CommonWealth Holistic Herbalism

There is no board that licenses or certifies herbalists in the United States. Although many schools claim you can be a "certified herbalist", there's actually no such thing! What they mean is, they will give you a certificate of completion from their school.

Because there is no certifying board, the only way to demonstrate that you have met the type of requirements that licensure or certification might require is to apply to be recognized as a Registered Herbalist in the American Herbalists' Guild. Although it is not the same as licensure, it does show that you have achieved a high level of education, practice, and skill that is worth recognition.

Whether or not herbalism will become a licensed profession in the future is hard to know - and there's not a clear-cut answer as to whether licensure would be good or bad for the practice. But for now, applying to be recongnized as a Registered Herbalist in the  Guild, is a great way to show that you've done the work - whether or not you actually want to go into business.

We've created this tracking tool to make it easier to keep all of your application requirements in one place, and to see clearly when you've met every criterion. Whether you're a student at our school, or taking courses with someone else, we hope this tool will make keeping track of your progress much easier!