Programs at the Blue Ridge School

Overview: This 6-month, 400-hour program is for anyone who wants to be self-sufficient for their health and medicine, whether you intend to be treating yourself and your family, to be a community healer, or whether you wish to have a public practice as an Herbalist. It is appropriate both for committed beginners and for those who have already begun their studies. This class is intended to give you all the tools you need to go beyond treating symptoms and use diagnostic skills and knowledge about specific plants to treat at a deep level. Holistic herbalism is a beautiful art combining plant wisdom, intuitive and scientific diagnosis, and artful treatment.

Overview: Healing with plants is an ancient tradition with a history as long as humanity’s, if not longer. In this program, we learn how to integrate the history and tradition of herbal medicine with modern insights and science to create a holistic way of understanding the body in health and disease. In this class we will study both a holistic approach to the western scientific model as well as a holistic paradigm of healing using traditional systems of healing that help us see the "pattern of imbalance" that creates disease rather than just alleviating symptoms. At its base, holistic Herbalism treats clients, not diseases. This 140-hour program will give you a good foundation in holistic and herbal medicine, so that upon graduation you will know how to treat yourself, your family, your friends, and be prepared for further study if you so desire.

Overview: For those who want to continue their study of herbal medicine and become a practitioner, the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine offers a unique opportunity to learn the necessary skills, from assessment to treatment, and then practice those skills in a community Free Clinic under the supervision of Asheville’s leading herbalists.

Students will learn holistic approaches to disease, how to take a medical history, make assessments and treatment plans, and how to integrate lessons from the traditional energetic systems of Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. Students observe and then conduct consultations in small groups, and finally participate in the Clinical Round Table.