2021 Herbal Conferences

Posted on by Caitlin Maher
herbal conference in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Participate from anywhere and still enjoy the high-quality botanical information and continuing education credits you’ve come to rely on. Still time to sign up for our upcoming symposium!

Program and registration information:
Medicines from the Earth Herb Symposium
Online June 4 – 7, 2021, with one year to view videos.
30 videos in all.

 

 

SW 21 Video GraphicIf you missed the Southwest Conference last March, all the materials are now offered online:
Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine
March 26 – 28, 2021: Past event
videos, audio recordings, and the digital book are now available!

 

 

At Herbal Educational Services we Cultivate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
We recognize the need for increased diversity in the fields of clinical herbalism and natural medicine and are committed to creating a welcoming environment at our events that affords dignity to all.

We look forward to seeing you online!

Questions? Contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Join Doug Elliott at Herb Mountain Farm

Posted on by botanical

Doug Elliot, herbalist, naturalist

Join Doug Elliott at Herb Mountain Farm in Weaversville, NC on Saturday 6/5 for a one-of-a-kind herb walk for Medicines from the Earth Herb Symposium! This beloved herbalist, author, and storyteller will delight and amaze you with his practical, scientific and cultural knowledge of many useful wild plants.

As a naturalist, herbalist and storyteller, Doug Elliot knows ancient plant lore, plant riddles and even sings songs about weeds and berries. His lively, informative plant walks and storytelling sessions create special memories for attendees of the Medicines from the Earth Symposium.

Doug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, basket maker, philosopher, and harmonica wizard who has performed at festivals, museums and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN and has conducted workshops and programs at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the Smithsonian Institution. He has trained rangers for the National Park Service and guided people on wilderness experiences from Down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. He was named harmonica champion at Fiddler’s Grove Festival in N.C.

Doug regularly writes articles for regional and national magazines. He has authored five books, produced a number of award winning recordings of stories and songs, and is occasionally seen on PBS-TV and the History Channel.

Whether he’s singing about catfish, pontificating on possums, extolling the virtues of dandelions, cawing with crows, pondering the “nature” in human nature, telling wild snake tales or wailing out a jivey harmonica tune, storyteller, Doug Elliott will take you on an unforgettable, multifaceted cultural tour celebrating North America’s back country. He performs a lively concert of amazing tales, lively tunes, traditional lore, outrageous personal narratives, and fact stranger than fiction. He flavors it all with regional dialects, lively harmonica riffs, and more than a few belly laughs.

– For more about Doug, visit his LinkedIn profile.

Register for the herb walk and symposium.

Weight Management Audio Series

Posted on by Robin St. James

weight management series

An audio series for health care providers – with continuing education for naturopathic physicians – bundled together in one discounted package:

  • Eight (8) audio recordings (1.5 hours each)
  • Digital book of notes (99-page PDF)
  • Continuing education credits: 12 hours for naturopathic physicians
  • Order with one click for $65 ($95 value)

Note: The information in this series is provided as a research resource and is not intended to replace diagnosis and treatment by a qualified health care practitioner.

Audio Series Details
(See below for lecture titles and descriptions)

One-click orders all eight recordings selected from the Botanical Medicine library, plus a 99-page PDF of notes. Together these provide comprehensive information for clinicians on one of the most pressing challenges of our age.

We have included eight audio recordings since this is such a large topic, which includes not only dietary measures for weight management and exercise, but mitigating factors often not considered, including allergy, endocrine dysfunction, insulin resistance (metabolic syndrome), stress, lack of sleep, environmental toxicants and the effect of widespread use of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals on the obesity epidemic in the US. Pharmaceuticals for weight loss are mentioned and evaluated.

(Series price of $65 includes a 99-page PDF of lecture notes.)

Naturopathic CE:

  • 12 total CME hours if not claimed previously for the above lectures
  • 11.5 general + .5 pharmacy credits
  • Approved by Oregon Board of Naturopathic Medicine (OBNM)
  • More CE details

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Southwest Conference Preview

Posted on by Caitlin Maher

The 2021 Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine has now passed. If you were unable to attend the conference this year, you can now enjoy the sessions on video, audio or digital book.

