There are a range of herbal practice traditions drawn from different cultural approaches to the use of plants for healing. If you want an expert view on how you can help in your own situation it is important to find practitioners that have been well trained and preferably belong to a professional association that can attest to their standards, and set up the necessary insurance, codes of practice and other assurances. You will be able to find practitioners in your area by checking the link in each case. In the list below the first four UK professional associations are from western herbal traditions.
If you want to find a herbalist
Whilst you can find some quality herbal products over the counter, nothing can substitute consultations and treatment with a trained herbalist. The underlying causes of illness and symptoms vary between each of us, therefore treatments should be personalised too. This will ultimately bring you to optimal health and wellbeing and we highly recommend booking in a consultation.
Below is a list of places you can find qualified medical herbal professionals to help you find the right person for you:
United Kingdom
- The National Institute of Medical Herbalists
http://www.nimh.org.uk - The College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy
https://thecpp.uk - The Unified Register of Herbal Practitioners
https://www.urhp.com/ - The Association of Master Herbalists
https://associationofmasterherbalists.co.uk/ - The Ayurvedic Professionals Association
https://www.apa.uk.com - The Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine
https://www.rchm.co.uk - The Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture
https://www.atcm.co.uk/ - The Association of Naturopathic Practitioners
https://theanp.co.uk/ - The European Herbal and Traditional Practitioners Association
http://www.ehtpa.eu
USA
- American Herbalists Guild
www.americanherbalistsguild.com - National Ayurvedic Medical Association
https://www.ayurveda-nama.org
If you would like to study herbalism
More and more people are keen to learn how to work with herbs for medicine. Whether you want to train as a practitioner, or simply want to gain some life skills there are an array of courses and schools for you to learn.
Below is a list of quality schools we have pulled together to help you find the right course:
Ayurveda
- College of Ayurveda, UK
http://www.ayurvedauk.org/ - Ayurveda Pura, London
http://www.ayurvedapura.com/academy.html - Anne McIntyre – short weekend courses from an artist of the art
http://annemcintyre.com/ - Ayurveda Akademie in Germany:
http://www.ayurveda-akademie.org/en/home/ - Ayurvedic Institute, Albequerque, USA – with Dr Lad
https://www.ayurveda.com/ - Atreya: in France or long-distance
http://www.atreya.com/ayurveda/-About-EIVS-.html - Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine
https://dogwoodbotanical.com/inside-ayurveda/
https://dogwoodbotanical.com/food-as-medicine/
https://dogwoodbotanical.com/phytomedica/
Herbalism
- Betonica School of Herbal Medicine
https://www.betonica.co.uk/ - College of Naturopathic Medicine
http://www.naturopathy-uk.com/courses-eu/courses-herbal-medicine/ - Heartwood
https://heartwood-uk.net/home/index.php/project-title-3 - Lincoln College
https://www.lincolncollege.ac.uk/courses/bsc-hons-clinical-herbalism/ - School of Herbal Medicine
https://www.schoolofherbalmedicine.co.uk/
Ireland
- The Plant Medicine School
https://theplantmedicineschool.com/courses/herbal-apprenticeship - Irish School of Herbal Medicine
https://corecollege.com/index.php/courses/herbalmedicine - Brighids Academy of Healing Arts
https://brighidsacademy.wordpress.com/
USA
- Planetary herbology with Michael and Lesley Tierra
http://www.planetherbs.com/ - Bastyr University
https://bastyr.edu/ - Maryland University of Integrative Health
https://muih.edu/ - Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences
https://www.scnm.edu/
Chinese Herbal Medicine
UK
- Northern College of Acupuncture
https://nca.ac.uk/chinese-herbal-medicine-course - The College of Chinese Medicine
https://www.ccmlondon.com/chinese_herbal_medicine/ - White Crane Academy
https://whitecrane.academy/
If you want to experience a herb event
Herbal events are a wonderful way to learn more about plant medicines, as well as meet other people in the herbal community.
Below is a link to the Herbal Alliance, a communal hub for herbal organisations and herbalists where different herbal events are listed:
- Herbal Alliance
https://herbalalliance.uk/
Herbal Reality Newsletters
Here is an archive of our past newsletters where we highlight the herbs, health stories, insight articles and conditions we have shared each month:
Glossaries
You can find all our glossaries of important herbal medicine terms below: