Comprehensive training in herbal medicine

professional Herbalist Course

Dive Deep into Herbal Training and Pursue Multiple Herbalist Career Opportunities

Professional Herbalist Course

The Professional Herbalist Course includes 36 detailed lessons on the foundations of food therapy, herbal medicine, herbal energetics, assessment of disease, an extensive materia medica, formulary, preparations, remedies, therapies, advanced diagnostic tools, specific conditions with their herbal treatments and much more, all geared to help you become the most efficient and effective herbalist possible. We incorporate the wisdom, materia medica, and energetics of herbs and disease from around the world, particularly Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine, and Western herbalism.

This online learning course is suitable for:

Beginning to intermediate student
Someone interested in herbal medicine with aspirations to become a professional herbalist, working in any one of the many parts of the industry.
Someone who wants to take a deep dive into herbal medicine.
Someone who wants to study with world renowed teachers with a proven record.
Someone interested in becoming a clinical herbalist.
Someone who is ready to commit to an extensive curriculum, working closely with our professional staff as they guide you through the course toward your goal of becoming a professional herbalist.

Professional Herbalist Course highlights

Lesson 1: The History of the Herbal Tradition

How old is herbalism? In this lesson, you will learn about the foundations and development of herbal medicine from a planetary perspective, incorporating the roots of herbalism from both East and West, ancient and modern.

Lesson 2 & 3: A Balanced Diet: The Key to Health

Achieve balance and freedom through whole foods. In this lesson, you will become familiar with the energies of foods and how they affect the health of the body. You will learn how to use several tools to create the most nourishing diet based on your body’s individual needs. Finally, we offer several recipe ideas that you can try at home.

Lesson 4: Ayurvedic Tridosha Theory

Ayurveda is the “Mother of all Medicines.” After completing this lesson you will understand the foundation of Ayurveda, Tridosha Theory, and its association with health, constitution, food, herbs and herbal and dietary therapies.

Lesson 5 - 7: Introdution to Chinese Medicine Theory

The duality and yet continuum of life: Yin and Yang. In this lesson you will learn the diverse understandings and applications of the Chinese Yin/Yang Theory, including that of health, constitution, foods and herbs.
The Five Phases demystified and the dynamic energies and interrelationship of the Organs. After completing this lesson you will be able to understand the interrelationships, functions and biorhythms of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Organs and Organ systems in the body.
In this lesson we learn the Traditional Chinese Medicine foundation energetics of disease along with the fundamental substances of the body, Eight Principles theory of diagnosis and the causes of disease, including the Pernicious Influences and the Seven Emotions. After completing this lesson, you will have the basic TCM tools and theoretical foundation for assessing and treating disease.

Lesson 8: The Energetic Nature of Medicinal Herbs

After studying this lesson you will understand the classification of herbs according to Traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic and Western herbal medicines, including their various energetic designations and approaches. You will also learn the eight methods of herbal therapy.

Lesson 9 - 11: Preparing Plants as Medicine

In these lessons you will learn about plant parts, families, safety, interactions, dosage, administration, harvesting, preparation and storage and the art of herbal formulary.
Become familiar with use, preparation and application of several remedies for external use of herbs, including baths, soaks, bolus, compress, fomentation, liniment, oil, poultice, plaster, and salve. After this lesson you will be able to prepare your own herbal medicines for topical application.

Learn to prepare and use herbal medicines for internal application, including capsules, dry tea concentrates, pastes, pills, powders, smoking mixtures, syrups, teas, and tinctures.

Lesson 13 - 30: Materia Medica: The Herbs

These lessons offer the most extensive and comprehensive materia medica available in any online training course.

Lesson 31 - 33: Assessment and Diagnosis

Learn the four diagnostic methods for assessing a patient’s condition and determining the nature of disease, including interrogation, observation, listening and smelling, and palpation.

Learn to assess and treat disease patterns using three Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnostic systems:
>The Three Aspects: diseases of Qi, Blood and Body Fluids
>The Six Stages: febrile diseases caused by Cold
>The Four Levels: febrile disease cased by Heat (infectious diseases)

Learn to assess and treat disease patterns using three more Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnostic systems presented here:
>Zang-Fu (Internal Organs) Symptom-Sign Diagnosis l Channel Pattern Assessment
>Triple Warmer Pattern Assessment Use sample case studies to solidify your understanding of the material.

