7-Month Apprenticeship with Christopher Hobbs Intermediate level: Community Herbalist Training
Christopher's 2007 Apprenticeship course will be held in Davis, California. Classes will run one weekend a month, plus field trips.
Dates: March 17, 2007 through October 14, 2007
Location: Village Homes Community Center, 2661 Portage Bay East, Davis, California.
Learn constitutionally and energetically-based clinical herbalism, a blend of western and eastern traditional medicine and scientifically-based European phytotherapy
Experience time-honored skills of botany, plant identification, cultivation
Medicine-making; make powdered extracts and dried herb juice powders you can use in a clinical setting; creams and other preparations; using essential oils in a clinical setting
Work with patients to learn traditional diagnostic skills such as pulse and tongue diagnosis, review western medical tests and become familiar with side effects, interactions
Walk in the woods and fields and learn to identify local medicinal plants, using the new Peterson's Guide to Medicinal Plants of the Western U.S. written by Christopher and Steven Foster
Application: Application provided below for download. Class size will be limited.
Also Available: Free Winter Classes
Join Christopher for a series of free public lectures on "Herbs and Natural Medicine" at the Yolo County Library in Davis, CA. on January 9, February 12 & 28, 2007. Download flyer for more details. (Adobe PDF, 152K)
- History of herbalism review
- Herbal medicine-making, extraction techniques and standards for powdered and liquid extracts, dried plant juices; hands-on work, standardization issues
- Secrets of good formulation; developing an herbal business; the herb industry, growing herbs and clinical herbalism, career opportunities
2nd Weekend: April 14, 15 (2 days)
- Major herbs for each body system (Materia medica and therapeutics), part 1; western herb categories
- Systems covered this weekend: Immune system, Hormonal system
- Art and science of Tongue diagnosis
- Pulse diagnosis
- Western energetic categories: Action types
- Materia medica and therapeutics, part 2; western herb categories (Nervous system, Urinary tract)
- Herb walk and plant identification
3rd Weekend: May 12, 13 (2 days)
- Hara diagnosis, nail diagnosis, meridian diagnosis
- Materia medica and therapeutics, part 3 (Digestion and the Liver system)
- Herb walk and plant identification
- Work with patients as a class
- Work in groups on diagnosis and treatment planning
- Energetics of herbs (including plant constituents as an energetic category)
4th Weekend: June 9, 10 (2 days)
- Materia medica and therapeutics, part 4 (Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Integumentary systems)
- Clinical practice I (principles of clinical work with an emphasis on herbal medicine, custom herbal formulation; setting up an office, patient intake forms, setting up an herbal pharmacy, etc.)
5th Weekend: July 12-15 (4 days)
- 16th annual Snow Mt. wildcrafting trip
6th Weekend: August 18, 19 (2 days)
- Clinical practice II (Diagnosis and treatment plans, case histories; practical work with patients)
7th Weekend: September 15, 16 (2 days)
- Clinical practice III (Clinical work with patients; polarity, acupressure)
- Final exam, plant identification
Last Class: October 14
- Herb walk and pot luck
KEY POINTS
Complete beginning to intermediate herbal training course
Get to know the uses and nature of healing plants local to your area in central California
Learn to make powdered extracts and other preparations for home and clinic use
Appropriate for advanced beginners who have some experience with herbal medicine
Focuses on developing basic skills for the practice of herbal medicine as a community herbalist
Practice with patient and practitioner interactions
Has been running continuously (except 2006) for 15 years
LOGISTICS
Hours of Training:
1 weekend per month for 7 months
About 130 hours total
Tuition:
$1300 ($100 discount if paid in full by first day of class)
Monthly payment plan available
Health food store workers, 10% discount offered
Tuition cost includes a CD of Christopher's complete distance-learning course, The Foundations of Herbalism ($675 value.) See the website for more details--www.foundationsofherbalism.com. Also on the CD are many color photographs of the herbs we will study, along with the complete Power Point shows (in color) for each body system.
Optional Expenses:
You can order a hard copy of the 18-lesson course in binders for about $50-$60 to cover printing costs.
Extra texts recommended that can be purchased at wholesale: Potters New Herbal Cyclopedia (new edition), Bensky et al, Chinese Materia Medica (3rd edition).
Christopher's books (as author or co-author) at wholesale: Peterson's Field Guide to Medicinal Plants of the Western U.S. (Houghton-Mifflin), Herbal Remedies for Dummies (Wiley), Natural Therapy for Your Liver (Harper), Pocket Guide to Herbal Medicine (Thieme Med. Pub.), Botanical Safety Handbook (CRC Press), Medicinal Mushrooms (Book Pub. Co.).
CDs of .mp3 files of the course available to download to iPod or .mp3 player available at nominal cost.
Required work for certificate:
Class project - do "provings" on 2 native medicinal plants, publish report or give oral report
Research project
Class attendance; be able to identify local plants
Additional Info:
Please send application and $100 deposit to reserve space
Deposit is non-refundable
Class size is limited to 25 students
APPLICATIONS
Download and print out an application: (Choose one) The application is provided below in both Acrobat and Word formats for your convenience.
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