Educational Opportunities

Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism

VCIH is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing our community with healthcare resources grounded in Nature. We offer free and sliding-scale herbal consultations through our community clinic, as well as affordable classes that empower individuals to take care of themselves and their families, whenever appropriate. We also provide comprehensive herbalist training programs, which include clinical experience gained through collaborative practice in the community clinic.

Family Herbalist program and 3-Year Clinical Herbalist training program

Both Years 1 and 2 will be offered in 2008; Year 3 in its entirety will be offered for the first time in 2009. However, we may have space available for individuals to learn with us in our community clinic in 2008, so please inquire if you are interested. Please contact us for application information. Please note that this curriculum is subject to revision.

Curriculum Outline

Year 1 ~ Family Herbalist program or Foundation year for Clinical Herbalist program
This year is a combination of hands-on apprenticeship and didactic time in the classroom, providing both direct experience with the plants and medicine-making and foundational knowledge in holistic physiology, energetic systems, and materia medica.

Course, Contact Hours:

Holistic Physiology 36
Exploring the Medicinal Landscape/Field Trip 24
Observation, Intuition & Intention: Many Ways to Learn from Plants 12
Experiential Apprenticeship 96
includes: cultivation; ethical wild-harvesting; stewardship of native botanical populations; harvesting, drying and processing herbs;
herbal preparations: teas, tinctures, salves, massage oils, lotions, hydrosols; introductory botany and plant identification; bioregional ecology and economics; sustainable living
Energetic Systems 40
includes: Four-element theory (Air, Fire, Water, Earth); Humoral theory (Sanguine, Choleric, Phelgmatic, Melancholic);magic and
the Quintessence, or Vital Force
Materia Medica (40 plants) 40
Food as Medicine 20
Introduction to Plant Chemistry and Herbal Actions 10
First Aid 4

Year 1 Total: 296 hours

Year 2 ~ This year will focus on understanding system dysfunctions (both energetically and physiologically), developing critical thinking and clinical strategies, and grounding in the skills of a practitioner.

Course, Contact Hours:

Pathophysiology 90
Herbal Therapeutics/Considerations for Special Populations 90
Herbal Preparations II 20
Pharmacology & Formulation 20
Applied Energetics II/Traditional Constitutional Assessments 50
Practitioner Skills/Rapport 50
Materia Medica II (40 plants) 50
Herbal Safety 10
Research Skills 10
Nutritional Supplementation 40
Intro to Clinic/Observation & Roundtable 60
Field Experience 10

Year 2 Total: 525 hours

Year 3 ~ This year brings the learning from the first two years to the clinical relationship. Primarily, the student will see clients under supervision in the community clinic, while also developing a business plan for their future work as an herbalist, and practice sharing their knowledge with the community.

Course, Contact Hours:

Supervised Clinical Practicum 200
Clinical Roundtable 90
Business Development 15
Skills for Complementary Professionals in Western Medical Paradigm 30 includes lab reading, communication skills
Materia Medica III (50 plants) 50
Community Teaching Practicum 10

Year 3 Total: 440 hours

Call (802) 224-7100

Write to 250 Main Street, Suite 302, Montpelier, VT 05602

e-mail us at info@vtherbcenter.org

Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism (VCIH) is located in the ‘Green Mountain Building’ overlooking the city of Montpelier, Vermont. As the state capital of Vermont, Montpelier offers great bookstores, a well-stocked library, arts and opportunities for political activism. It’s also home to the New England Culinary Institute.

Our space includes individual practitioner offices, a spacious classroom, waiting room/office area and apothecary. Here we offer not only our comprehensive curriculum, but also community education classes open to the public. The VCIH community clinic is held in this space as well as other locations in Central Vermont including City Market in Burlington. Outside the building we have both herb gardens and wild areas for herb walks. Our ‘summer classroom’ is the shade of a huge spruce tree on the lawn.

Our classes are also held in the woods and fields of Central Vermont, a land rich with native medicinal species, from Ginseng to Lady's Slipper orchids, and beautiful herb gardens where the student can gain a direct connection to the most important botanical medicines. Our campuses include a straw-bale laboratory and greenhouse, and downtown clinical offices in the small capital city of Montpelier. Give us a call to drop in for a visit!