Clinical Herbalism and Therapeutics

From therapeutic principles of holistic herbalism and how to address specific conditions, to tips and tricks for assessment, formulation, and other nuggets of clinical gold, these posts are all about supporting your work with people.

The Human Body: Machine or Ecosystem?

Lately, I’ve been talking a lot about this concept of vitalism and how vitalism is one of the more traditional models and approaches to not just practicing herbal medicine but a way that we see life, of being able to see that the natural world is intelligent, that it has consciousness, that it has purpose and meaning.

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The Allopathic Herbalism Trap

Vitalism is an ancient principle found in the western traditions that recognizes the life principle within plants and people. This vital principle is what gives everything life, and while the biochemical attributes of an organism are important, it is not all there is.

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Gut Health and Clinical Herbalism

When I was studying herbal medicine in university at Bastyr, my teachers taught me that in traditional western herbalism, the human organism is likened to a tree whose roots are the digestive system.

In this way, the health of the entire organism is utterly dependent on the health of the digestive apparatus- from the mouth all the way down to the colon. In our modern world of genetically modified, processed, artificial, pesticide ridden foods, along with the overuse of antibiotics, over the counter antacids and anti-inflammatories, as well as the serious impacts of food intolerances and allergies, that the state of human digestive health is to say the least, not so great.

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Addicted to Bitters

In our modern world where it seems like almost everyone has a digestive symptom of some sort, and bitters or bitter tasting herbs, are becoming

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The Herbal Detox Myth

“Detoxification” is a term that gets used a lot in alternative medicine. Perhaps it’s become a bit of a fad to cleanse or detox, trying to purge the body of toxins that shouldn’t be there by using specific herbal medicines to assist the process.

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