Advanced Clinical Herbal Skills

October 2023 - March 2024 (Online)

Are you a herbalist looking to build skills and confidence in your clinical practice? This program is designed for advanced herbalism students and clinical herbalists who are looking to enhance their clinical specific training. Join a community of peers and mentors for a collaborative learning experience! This program will weave throughout the curriculum and discussions a clinical approach that is client-centred, trans and gender affirming, and trauma-informed. The program is 18 weeks total and offers 60 hours of in person classes.

Testimonials

  • If you’re a new or practicing herbalist who is looking for a program to expand your practical and ethics-based skills, that will also give you hope in the future of herbalism, I can confidently say this program is it. Ember, Stascha, and Vilde each have unique teaching styles that foster confidence, communication, and experience-based knowledge that truly lends itself to acquiring skills in ways that are embodied rather then mechanical. I would not be the herbalist I am today without these three gifted teachers as my trusted mentors.
    J.F.
  • Ember, Stascha and Vilde offer an incredibly skillful, heartfelt and trauma-informed space where I was able to strengthen my herbal practice. They hold an encouraging and creative learning environment. The community created around this program has been absolutely amazing - offering continued support and feedback. I deeply appreciate the care around harm reduction, herb and drug interactions and the overall willingness to hold complexity. I would highly recommend this program and am very grateful I had the opportunity to take part.
    Linseed Toner-Calmusky
  • I have loved being a part of the Clinical Mentorship program! Receiving feedback from mentors and classmates on my intakes and protocols has really helped me to feel more confident in my skills as a practitioner. As an herbalist who thinks deeply about the politics of health and wellness, it has been truly transformative to have teachers whose values are aligned with mine. This has allowed me to relax and focus on the work in a way I have not experienced in other classroom settings. Ember, Vilde, and Stascha are all incredibly knowledgeable, and share their wisdom with a lot of care and humility. It has also been invaluable to have a group of herbalists to talk to outside of class, to share notes and resources, and just build community!
    L.M.R
  • There are many good things to say about this program, the most prominent part for me was building community in the herbal world while receiving professional support and guidance from talented clinical herbalists. This program brings together professional herbalists who are passionate about deepening their skills and sharing what they know from diverse education backgrounds. Which is, in my opinion, the best way to understand your own strengths and areas in need of improvement. This program is also structured in a client centered, non-judgemental, trauma-informed & motivational interviewing format. An inclusive space guided by brilliant herbalists; I couldn’t have asked for better mentors.
    Alyssa Boulanger
Application deadline August 28th 2023

Overview

We dream of herbal medicine being accessible to everyone, where empowering, holistic, integrative community healthcare is the norm, and where part of being a health care provider means being committed to actually addressing the root causes of illness and disease. We see herbal medicine as being a crucial part of resilient communities, of mutual aid and webs of care. In collaborating on our clinical work together, we dream, learn and catch glimpses of the world we want to see. A world where rivers are free, where lands are stewarded in sacred relationships, where people learn to live in harmony with each other and this earth, where everyone can access a dignified life, where systems of power and oppression are collectively dismantled and replaced by community-led initiatives.

The live online classroom space is collaborative, where the wisdom and knowledge that students bring is welcomed and questions are encouraged. The small class size is designed for an intimate and individualized experience, where each student can overcome challenges and grow capacities. With a full class, a portion of the tuition will contribute towards BIPOC-led herbal projects. Reduced tuition is available and prioritized for early applications and BIPOC students.

Let’s contribute towards living on an Earth that is more vibrant, abundant, resilient and free from domination.

Classes

Course modules include:

  1. Holistic Protocol Development: advanced materia medica, interpreting blood labs, formulation, case study review and practice.
  2. Clinical Skills and Observation: intake process, follow-ups, professional skills, trauma-informed care, client-centered care, harm reduction, boundaries and rapport building, clinic and apothecary management, clinic observation, self-exploration of herbal path, clinical scenarios practice
  3. Ethics and Values: anti-oppression, anti-racism, accessibility and barriers to care, trans-inclusivity.

Hours: 60 live (plus homework)

Prerequisites

Completion of a clinical herbalist program OR 2+ years of formal study, at least partially at a herb school OR 5+ years self-study with apprenticeship or mentorship.

Education should include:

~ 500+ hours of study (can include self-study) ~ anatomy & physiology ~ western herbal materia medica ~ pathophysiology and herbal therapeutics for chronic conditions ~ basic plant chemistry/pharmacology

Tuition

$1200 USD / $1600 CAD+hst**

If the class is full, A portion of the tuition will subsidize herbs and consultations for clients, as well as contribute towards BIPOC-led herbal projects. There are a limited number of 25% and 50% reduced tuition spots that will be prioritized for earlier applications and Black, Indigenous and People of Colour. Students can request the reduced rate on the application.

\* CAD tuition cost subject to change based on exchange rate at the start of the program.*

\* Montly payment plans available upon request*

Schedule

18 weeks total - Wednesdays at 1-4pm AT/12-3pmEST/9am -12pm PST live on Zoom

Oct 25, Nov 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, Dec 6, 13 ~ Holiday Break - no class 12/20 and 12/27 ~ Jan 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Feb 7, 14, 21, 28 March 6

Applying

Download the application by clicking the link at the top or bottom of this page. Application deadline is August 28th 2023.

Teachers

Ember Peters (they/she) (www.wildcurrentherbalism.com) has over 3000 hours of clinical experience since 2014, focusing on providing accessible sliding-scale herbal care to people with complex chronic illness. They recognize community based holistic health as a tangible step towards collective and individual liberation and resilience. Guided by nature, their practice integrates scientific knowledge with energetic systems including Western herbalism traditions, Chinese Medicine assessment tools, the latest scientific research, phytochemistry, physiology, flower essence therapy and holistic nutrition. Ember is a Registered Herbal Practitioner with the Herbalist Association of Nova Scotia (HANS). They have taught widely about herbalism at conferences and schools including faculty at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, the American Herbalists Guild Symposium, the Dandelion Seed Conference, The Wild Seed School of Herbal Studies and the Elderberry Academy. Trans-inclusivity and anti-racism/dismantling white supremacy are cornerstones of Ember’s practice, a part of their life-long commitment to fighting for liberation for all peoples. Ember is a gender non-conforming settler of Ashkenazi Jewish and Greek ancestry.

Stascha Stahl (they/she) (www.bayherbalist.com): Stascha is a community centered clinical herbalist, medicine maker, apothecarist, and educator practicing in the Chochenyo Ohlone Territory so-called Oakland, California. Stascha has been studying herbal medicine since 2006 and seeing clients in free or sliding scale clinics for the last 12 years. She prioritizes harm reduction and focuses on complex chronic conditions.

Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich (she/her) (www.wildcherries.org): Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich came to herbal medicine with the desire to bring effective tools for self-care to her life and her community. She found the rich world of plant medicine to be completely thrilling — meeting the vibrant flowers and herbs and trees in their various habitats; learning about the traditions and the science of the medicine; and understanding how our bodies work and how plants can work with them! She has been practicing herbalism and teaching workshops since 2007, with the intention of making herbal medicine accessible, to connect people to the plant world, and help empower people to be in charge of their own healing process. To this end, she has helped start and support free clinics in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Arizona. She is preoccupied with creating sweet, accessible and nurturing health care for queer and trans people and communities and dismantling the pernicious gender binary in the way we think about biology, health and society. She believes in our capacity for healing and wholeness and a little bit of joy, and knows that we are better off facing our life struggles with plants as our partners.

Still have questions? email us at wildcurrentschool@gmail.com

Application deadline August 28th 2023