Lesson 34 & 35: Specific Diseases and Their Treatments

After this lesson you will be able to use the Disease Cause Pattern Discrimination method (Bian Yin Bian Zheng). You can then choose from Chinese, Western and Ayurvedic herbs, formulas and treatments to treat the patterns (bian zheng) of various different diseases (bian yin) that you identify through the Four Diagnostic Methods you learned in Lesson 31.

Lesson 36: Putting It All Together: Dui Yao Formulation, the Art of Simpling, and Developing an Herbal Practice

Return to the “simple” use of herbs and learn to use two-herb combinations called dui yao, or the use of single herbs in the “art of simpling.” Learn about networking, record-keeping and other skills necessary to develop an herbal practice.

Have questions?

BECOME AN HERBALIST

The complete Professional Herbalist Course, self-grading quizzes, projects with personal evaluations, certificate of completion and 5 year access to Herb Whisperer’s Learning Center that includes a student forum where you can interact with other students, ask questions, and share your progress, weekly chats with the faculty, and an extensive library of articles and books.

Price: $1969

Enroll in The Course to Become a Member of Our Herbal Community.

What you get with the Professional Herbalist Course

Have questions?

Course Length: 18 - 36 months
36 lessons containing hundreds of herb monographs and formulas
Convenient new layout of the materia medica lessons with roomy margins for personal notes and accessible, easy-to-read and study text
Lessons total nearly 2200 pages of material developed over 40 years by Michael and Lesley Tierra
Over 600 herb entries, 264 formulas, and herbal approaches given for treating 944 health conditions
Private and moderated forums and groups specific to your studies
Trains students in the use of all the necessary tools to become a professional herbalist, from history to medicine making to learning diagnostic skills, we've got it all
The convenience of studying herbs at home at your own pace with well-respected herbalists and teachers

Want to take a deep dive into herbal medicine, particularly traditional energetic systems of understanding herbs, health, and disease?

Detailed lessons from real professional herbalists with real clinical experience
Study with Dr. Thomas Avery Garran, PhD, RH, a world renowned herbalist, author, translator, and scholar
On-line Learning Center with forums, weekly video meetings and presentations by Dr. Garran and the entire professional staff
A 36-lesson step-by-step education that you complete at your own pace from your own location
Personalized evaluation to lesson test essays and projects for all 36 Lessons
An extensive materia medica of Western, Chinese, and Ayurvedic herbs plus those from other world traditional medicines
Detailed formulation and formulary teachings
Dietary energetics and food therapy
Guidelines for herbal preparations, remedies and traditional healing therapies and techniques
In-depth study of the main herbal categories and how to use their herbs clinically and therapeutically
In-depth knowledge of how to differentiate and treat disease patterns (rather than diagnosis and treat diseases) and to effectively and efficiently apply herbal remedies and formulas to those patterns
Treatment of multiple disease conditions with their assessment and herbal treatment strategies
Foundation and advanced assessment techniques and treatment strategies
Adjunct training modules with training in cultivation of medicinal plants, processing, and many other key areas of specialization within the herbal medicine profession
Optional annual on-site and hands-on Herb Whisperer training seminars.
The confidence to use herbs to heal yourself and others safely and effectively, no matter where you are, using local, distant, and exotic plants
A 5 year subscription to Herb Whisperer’s Learning Center, which includes all the weekly chats, student forums, webinars, articles, digital library, and more

We empower you with resources to be self-sufficient when caring for yourself and your family. As the caretakers of the East West School of Herbology, one of the oldest and most respected schools of herbology in North America, we offer decades of experience in the field, both as practitioners and as teachers and mentors to some of the most well-known herbalists in the world.

The Professional Herbalist Course teaches you how to use herbs to effectively and efficiently treat yourself and others. It guides you through the many levels of herbal medicine, enabling you to seek employment in any of the many areas of herbal medicine, including sourcing, quality control, etc. It is perfect for those who desire an in-depth knowledge of herbs and how to use them clinically. This complete course is also perfect for those who desire more thorough herbal knowledge spanning sustainability, wild crafting, cultivation, processing, quality assessment, and much more.

This course is based on, but definitely not limited to, a foundation of Chinese medicine. We incorporate a significant amount of Western herbal medicine and a sprinkling of Ayurvedic medicine. In this course you learn how to differentiate and treat disease patterns (rather than diagnose and treat diseases) and to competently and proficiently apply herbal remedies and formulas.

The Professional Herbalist Course emphasizes a materia medica of over 600 herbs — Western, Chinese, and Ayurvedic — along with diagnostic skills, treatment strategies, formulation, and much more for hundreds of ailments.

BECOME AN HERBALIST

Price $1969*

*Shipping for textbooks is FREE for domestic but not for international mailing