Courses at Healix

Herbalism Foundations

The starting path for anyone learning plant medicine from the ground up

Six lessons covering what herbalism is (and isn't), when to see a clinician, plant energetics, the body's core systems herbalism works with, preparation forms, and how to build a starter apothecary you will actually use.

Energetics & Pulse Assessment for Practitioners

Move beyond hot/cold/damp/dry into the assessment tools that make clinical herbalism work

Twelve lessons that take the beginner-level four-quadrant model into real clinical assessment. You will learn pulse-taking from multiple traditions, basic tongue diagnosis, the six-tissue-state vocabulary, how the three doshas and four humours map onto modern energetic work, how to run a constitutional intake conversation, and how to triangulate pulse, tongue, and history into a usable picture of the person in front of you.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Building a Clinical Materia Medica

Develop deep working knowledge of 20-25 core plants, the discipline that makes formula-building possible

Twelve lessons on how to develop the kind of plant-by-plant knowledge that lets you build formulas rather than follow recipes. You will learn how to read monographs critically, run single-plant tastings, organize a personal materia medica notebook, and master the categories of action that show up in nearly every clinical situation — nervines, adaptogens, digestive bitters, cardiotonics, respiratory herbs, and vulneraries.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Homeopathy Starter

An honest introduction to classical homeopathy, for acute self-care at home

Six lessons covering what homeopathy is (and what the evidence actually says), potency and dilution, acute vs. chronic scope, how to take a case and dose a remedy, the top ten acute remedies, and when not to self-prescribe.

Acute Case-Taking and Remedy Selection

From 'I know Aconite is good for colds' to a disciplined process for choosing one acute remedy among many

Twelve lessons on how to take an acute case the way intermediate practitioners do — what modalities are and why they matter, how concomitants and mental-emotional states narrow the remedy choice, the practical materia medica of the most-used acute polychrests, and the criteria for knowing whether the chosen remedy is working.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Reading the Kent Repertory in Practice

The repertory is the bridge between case-taking and materia medica — this is how to use it

Twelve lessons on how to use a repertory as a working tool. You will learn what a repertory is and how Kent organized his, how to choose rubrics from a case, how to repertorize without over-rating common symptoms, how to compare the remedies that come up, and how to make a final selection — the skill set that turns a case into a defensible prescription.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Essential Oils Foundations

Safe, evidence-informed aromatherapy from the ground up

Six lessons covering what essential oils actually are, dilution math, phototoxicity and sensitization, methods of use, special populations (pregnancy, children, pets), and a starter 10 with blending basics.

Therapeutic Blending — Synergy and Carrier Selection

From single-oil use to deliberate blending — the chemistry, the synergy, and the safety

Twelve lessons that move you from using single essential oils to building deliberate therapeutic blends. You will learn the chemistry families that organize the field, what synergy means in practice, how to choose carrier oils for specific therapeutic purposes, the dilution math for each application route, and how to formulate blends for the most common clinical patterns — stress, inflammation, respiratory, and skin work.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Hydrosols and Aromatic Waters for Clinical Use

The other product of distillation — gentler, more versatile, and often the better choice

Twelve lessons on hydrosols — the aromatic waters produced alongside essential oils during distillation. Often overlooked, often the better choice. You will learn how hydrosols are produced, how they differ chemically and energetically from essential oils, the working pantheon of twelve hydrosols to know, internal and topical use, pH-compatible skin care, applications for children and elders, storage realities, and sourcing.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

The Six Tissue States and Building Formulas

Move from recipe-following to deliberate formula architecture

Twelve lessons that take the six-tissue-state framework into actual formula construction. You will learn the architecture of a working formula — lead, support, synergist, catalyst, harmonizer — how to choose each role, how to balance energetics across the formula, and how to set ratios that produce the action you intend rather than the action the recipe happened to land on.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Drug-Herb Interactions in Modern Practice

The clinical safety course every working herbalist needs

Twelve lessons on the practical clinical safety considerations of working with clients who take prescription medications. You will learn the major mechanisms of drug-herb interaction, the specific herb-drug pairs that cause real problems, the narrow-therapeutic-index drug list, and how to work alongside prescribing providers safely. This is the course nobody enjoys teaching and that every working herbalist needs.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Pet Herbalism 101

Safe herbs for dogs and cats — species metabolism, when to vet, first-aid kits

Six lessons covering why pets are not small humans metabolically, the vet-vs-herbs triage framework, dosing and forms pets will actually accept, ten go-to herbs for dogs, five for cats, and how to build a species-appropriate first-aid kit.

