Practice herbalism safely.

A thorough understanding of Herb-Drug interactions and Herb Safety is critical if you plan to practice as a clinical herbalist.

But these days, it's just as important for folks practicing at the Community level too: so many people take pharmaceuticals today! 

That's just not something that herbalists had to deal with even just a couple decades ago.

Take the time now to get in-depth and detailed about the potential for herb-drug interactions, and about all the considerations for herb safety, so that you know you're serving your community and your clients well!

In this course, you'll learn how to:

🌿 Practice safely even when you don't have all the information you need

🌿 Identify and assess herb-drug interactions, read studies and case reports, and determine how they're applicable to your practice

🌿 Understand the mechanisms of actions of plants and pharmaceuticals so that you can make accurate assessments about where there is risk

🌿 Understand the herbal constituents that are most likely to cause interactions or safety concerns, and what to do to work around them

🌿  Make adjustments for people who have special risk factors, like elders or people with complex medical issues

And you'll learn all about the known interactions and known herb safety issues to date!


This course is currently being updated and new material is being added so that you're up-to-date with the latest details! 

You'll get 25+ hours of instructional videos, as well as PDF handouts, quizzes and homework assignments, and more - plus weekly Q&A discussions where you can talk directly with Ryn and Katja.


Practice safely, in your clinic and in your community!

What you'll learn

  • Safe Practice

    How to build habits of safe practice so you never have to wonder if you missed something.

  • Research Skills

    How to get comfortable with scientific documents and clearly determine what is applicable to your practice.

  • Known Herb-Drug Interactions

    As well as methods for predicting new ones and assessing risk and safety in unknown situations.

  • Safety with Specific Herbs & Constituents

    Some herbs have more safety considerations than others. Learn how to work safely with stronger herbs and categories of constituents.

  • Safety with At-Risk Groups

    Some situations require more care, even with herbs that are usually safe. Learn how to work safely with infants, elders, immune compromised folks, and complex cases.

This course is for everyone!

You don't have to be a clinical herbalist to take this course - and you don't have to be enrolled in the Clinical Herbalist Program.

These days, so many people take pharmaceuticals that it's a good idea for everyone to have a good Herb Safety education!

If you take this course and at some future date decide to enroll in the whole Clinical Herbalist Program, make sure to email us first so that we can make you a special coupon code to deduct the cost of this course from the bundle! :-)

Course curriculum

    1. Welcome!

    2. A special live Q&A time for Clinical students!

    3. Accessing the Live CLINICAL Q&A sessions

    4. Mountain Rose Herbs + Foster Farms discount codes

    5. How to use this platform

    6. How to use the Discussions feature

    7. Meet our Friends!

    8. Chatting in the Community Space

    9. Every Body is Different

    10. Use of Course Material (Intellectual Property)

    11. ✅ The Clinical Herbalist Courses are being updated!

