For many years, the Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine has been a cornerstone of advanced herbal education. In 2026, this beloved conference enters an exciting new chapter: One that reflects both the evolution of botanical medicine and the changing needs of practitioners, clinicians, and students seeking depth, relevance, and connection.
This year’s Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine offers an immersive online learning experience that blends rigorous clinical education with the heart of traditional plant wisdom. Designed for modern practitioners while rooted in long-standing herbal traditions, we are honored to stand out as a meaningful investment in your botanical and clinical journey.
What’s New and Noteworthy for This Year
The 2026 conference is thoughtfully curated to reflect where botanical medicine is now, and where it’s going. This is not a recycled program or a surface-level overview. It is a forward-looking gathering that emphasizes clinical application, integrative thinking, and practitioner sustainability.
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A Clinically Grounded, Practice-Focused Program
Our program emphasizes real-world clinical relevance, offering more than 20 live online lectures taught by respected leaders in herbal and integrative medicine. Sessions are designed to support practitioners working with complex health patterns, chronic conditions, and evolving client needs.
Rather than isolated herbal monographs, presentations explore botanical medicine within broader clinical frameworks: Integrating nutrition, physiology, lifestyle, and systems-based thinking. Attendees can expect content that bridges traditional knowledge with contemporary clinical insight, making the information immediately applicable in professional practice.
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A Deeper Commitment to Integrative & Unitive Medicine
One of the most exciting developments for 2026 is the emphasis on unitive and integrative approaches to health. The optional pre-conference intensive in Tempe, AZ sets the tone by diving deeply into neurological health through a botanical and systems-oriented lens. This focused learning experience allows participants to begin the conference with clarity, depth, and momentum.
This theme continues throughout the conference, with lectures and discussions that recognize the interconnectedness of body systems, emotional health, environment, and plant medicine—reflecting the way herbalists actually work with people, not just conditions.
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Thought-Provoking Panels on Emerging Health Conversations
The 2026 conference includes interactive panel discussions that address timely and often under-represented topics in herbal education. These conversations invite multiple expert perspectives and foster critical thinking around current health challenges, environmental influences, and evolving clinical concerns. Panels are designed to be both educational and reflective, encouraging attendees to consider how botanical medicine can continue to respond responsibly and creatively to the needs of individuals and communities.
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Flexible Online Learning Without Sacrificing Depth & Extended Access
While the Southwest Conference originated as an in-person desert gathering, its online format has become one of its greatest strengths. In 2026, the conference continues to refine this format to support deeper learning without geographic barriers. Participants receive access to all sessions during the conference weekend, along with six months of on-demand streaming access. This extended viewing period allows attendees to revisit complex material, catch sessions they missed, and integrate learning at a sustainable pace.
Digital lecture notes and audio recordings further enhance the experience, making this conference not just an event, but a lasting educational resource!
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Optional In-Person Experiences for Those Who Want More
For attendees who crave hands-on connection with plants, 2026 also offers optional in-person experiences in the Southwest. These include a guided desert plant walk and a small-group medicine-making workshop. These opportunities honor the conference’s roots while offering a meaningful bridge between online learning and embodied herbal practice.
Our 2026 Speaker List
We are honored to invite a thoughtfully selected & curated list of speakers to our 2026 Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine:
Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO, eMBA
Suzanne Blaising, PhD
Robin Rose Bennett, Herbalist
Paul Bergner, Clinical Herbalist
Bevin Clare, MS, RH (AHG), CNS
Sam Coffman, L.Ac, W-EMT, RH(AHG), Best-selling Author
Lillea Hartwell, ND, RH (AHG)
Marianne Marchese, ND
Jason Miller, DACM, LAc
Kenneth Proefrock, NMD
Mary Rondeau, ND, RH (AHG)
John Slattery, Bioregional Herbalist
Katie Stage, ND, RH (AHG), FABNG
Jillian Stansbury, ND
Christina Veselak, LMFT, CN
Wendy Warner, MD, ABIHM, IFMCP
Donald Yance, CN, RH (AHG)
Eric Yarnell, ND, RH (AHG)
Why Registering in 2026 Is an Investment in Your Botanical & Clinical Journey
The Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine is not designed for passive consumption. It is designed to support growth, confidence, and longevity in practice. Whether you are an experienced clinician or an advancing student, the 2026 conference provides the kind of layered, nuanced education that strengthens clinical reasoning. Attendees walk away with new frameworks, refined perspectives, and greater confidence in applying botanical medicine in complex situations.
But, one of the most enduring values of the Southwest Conference is its community. Even in an online format, the conference fosters meaningful connections among herbalists, clinicians, educators, and plant people from around the world. Registering means stepping into a shared space of curiosity, respect, and collective learning. With extended access to recordings and materials, the value of the conference extends well beyond the live event. Many attendees return to sessions months later as their practice evolves, making the 2026 conference a resource that continues to give back over time.
For those ready to deepen their knowledge, refine their practice, and invest in a more integrated approach to healing, 2026 offers a powerful opportunity to do just that.Register now!
