Reply To: Herbal business
Hi Colleen,
Thanks for reaching out about this. It’s an important topic!
Due to the fact that herbalism is unregulated, titles such as Herbal Practitioner and Community Herbalist are created either by schools that award the titles to their graduates or sometimes just by individuals who align themselves with a specific title. There is no hard set of requirements needed for someone to use one of these titles or any other within the realm of herbal medicine. This makes the practice of herbalism different than something like acupuncture which is regulated. All registered acupuncturists in a given area have met the same educational requirements and have passed standardized board exams in order to be awarded their title.
Though herbal medicine is unregulated, there are herbal associations that are working to uphold standards of education and practice. These associations award specific titles to their member who qualify. For example, the Canadian Herbal Association of BC gives the title, Registered Herbal Therapist to members who have had 2000 hours of formal herbal training plus, 500+ hours of clinical training. There are herbal associations for each province that give different titles.
In terms of prescribing, it’s best to stay away from that term which is generally reserved for the allopathic medical community. Rather, herbalists can suggest, recommend, and advise specific medicines or formulas that may help a condition or, support one’s health (we cannot diagnose conditions or claim that any herb will cure/treat). So, with the herbal formulas from therapeutics, you could suggest a formula to someone, rather than prescribe it to them based on a diagnosis.
As a Community Herbalist, you are able to work one-on-one with people as an herbal educator. This could mean discussing your client’s state of health and discussing some herbs that may be suited for them. As this program doesn’t provide you with clinical training, we suggest you understand both the strengths and limits of what you’re able to offer.
Seraphina goes through a lot of this content in her business course but I understand, it can still be tricky to figure out. If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend you watch the virtual class hosted by Medical Herbalist James Christian about herbal regulation. It’s important to understand the industry and the direction it’s going. You can click here to check it out!
I hope this answer helped to clear up some of your questions. I’m open to chatting more about this if you’d like! Just let me know.
Warmth,
Liza