Family Herbalist

Family Herbalist Review from the Online School of Natural Healing

The Family Herbalist course is the first section in the Master Herbalist program and is a prerequisite to any other course offered by The School of Natural Healing, including the Iridology, Reflexology, and Aromatherapy programs. In explores important concepts in natural medicine that even the most experienced natural healers need to know for success.
The Family Herbalist course helps you to:

• learn how to have a safe and healthy pregnancy
• understand what foods help the body fight infection
• make poultices and fomentations
• identify and use wild herbs
• treat your family quickly with herbal first aid
• become more self sufficient by becoming your own primary health provider
• maintain a healthy lifestyle

Why I decided to take the courseThe reason I took the course is because I wanted to become "Dr Mom" for my children and my family. There is so much to know about herbs that I have been a little bit intimidated by them. My father knows a lot about herbs. I was raised in a holistic family, but I never took the time to become familiar with herbal uses myself.
What was good about the Family Herbalist course?
The thing I really liked about the course was its systematic, step-by-step approach to learning the material. Yes, I could just go to the library and check out a few books on herbs and learn much of the same material, but I have had years to do so, and somehow it never happened. This course helped me finish my studies because there is three months to finish the family herbalist course. The incentive to follow through with the course was there because I invested the money, I wanted the certificate, and it is a prerequisite for all of their other courses. The materials in the course are all digitally included with the price, although I did purchase the physical books separately because I prefer to do my bulk reading kinesthetically, and I wanted to have a permanent resource when the course was done. The course is very well organized, and I loved the materials.
What could be improved?
It is a self-directed online course, so the interaction with the teachers is minimal. There is a grader, but you only hear from them if you completely don't get the material. I'm sure I could have contacted someone if I needed to, but I did understand the material so there was very little interaction. Also, they never gave me a solid deadline to finish the family herbalist course. I had to send them an e-mail asking exactly how much time I had, and they didn't respond. Then I called them, and the person on the phone was very friendly and told me. I was pleased that I actually had a little more time then I had expected because I had purchased during the holidays. Also, the online videos downloaded very slowly. We have fast internet connection, but it still took a long time to watch them. If you have a slow connection, I suggest that you purchase the videos. They were very good, in fact I considered purchasing them myself after I watched it, but I never did.
What was it like?
The family herbalist course was similar in difficulty to the basic general courses that I took in college. You listen to a few audios of their radio program. There were study guides for a couple of videos and two of the three books. The study guides were in depth, requiring a thorough study of the books. It is the study guides that ensure that the course material is learned. The quizzes and even the final exam were easy. I got myself all worked up to take them. I was nervous, but when I saw the questions, I laughed and breezed through it. Most of the questions were multiple-choice. I did miss one answer for spelling it incorrectly (a computer grades you), but I did well enough that losing a point for spelling wasn't a problem.

Materials in the Family Herbalist course

  Book Review, Herbal Home Health Care
Having children has given me a feeling of obligation to them to give them the best treatment for their illnesses. We have decided not to vaccinate our children, a decision which I feel is the best for our family. As we researched the pros and cons of the needle, I did become concerned about what we should do for our children if they did get some of these childhood illnesses. I know a little boy who got the mumps and the parents treated him with herbs and he quickly overcame the illness. I want to have the resources to give my children the same thing. Herbal Home Health Care is an invaluable resource for that end. The book would make a great baby-shower gift.

  

Book Review, An Herbal Legacy of Courage
This book gave me a great appreciation for the man behind the formulas and school of healing. Dr. Christopher suffered from various physical ailments from childhood and dreamed of becoming a doctor. Herbalists of the day were persecuted for their practice and so he avoided the study, but his love for people, his profound respect for nature and God's creations, and his gift of healing caught up to him. He too was persecuted for practicing his art, until finally he was not allowed to practice and instead founded the School of Natural Healing to teach others what he learned. I was truly inspired by this book.

   Book Review, Herbs to the Rescue
This is a great resource to have on the shelf to look up what to do for herbal first aid. It was less enjoyable as a cover-to-cover read, but it was short and easy to understand. There is a shorter list of essential herbs to become familiar with for their many healing properties, an alphabetical list of different ailments and which herbs to use for them, and advice for emergency preparedness. Herbs can work quickly and wonderfully to treat shock, stop bleeding, and cleanse toxins from the body. Cayenne is one my favorite herbs since I finished the course. We use it often in our home.


What has changed since I finished the Family Herbalist course?
One of the biggest things that the course teaches is to have a "mucus-less diet", one free of mucus-creating foods that slow the digestive system down and cause constipation. This includes eggs, meat (besides fish and poultry), bread, and dairy. We decided to go dairy free for a month and see if there were any improvements. As promised, my children's runny noses stopped and we had clearer throats the rest of the winter. We ate a lot of nuts and fresh vegetables and thoroughly enjoyed the diet. But in the end, we missed our ice cream and cheese, so overall we have tried to cut back on dairy and eat more raw foods, but not give up the dairy. Oh, and I love my fresh whole-wheat bread too much to even consider abandoning the practice.
  We drink a lot of fresh fruit and vegetable juices from the Hurom Slow Juicer we invested in right after taking the course. In addition to juice, we make almond milk with it by putting the almonds through with water, and then pouring the milky water through a few more times. We get our almonds at Sam's Club, that's as cheap as anything we saw online or anywhere else. Our children have fallen in love with almond milk. They guzzle down carrot/apple juice, and celery/lime juice (with a little bit of sugar), and we love it too. If you are going to be eating a lot of raw vegetables, this is one way to make it easier.
We have also invested in a few herbs like cayenne and comfrey that we keep handy and we use for general first aid when the need arises. I am still quite the beginner, but the family herbalist course has helped me to get my feet wet, and I look forward to taking more classes from them as the opportunity may arise.