Understanding relational health and how to implement client-centered clinical skills allows us to grow as practitioners and people, create safer space for our clients, cocreate effective health plans, attracts more clients, and improves our client retention rate.

This class is geared towards student and currently practicing herbalists and other open-minded healthcare practitioners who are interested in:


  • Deepening your understanding of relational health skills


  • Building client retention and attracting more clients to your practice


  • Learning how to co-create effective client care plans for better health outcomes


  • Understanding how privilege and bias affect our therapeutic relationships and informs our clinical decisions AND knowing how to prevent these biases.


  • Implementing concrete trauma-informed skills into your practice to build trust and create a safer space for your clients


  • Take a client-centered history AND get all of the information you need to accurately assess your client’s health concerns.


This is a participatory and discussion-centric class. In between live classes, you will have assignments to prepare you for class discussion. Assignments will include relational health skill identification using recordings of real consultations and follow-ups, watching short lecture videos, and filling out discussion questions. 


Classes are discussion-based and Mel likes to hold space for everyone's contributions while balancing the need to get through learning objectives. Therefore, please plan to be available for 3 hours each class session, while knowing that occasionally we might get through the material in slightly less time.


This class is limited to 20 people, and registration will close as soon as the spots are filled. The class will be offered again. Please email [email protected] if you want to reserve your spot in a future relational health series. 


This class isn’t for you if:

You don’t believe that privilege exists.

You don’t think that racism, sexism, and income disparities affect health, Herbal Medicine, or the U.S. Healthcare system

You aren’t ready and willing to look at your explicit and implicit biases and how they affect your therapeutic relationships and inform clinical decisions


Live classes are on Tuesdays from 5-8 pm EST on:

January 18th

January 25th

February 1st

February 8th

February 22nd

March 1st

March 8th

March 15th

March 22nd

April 19th


If you are interested in taking this class, but the cost is a barrier, we are offering one full scholarship this term for folks with financial needs. Special consideration will be taken for practitioners/student practitioners working with lower income and/or marginalized individuals in a free or sliding scale clinic setting or working as a street medic.

We hope to be able to offer 2-3 per term in the future, but we are keeping the class size small for this first session. If you apply and don’t get in this term, you will automatically be entered into consideration for the next term. 

 

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome to the Course!!

    • Hi, I'm Mel!

  • 2

    Pre-Class Assignment

    • Preparing For Class and Discussion

  • 3

    WEEK 1: What is Client Centered Care?

    • Live Class Jan 18th, 5pm EST

    • Scope of Practice Assignment

  • 4

    WEEK 2: Deconstructing Trauma Informed Care

    • Live Class Jan 25th, 5pm EST

    • Watch Video on Bias

    • Take Quiz on Bias

    • Healthcare Bias Statistics

  • 5

    WEEK 3: Exploring Our Bias and Privilege

    • Live Class Feb 1st 5pm EST

    • Watch recorded consultation with peer

  • 6

    WEEK 4: Client Centered History Taking Part 1

    • Live Class Feb 8th, 5pm EST

    • History Taking Assignment

  • 7

    WEEK 5: Client Centered History Taking Part 2

    • Live Class Feb 22nd, 5pm EST

    • What is Mental Health?

  • 8

    WEEK 6: Mental Health and Resiliency Building in Clinical Practice

    • Live Class March 1st, 5pm EST

  • 9

    WEEK 7: Applied Harm Reduction in Clinical Practice

    • Live Class March 8th, 5pm EST

    • Preparing for Live Case Assignment

  • 10

    WEEK 8: Live Case Shadowing

    • Live Class March 15th, 5pm EST

    • Assignment -- Watch Two Case Recordings

  • 11

    WEEK 9: Introduction to Case Management; Compliance VS Cocreation.

    • Live Class March 22nd, 5pm EST

  • 12

    Post Class Integration and Q&A

    • Live Class April 19th, 5pm EST