Dog-Specific Constitutional Approaches

Energetic and clinical herbalism applied to dogs across breed, age, and pattern

Twelve lessons that apply the constitutional-herbal framework to dogs. You will learn dog-specific physiology, breed tendencies that affect constitutional choices, age-stage considerations, the common chronic patterns (allergies, GI, joint, anxiety, skin), and how to work alongside veterinary care.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Feline Metabolism: What Cats Can and Cannot Take

Cats are not small dogs — the specialized practice of cat herbalism

Twelve lessons on the specialized practice of cat herbal support. You will learn the metabolic peculiarities (especially glucuronidation deficits) that make many herbs and essential oils inappropriate for cats, the substantially shorter safe-herb list, the specific cat health patterns, and how to work with feline veterinarians.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Key Plant Families and Their Diagnostic Features

Recognize plants at the family level — the single most useful skill in field identification

Twelve lessons on identifying plants at the botanical family level using diagnostic characters you can see in the field. You will learn the dozen most relevant families for medicinal plant work, the specific features that identify each, and how to predict medicinal action and safety patterns from family-level identification.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Wildcrafting Ethics and Dangerous Look-Alikes

The safety and ethics of harvesting from the wild

Twelve lessons on the practical and ethical practice of wildcrafting medicinal plants. You will learn the six verification methods for plant identification, the most dangerous look-alike pairs, the sustainability and ethical considerations of harvesting from the wild, and when wildcrafting is wrong.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Tinctures & Liquid Extracts: Intermediate Formulation

Move from "fill a jar, top with vodka" to pharmacopoeial-grade liquid extracts

Twelve lessons that take the folk-method tincture maker into precise liquid-extract territory. You will learn the chemistry behind menstruum choice, the math of weight-to-volume preparation, the difference between maceration and percolation, the special cases of glycerites, oxymels, and double extracts, and how to label and store a finished apothecary so the work you do today still serves you in five years.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Salves, Balms & Topical Preparations: Intermediate Formulation

From the all-purpose salve into real topical formulation — lip balms, butters, emulsions, and preservation

Twelve lessons that move you from "calendula infused in olive oil with beeswax" into deliberate topical formulation. You will work through skin anatomy and absorption routes, the chemistry of carrier oils and butters, the three infused-oil methods (solar, heat, alcohol intermediary), the beeswax ratio spectrum from lip balm to hard stick, a healing-salve build using three plants, and the harder territory of emulsions and preservation that most home-craft books skip.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Designing a Working Apothecary Garden

The garden that supplies a working herbal practice — beautiful, functional, and intentional

Twelve lessons on designing and growing a medicinal garden that actually supplies a working herbal practice. You will learn site assessment, the 30-plant core apothecary, bed design, annual and perennial selection, soil fertility for medicinal plants, succession planting, and harvest planning across the season.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Harvest Timing — Phytochemistry by Season and Phase

The chemistry of when to harvest each plant part for maximum medicinal value

Twelve lessons on the timing of harvest for maximum medicinal compound. You will learn the diurnal and seasonal chemistry of plants, the right harvest moments for aerial parts, roots, bark, seeds, and resins, the realities of lunar timing in traditional practice, and how to preserve compounds during drying and storage.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Cycle Support — Premenstrual Through Perimenopausal Stages

Herbal support for the menstrual lifecycle, from puberty through post-menopause

Twelve lessons on the menstrual cycle as constitutional information and how herbal practice supports the patterns at each life stage. You will learn the physiology of the cycle, the common variants of premenstrual patterns, the herbs for heavy or irregular periods, the perimenopausal transition, and how to work alongside hormonal therapies clients may be taking.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Lactation — Herbs to Use, Herbs to Avoid

The safety-critical course on herbal practice around fertility, birth, and the postpartum year

Twelve lessons on the specialized herbal practice around pregnancy, birth, and lactation. You will learn the contraindicated herb list, generally safe herbs by trimester, labor preparation, postpartum recovery, lactation support, working with midwives and OBs, and the safety discipline this work requires.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

The Four-Season Apothecary — What to Make When

The annual rhythm of harvest, preparation, and use that produces a working apothecary

Twelve lessons on the seasonal rhythm of herbal practice — what to harvest in each season, what to make when, what to use when. You will learn the natural pacing of a year-round apothecary, how to plan ahead so preparations are ready when needed, and the wisdom of working with rather than against the seasons.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist

Seasonal Constitutional Shifts and Adaptogen Strategy

How constitutions shift across the year and the adaptogen rotation strategy that supports them

Twelve lessons on how constitutions shift through the seasons and how adaptogen-driven herbal practice can support these shifts. You will learn the constitutional patterns of each season, the adaptogen rotation strategy that addresses changing needs, and how to coordinate adaptogen practice with other herbal work.

with Deidre Starner, Master Herbalist