Advanced Western Materia Medica
In this sequence you will gain an expanded knowledge of 150 herbs, learn the considerations for safety and drug-herb interactions, and ways to combine herbs in unique individualized formulas for patients.
This program contains 6 courses:
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Advanced Herbal Actions and Formulation
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Herbal Safety Seminar
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Working with the Heavy Cannabis User
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Herbs for the Spiritual Heart
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Materia Medica Differentials
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Nutrition in the Herbal Paradigm
Course Materials include:
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385 audio files totaling over 52 hours
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788 pages of notes & slides
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A PDF library of 119 resources and classical herbal texts totaling over 5700 pages
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total storage 2.9 GB
Program Overview
The study of herbal materia medica and the plants that we use in practice is a life-long process. We may originally learn a few facts about an herb, and begin to use it. But our education is never complete. It may even be that the study of a single herb could require many months or even years to learn everything useful about it.
I learned an important principle from one of my mentors, Dr John Bastyr ND, who now has a university named after him. He explained that he was in the habit of reading and studying Materia medica every evening before going to bed, over a career of more than 50 years. In this course sequence you will deepen your knowledge of Materia medica, herbal actions, methods of combining herbs, and the safety aspects of herbs, essential oils, and more.
Advanced Herbal Actions & Formulation
Any combination of two herbs will convey the actions of each of the herbs, but may also produce a synergy so as to create an entirely new medicine. The study of pairing and simple combinations is the foundation of effective and flexible formulation. This course begins by simplifying and clarifying the concepts of herbal actions, which today are a cacophany of terms which resembles the state of language after the fall of the Tower of Babel. You will then learn the principles of moving from simple herb, to pair or triplet, and ultimately to complex patient-tailored formula, adjusted for totality of clinical effect and tailored to the patient constitution.
Herbal Safety Seminar
Although harm caused by herbal medicines is uncommon, any herb strong enough to act as a medicine may also have an adverse effect if given for the wrong condition, the wrong patient, in the wrong dose, or at the wrong time. In the modern era, even an otherwise harmless herb may cause harmful interaction with a prescription or over-the-counter drug with risks and dangers of its own. In this course you will learn the principles of herbal toxicity and drug-herb interactions, the possible side effects or harms caused by 35 of the most important medicinal herbs, and the toxicology of essential oils. Also included is a section on “the fragile patient” and the need to use gentler herbs in lower doses for elders, children, or patients who are weak.
Working with the Heavy Cannabis User
Based on a review of the details of 40 case histories of heavy Cannabis users (4-10 doses per day), and a review of the scientific literature on the subject, we describe the most common clinical presentations, including chief complaints, side effects, withdrawal effects, tolerance, dependence, including effectiveness for the condition being treated in cases of a medical prescription.
Herbs for the Spiritual Heart
The Spiritual Heart is described in both Chinese and Unani traditional medical systems as the seat of the conscious mind, of cognitive awareness, and is connected to various psychological and emotional states. Both systems have an extended materia medica to help those in states of stress, trauma, agitation, and disconnectedness find balance and a centered awareness. Over a period of more than 20 years at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism, we developed this category of Western herbs, incorporating North American plants with the traditional Heart remedies of these systems.
Materia Medica Differentials
A complete study of materia medica goes far deeper than the this-for-that model of herbalism. For effective clinical use, and to avoid adverse humoral/energetic effects, an herb must be understood in the categories of humoral and energetic effects, including hot vs. cold, moist vs dry, tension vs relaxation, in addition to definite clinical actions, tissues affected, uses, and useful combinations and formulas. With this depth of study, we find that herbs can be recognized in groups that have very similar effects, and may be interchanged as analogues clinically. In this course we describe more than 30 such “herbal affinity groups” of more than 100 herbs, show how the herbs within the group may be used as analogues, and describe differentials between them.
Nutrition in the Herbal Paradigm
In many cases a permanent cure comes not from an herbal medicine, but rather from correction of a nutrient deficiency, addition of specific foods, and work to find the optimal dietary pattern for the individual. For the herbalist entering the field of clinical nutrition, foods and nutrients might be studied in the paradigm of herbal actions. If magnesium were an herb, it would be classified as antispasmodic, cardio-tonic, chi tonic and adaptogenic. Supplementation to correct this common deficiency should accompany herbs given for those purposes. If the deficiency is not corrected, no amount of herbal medicine will effectively solve the problem. In this course we offer an overview of the most common nutrients and dietary patterns, and offer a general protocol for most modern patients, based on experience in our teaching clinics since 1996. We also offer some specific interventions for various syndromes and dietary patterns.