Here is a sneak peek into the videos that you’ll find in our full video set…

Read the transcript for this video.

Other sessions include:

  • COVID 19: Acute and Chronic Considerations in Naturopathic Patient Management
  • The Antiviral Materia Medica
  • Opiate Use Disorder and its Treatment from a Body-Mind-Spirit Perspective
  • Hormonal Imbalances and Gynecological Patterns
  • Panel Discussion: Naturopathic Approaches to Weight Management and Obesity Prevention

Preview Transcript:

Lise Alschuler, ND: As you can see in these studies, that really, across the board,St John’s Wort is decreasing the plasma level of the drug.

Paul Bergner, CN: Because all bacteria have a large amount of their genome conserved. It’s the same.

Deborah Frances, ND: But it was really getting at the underlying cause of what was going on. So the plantcan really helpusto open to parts of ourselves as well as others.

Lori Harger, PHMNP: Heart rate variability is very important in terms of psychological resilience,adaptability andexecutive function.

Feather Jones, Herbalist: Think gotukola(Centella asiatica), which is shown to stimulate T-cells by improving vitality through its energizing properties.

Heath McAllister, ND: Scutellaria baicalensis,  I also love this herb. Potent anti-inflammatory,not really related that much to the other, Scutellaria lateriflora,in terms of its actions.

Kenneth Proefrock, ND: Galangal, speaking of heating, moves us into a slightly different category of plant medicines. These are agents that help improve bloodflow and specifically help resolve inflammation more rapidly.

Mary Rondeau, ND, RH (AHG): So we see that crocin inhibits the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine, where safranalinhibits the reuptake of serotonin.

JoAnn Sanchez, MS: There’s a wild plantain that grows here in the desert flora and it’s Plantago minorand it has a tiny little stem. So these plantains really tell us which species they are by their leaf size.

Katie Stage, ND, RH (AHG): Topical calendula preparationsare excellentfor skin healingand areanti-inflammatory. Calendula is antiseptic too and can help with Staph aureus.

Jillian Stansbury, ND: We can classify the kinds of phytosterols that we find in plants: steroidal saponins, Isoflavones…..

Naturopathic Approaches to Weight Management and Obesity Prevention

Posted on by Robin St. James

naturopathic approaches to weight management

Working with patients to manage their weight includes prevention of weight gain, control of age-related gains and treatment of obesity. This requires a broad understanding of many factors, including insulin resistance, environmental toxicants, the gut microbiome and the effect of pharmaceuticals on weight gain. Panelists at the 2021 Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine, naturopathic physicians Marianne Marchese, Katie Stage, and Lise Alschuler, discussed new research, practical naturopathic interventions and specific recommendations for clinical practice. A synopsis of each presentation follows.

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Healthy Aging Audio Series

Posted on by Robin St. James

ginseng for healthy aging

An audio series for health care providers – with continuing education for naturopathic physicians – bundled together in one discounted package:

  • Six (6) audio recordings (1.5 – 2 hours each)
  • Digital book of notes (128-page PDF)
  • Continuing education credits for naturopathic physicians
  • Order with one click for $55 ($75 value)

Note: The information in this series is provided as a research resource and is not intended to replace diagnosis and treatment by a qualified health care practitioner.

Audio Series Details
(See below for lecture titles and descriptions)

One click orders all six recordings selected from the Botanical Medicine library, plus a 128-page PDF of notes. Together these provide comprehensive information on healthy aging.

This series begins with understanding the biological aging process in Part 1 of the lecture given by Donald Yance, RH (AHG) and continues in Part 2 with a discussion of botanicals, nutrients and lifestyle recommendations to support and restore health as we age.

