardening and wildcrafting. There are lessons on making herbal teas/infusions/decoctions and tinctures, syrups, and topical applications, such as infused oils, salves and balms, and poultices, and instructions on internal and external applications of these preparations. The course introduces herbal actions and includes special discussions on trees, mushrooms, and seaweeds used as herbs.
We touch on many of the body’s organ systems, reviewing anatomy and exploring herbal support for maintaining balance in those systems; you’ll also find discussions of herbal support for common complaints such as colds and the flu, bronchitis, allergies, premenstrual syndrome, and prostatitis. There are discussions on herbs for children and we have an inspiring unit on kitchen spices and preparations that can be used to support body system balance as well as ease common complaints.
We devote an entire unit to the nervous system—anatomy and physiology, herbal support for stress reduction and headaches, and herbs and lifestyle habits to support healthy sleep. There’s also a unit on body care, the skin, and healthy aging. We finish up the course with a unit on the holistic approach—what it is and how it differs from the conventional medical approach. There are lots of recipes, herbal monographs, videos, beautiful graphics, and other fun downloads throughout the course.
You can preview a sample lesson from the Introductory Herbal Course here and a course outline here.
The Intermediate Herbal Course reviews basic concepts in the first unit and then dives in deeper, working through each body system and the herbs (their actions, energetics, indications, and contraindications), diet, and lifestyle practices that can support wellness and balance disharmony and disease in each of these systems.
We devote one unit to food as foundation—using foods (and phytochemicals) to support wellness and ease common complaints like digestive distress and infection, and include many recipes for infused vinegars, oils, honeys, syrups, cordials, and elixirs, so you can gain experience making a variety of useful herbal products. We discuss wild edibles, plant identification, and wildcrafting and provide guidance on creating a materia medica. There is plenty of inspiration for you to incorporate some of your local foods and herbs into your studies.
The bulk of the course walks through each body system one by one, devoting a unit to each system, including digestive, immune, nervous, cardiovascular, liver, respiratory, and urinary systems, and discusses anatomy, physiology, balance, imbalance, herbal support, appropriate materia medica, and guidance on herbal formulation. We end with a unit on herbs for children and common childhood complaints, as well as a bit on the legal issues related to herbalism.
You can view an outline for the Intermediate Herbal Course here.
The Advanced Herbal Course is geared towards those with a solid foundation in herbalism who are interested in becoming a professional/clinical herbalist. It provides the knowledge and encourages the critical thinking skills needed to turn to the daily and/or therapeutic use of plants to support wellness and correct imbalance. The course dives deep into the body systems not previously covered in the Intermediate Herbal course, exploring the anatomy, physiology, common complaints, etiology of imbalances, and herbal therapeutic approaches appropriate for the blood, lymph, and mucous membranes, the endocrine system, and the musculoskeletal system. Turning from a system-specific approach, the systems covered in the Intermediate Course are again explored in the Advanced Course but not in the same way - instead, through the lens of Female, Male, and Elderly Wellness. The male, female, and elderly wellness units take a thorough look at general wellness approaches and support for common imbalances of gender-specific body systems as well as the unique physical and emotional changes experienced by pubescent youth. Case studies are used to illustrate imbalance experienced by real people and the clinical assessment and herbal protocols used to correct that imbalance.
You can preview a sample lesson from the Advanced Course here and a course outline here.
The Clinical Skills Herbal Course is a 3-unit addition to advanced herbal knowledge developed to support the transition from advanced-level student to clinical herbalist. This course shares approaches and resources for continuing education and hands-on clinical training. It provides an exploration into the art of consultation through training in intake techniques, observation and assessment, therapeutic formulation, and client communication. You will gain an overview of legal matters pertaining to herbalism and a foundational understanding on how to manage and market your clinical practice. There are both written and video lessons, providing you resources to help you gain the skills you need as you work toward becoming a practicing clinical herbalist.
If you are interested in gaining qualifications to work towards clinical practice, we have bundled these three courses into the Clinical Herbalist Package at a discounted rate. Alternatively, you can register for each course 'a la carte' so to speak, one at a time.
Your enrollment comes with Lifetime Access to the course so you can enjoy your herbal studies at a pace that is most convenient to your schedule! We suggest students complete the Introductory Course in 1 year (most people take 4-6 months to finish), the Intermediate in 2 years (most people take 6-8 months to finish), and the Advanced Course in 3 years. Each course unit also comes with a downloadable PDF for offline study.
Keep in mind that we very strongly recommend additional hands-on training with an experienced herbalist/mentor after completion of the Clinical Path in order to gain the hands-on experience needed to work with clients. This could be an apprenticeship where you are observing your mentor's process in consultation and then ultimately practicing it yourself and then getting feedback from your mentor. We give suggestions for receiving this type of training in one of the lessons in the Advanced Course.