Welcome to the course!

We suggest you start by going through our introduction called ‘How to do your course’.

It tells you all you need to know about the platform.

When you’ve done that, click the first module below, Understanding therapeutic actions.

Disclaimer

We do not take responsibility for any of the actions you take after reading this course, nor any advice you give your clients, nor for the choices they make.

Beware that the rules can change from time to time. If you are in doubt, seek advice from a lawyer to check that you are operating legally.

Legal requirements: please read carefully

In many countries, including the UK and USA, you may not act as a doctor unless you have passed medical exams. Similarly, only vets can prescribe treatments for animals.

In practice, however, thousands of herbalists provide help and advice to millions of grateful clients. Here therefore, are some guidelines on staying within the law.

1. Do not claim to ‘practice medicine’. Instead, you must teach people to take better care of themselves, rather than diagnose or treat diseases.
2. Inform your clients that you are not a doctor (even if you have a Ph.D. in a health related field) and that you cannot prescribe medicines for certain illnesses. You will look at the client’s lifestyle and make suggestions for herbal supplements that they can take to improve their lifestyle. You will not for instance state to the client, ‘The symptoms suggest that you have bronchitis, for this I will diagnose you with a herbal remedy’.
3. The four words that you must never use are:

• Prescribe
• Diagnose
• Treatment
• Cure

4. Your goal is to help a person stay healthy. It isn’t to cure illness. During an interview with a client you should look for factors that may be affecting their health, such as their eating habits. You can then suggest improving their eating habits, or offer some herbal supplements.
5. Ask your clients to sign the disclaimer agreement that you can find online, here – www.inst.org/herbal/form.doc. This will ensure they realise you are not ‘practising medicine’ and you will not cure their illnesses, and will protect you from legal action.
6. Always make sure that you act responsibly, and only suggest remedies that you are positive will benefit the client. It is better to turn a client away, than put them in any danger.