Next, Lise Alschuler, ND presents a detailed overview of the consequences of a maladaptive stress response, which manifests as elevated cortisol levels, altered circadian rhythms and an increase in inflammatory cytokines. She explains how the neurological, cardiovascular, endocrine, immunological and gastrointestinal effects of stress can be managed and even reversed with botanicals and diet.

Christopher Hobbs, PhD, LAc provides a review of the latest scientific data on the factors leading to aging, and herbs, both from Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, shown to address these specific factors. And in a fitting wrap-up to this topic, Jill Stansbury, ND lays out the impact of diet on aging and provides tonics, teas, and smoothies that can easily be included in daily dietary routines.

(Series price of $55 includes an 128-page PDF of lecture notes.)

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Video Series for Clinicians: Building Immunity

Posted on by Robin St. James

building immunity

A video series for health care providers – with continuing education for naturopathic physicians – bundled together in one discounted package:

  • Six (6) video lectures (1.5 hours each)
  • Digital book of notes (89-page PDF)
  • Continuing education credits for naturopathic physicians
  • Order with one click for $89 ($135 value)

Note: The information in this series is provided as a research resource for health professionals and is not intended to replace diagnosis and treatment by a qualified health care practitioner.

Video Series Details
(See below for titles and descriptions of videos)

One click orders all six videos selected from the 2020 conference season (4 videos from Medicines from the Earth and 2 from the Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine), plus an 89-page pdf of notes. Together these provide comprehensive information on the clinical management of immune conditions.

The series begins with an overview of immunity from childhood to the elder years, followed by a more detailed look at the lymph system and the role it plays in immunology.

Specific immune challenges are then addressed, including the influence of estrogen on autoimmunity, managing acute viral respiratory infection, a panel discussion on immune-centered illness and, finally, the latest research on managing COVID-19. (This was recorded in March 2020, just as the pandemic was spreading, so the speaker, Donald Yance, provided an update in August 2020 featuring all the latest research findings. The updated article link is included in the pdf of lecture notes for the series).

Video presentations offer complete clinical information, with the speaker and the PowerPoint playing together in an ideal format for online learning.

(Series price of $89 includes an 89-page PDF of lecture notes.)

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Clinical Management of Anxiety and Depression Series

Posted on by Robin St. James
verbena for anxiety
Verbena hastata (vervain)

An audio series for health care providers – with continuing education for naturopathic physicians – bundled together in one discounted package:

  • Seven (7) audio lectures (1.5 – 2 hours each)
  • Digital book of notes (110-page PDF)
  • Order with one click for $60 ($105 value)

Note: The information in this series is provided as a research resource for health professionals and is not intended to replace diagnosis and treatment by a qualified health care practitioner.

Details: This series of seven audio recordings begins with an overview by David Winston, RH (AHG) of differential treatment according to the cause: hepatic and GI-based depression, hormonal depression, GI-based anxiety and more. Tori Hudson, ND continues with a description of the fearsome twosome of anxiety and depression in women in which she prescribes select botanicals with particular attention to the influence of cortisol and other hormonal states.

Jill Stansbury, ND emphasizes the necessity of delicate incremental therapies for those immobilized by depression, and those undergoing withdrawal from SSRIs and MAO inhibitors. She defines trophorestoratives as those herbs which nourish the whole nervous system, upon which more specific formulas are built for the individual’s situation.

Going further than just an absence of disease, Lise Alschuler, ND gives recommendations for “Supporting Happiness and Reducing Anxiety and Depression.” And finally, Donald Yance, RH (AHG) presents a 4-hour intensive entitled “Mood Disorders: An Integrative Approach to Reducing and Eliminating the Use of Pharmaceuticals.” (Includes a 110-page PDF of lecture notes.)

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Rosemary, Turmeric, and Lemon Balm

Posted on by Robin St. James
Read the transcript for this video.

Mary Bove, ND was recently asked a question as part of the 2020 Summer Series: “What three herbs would you recommend for study by beginning students of herbalism?” In the video above she listed Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary), Curcuma longa (Turmeric), and Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm) as a great place to start. Continue reading