    1. 2023: Updates to this Course

    2. Advanced Material: Pre-requisites & Co-requisites

    3. Introduction

    4. Introduction [audio]

    5. How to Work Through this Course

    1. Sometimes There is Uncertainty

    2. Don't Panic :-)

    3. Don't Panic :-) [audio]

    4. Exercises to Help You Build "Don't-Panic" Habits

    5. Knowledge is an Antidote to Panic

    6. Getting Familiar with Common Drugs

    7. Getting Familiar with Common Drugs [audio]

    8. It's a Start!

    9. Quick Guide: Don't Panic: Safety with Uncertainty

    1. Finding Good Research is Important, & Hard

    2. Where Should You Find Good Research?

    3. Where Should You Find Good Research? [audio]

    4. Resources for Research Referenced in the Previous Video

    5. Drug Research Resources

    6. How to Read Scientific Studies

    7. Sometimes Things Move on the Internet

    8. Clinical Trials Involving Traditional Syndrome Differentiation

    9. Where You Won't Find Good Research

    10. Where You Won't Find Good Research [audio]

    11. A Good Example of Bad Research

    12. How to Interpret Papers & Studies

    13. How to Interpret Papers & Studies [audio]

    14. A Word From Our Sponsor: Motivation! 💪

    15. A Word From Our Sponsor: Motivation! 💪 [audio]

    16. Will Black Licorice Candy Kill You??

    17. Materials & Methods: Understanding What They Were Actually Studying

    18. Materials & Methods: Understanding What They Were Actually Studying [audio]

    19. Antiretroviral Activity of St. John's Wort

    20. Meruelo et al 1988 - SJW Hypericin Antiretroviral Activity Study

    21. St. John's Wort Antiretroviral Dose Analysis - Doing the Math

    22. St. John's Wort Antiretroviral Dose Analysis - Doing the Math [audio]

    23. Finding Studies from Start to Finish

    24. Finding Studies from Start to Finish [audio]

    25. Quick Guide: Researching Herbal Safety

    1. While We're on the Topic of Research...

    2. Understanding Social Media Recommendation Algorithms - Knight First Amendment Institute

    3. More on AI & How it Affects Searching

    4. This is Not, Actually, a New Problem: Fake Scientific Studies

    1. What is "Toxicity"?

    2. Understanding Toxicology

    3. Understanding Toxicology [audio]

    4. Mulberry Toxicity

    5. The AHPA Mulberry Report

    6. Is Heated Honey Toxic?

    7. Quick Guide: Understanding Toxicology

About this course

  • $300.00
  • 163 lessons
  • 29 hours of video content

Certificate Information

You will receive a certificate for the successful completion of this course. 

This course has 77 credit hours.

This represents the actual time of video instruction and live Q&A, as well as the time allocated for your capstone assignment, quizzes, and other assignments & activities required for completion of the course.


It is reasonable to plan about twice that much time to complete the work: this is because most students like to watch the videos more than once, review their notes, and many students complete more than the required activities. You might also enjoy joining a study group in our Student Community, and you might choose to work on extra activities together as a group to help you internalize all that you've learned. 


Regardless of how long it takes you, there is never any pressure! You have access to this material for life, and in fact, when we add updates and new materials, you receive it all for free, automatically!


If new material is added after you have received your certificate, we are happy to send you a new updated certificate to document the additional time when you complete the new material.

But wait, there's more! 🙂

In addition to the videos, we provide features to accommodate all the different ways people like to learn, so you can internalize the information easily!

  • Lifetime access - so you can review the content as many times as you like, forever! And: every time we make updates, you get the new material for free!

  • Weekly live Q&A sessions with Katja and Ryn - to ask your questions directly, live and in person! (They're even archived, in case you miss one!) This course has 1 year live Q&A support.

  • Ask questions anytime - we're always just a click away: you can ask any questions in the integrated discussion forum, and we're committed to personally answering your questions, usually within 24 hours.

  • Printable PDF materials - if you like to follow the videos along on paper, or keep them handy for a quick reference.

  • Downloadable MP3 files - so you can review the content while you commute, workout, garden, ... anytime!

  • Access to our Private Student Community - we run a vibrant student community with a mobile app (completely private, NOT on social media!) for our students, so that you can share with each other and support one another! Join study groups, swap herbs, chat about your practice, and more!

25+ hours of in-depth videos, downloadable quick guides, live Q&A sessions, and more - all for $300!

So many folks take pharmaceuticals now:
you need to know how to practice safely in this environment!

Your Teachers

Two heads are better than one!


Katja & Ryn
Katja & Ryn

Katja & Ryn almost always teach together. They each have particular talents and areas of interest, and their perspectives on certain issues are quite different! Together, they convey a fuller picture of the realities of herbal theory & practice than either one could do alone.

Katja is an herbalist and teacher working to help people rebuild their relationships with their bodies and their own ability to heal. She’s been in practice for nearly 25 years, but it all began with a desire to make her own “fancy tea” at home instead of paying high prices for imported blends at specialty stores. She’s kept that do-it-yourself ethic close to her heart.

Ryn has been a practicing herbalist since 2010. He came to herbalism by way of martial arts, where his first experiences with herbs were focused on getting back into the game and becoming more flexible, adaptable, and resilient. Passing that experience on to others is what keeps him motivated every day.

Together, Katja and Ryn teach everyone from children to elders, as well as pharmacy students from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Northeastern University School of Pharmacy, where they both serve as associate faculty. Ryn and Katja are the authors of Herbal Medicine for Beginners, and the creators of the weekly Holistic Herbalism Podcast.

Zero-Risk Return Policy

Teaching isn't just about conveying information - there's also an aspect of being someone's "cup of tea".

So we want you to take the first 14 days to really decide if you love it or not. If for any reason you feel like this program isn’t right for you - if we're just not your cup of tea - we’ll give you a full refund. You don't even need a reason - just please let us know within 14 days of purchase.