The Herbal Sensorium

As we are exploring ‘professionalism’ this month in the Herbal Practice Connexion (HPX), I have been taking some time to dive beneath the shallows of my own constructs by seeking perspectives about professionalism from Western popular culture as well as other healthcare fields. However, before jumping into the ocean of opinions on professionalism, I first needed to get clear about my own. What are my beliefs surrounding what it means to ‘be professional’ or ‘act with professionalism’ as a clinical herbalist?

References:

• More than a list of values and desired behaviors: a foundational understanding of medical professionalism
• Refining a Definition of Medical Professionalism
• The Problem and Power of Professionalism: A Critical Analysis of Medical Students’ and Residents’ Perspectives and Experiences of Professionalism

Hello again my favorite plant people. Thank you for joining me again this month in the Herbal Sensorium for a journey into my values as a clinical herbalist and how these values translate into how I show up for my clients, for my business, and for myself as a practitioner and entrepreneur. I explore this rich topic through the lens, or metaphor, of the dandelion…because for me, the dandelion has become a potent symbol, or a talisman, for upholding these values in my clinical work and my approach to business...because clinical herbal practice is a business after all.

Here are links to all the great things I mention during this episode:

• Herbal Practice Connexion (HPX)
• Camille Freeman, RH, LDN - Bloom & Grow
• Golden Hour Farm
• United Plant Savers
• Sustainable Herbs Program
• American Herbalists Guild
• National Institute of Medical Herbalists

See you next month,

~ Erika

Thank you all for tuning in to this month's musings in the Herbal Sensorium where I bask in the paradox of Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and go on a declarative journey into the idea that the Art of herbalism is actually our superpower...As per usual, I have a ton of links for you to explore:

• Aromatic Medicine Garden Membership with the Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine
• Aromatic Distillation workshop at Oshala Farm, July 2023
• Essence of Place workshop in Scotland, August 2023
• Herbal Practice Connexion (HPX)
• Clinical Forms in Herbal Practice, May 2023
• International Herb Symposium, June 2023
• William Cook, 1869, The Physiomedical Dispensatory
• Finley Ellingwood, 1919, The American Materia Medica
• John Scudder, 1870, Specific Medications and Specific Medicines
• William Salmon, 1710, Botanologia, or The English Herbal

And thus, we have arrived at this month’s musings here in the Herbal Sensorium where not only do I liberate lemon balm from falsehood and take a deep dive into its kindly medicinal ways, but I take the opportunity to share about something called ‘clinical relevance’, why we need to dig deep and question when we hear lines in the sand drawn about herbs, and how only you can prevent herbal rumors.

Thank you all for sharing this time with me and helping me save lemon balm from the prison of a contradiction that it doesn't deserve. Here are the links I mentioned in this episode...

Evidence-based Practice Model

Sackett, D., Rosenberg, W., Gray, J., et al. (1996). Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn’t. British Medical Journal, 312, 71-72.

Hoffman, T., Bennett, S., & Del Mar, C. 2013. Evidence-based practice: across the health professions (2nd ed.). Chatswood, NSW: Elsevier.

The source of the lemon balm rumor...

April 1984 – In vitro - ether extraction of freeze-dried aqueous extracts and rat liver

August 1984 –In vitro – freeze-dried aqueous extracts on bovine TSH binding to human thyroid plasma membranes (rat testis and liver also)

May 1985 – In vitro – freeze-dried extracts and human thyroid membranes

October 2003 - Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) transfected with human TSH receptors (from abstract - unclear about type of extract used)

Awesome work from my herbal friends and colleagues...

jim mcdonald's Lindera course (both in person and online options available)

Camille Freeman's podcast episode debunking an herbal rumor about Vitex agnus-castus

Simon Mills Book The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine

Whilst audio editing continues to be a work in progress, I really enjoyed sharing my thoughts and musings about herbalism as a means to encouraging a loving relationship with our bodies, my perspectives on the role of adaptogens in providing deep nourishment for depleted systems, and a spotlight on an widely studied adaptogenic herb Eleuthero, Eleutherococcus senticosus, that is new to my medicine gardens but who has been a steady and stable ally in my clinical practice for over 17 years.

~ Here is one of my favorite author’s Sharon Blackie writing about Imbolg

~ The Cailleach’s Herbarium on La Féill Brίd

~ Tairis: Gaelic Polytheism and specifically Là Fhèill Brìghde 

~ Herbal & Aromatic Energetics in the Emotional Realm

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes – The Joyous Body

~ Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism - Donnie Yance

~ Joe Hollis from Mountain Gardens talks about Eleuthero

Thanks for sticking with me through my very first podcast post! I think I have a bit to work on when it comes to audio editing, but I’ll get there. Here are the links that I mentioned during this month’s Herbal Sensorium.

~ Here are two different systematic reviews covering clinical trials on the effectiveness of St John’s Wort for mild to moderate depression: #1 and #2

~ My upcoming 5-part intensive Demystifying Herbal Research & Herb-Drug Interactions taking place in February 2023 as well as my FREE class What Every Herbal Practitioner Should Know about Herb-Drug Interactions taking place on January 18th 2023.

~ Easy recipes for St John’s Wort Infused Oil and Tincture from the Herbal Academy

~ Tradition of use from the Eclectic Physicians

~ My source for St John’s Wort essential oil (not an affiliate link - I just love sharing the love).

~ A wonderful source of St John’s Wort live plants and seeds (you need to search by Latin (Hypericum perforatum). Hypericum punctatum seeds also available.

~ My favorite American herb farms growing St John’s Wort for fresh plant or dried plant orders are Oshala Farm in Oregon and Golden Hour Farm in Michigan