Ohlone Center of Herbal Studies

Ohlone Center of Herbal Studies
A Division of Ohlone Herbal Center
1654 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94703
(510) 540-8010

The Ohlone Center of Herbal Studies

Educating a new generation of outstanding Herbalists

About the Ohlone Center of Herbal Studies
Established in 1995, the Ohlone Center of Herbal Studies is a leading educational and clinical center for sustainable systems of Western herbal-based healing. Based in Berkeley, California, the Center offers the most comprehensive, integrated education in Western herbal medicine and practice, and is one of very few schools nationwide with clinical internships in Western herbalism.

The Ohlone Center offers two distinct professional tracks to prepare students for careers in clinical herbalism:

(1) a three-year program of foundational, therapeutic, and clinical training through evening classes designed for working adults
(2) an intensive two-year apprenticeship program for full-time, daytime students covering the entire 3-year program tracks

Graduates of either program have all the knowledge they need to practice effective clinical herbalism. They take care of their communities by serving non-profit clinics, developing private practices, working with medical professionals, and teaching the next generation of practitioners.

Ohlone specializes in teaching graduates how to develop successful careers in herbal healing practices. Our support for students continues long after they complete their program, with peer practitioner groups that provide ongoing collaborations, a sense of professional community, and lifelong learning.

Why Pursue Herbal Studies?
Western herbalism provides critical healing solutions to physical, mental, and spiritual challenges in a changing health care environment. Based on time-honored traditions practiced worldwide today, Western botanicals offer a highly effective, affordable healing modality that is in balance with our natural resources. Throughout history, plants have been central to all forms of medicines; worldwide, 20,000 documented species are used for medicinal purposes.

Approximately 75 percent of the world population depends on botanicals for their basic health care needs, according to the World Health Organization. (pull quote)

In addition to providing primary healing for a wide range of health challenges, herbs can increase the effectiveness of modern drugs, decrease their side effects, and sometimes replace them.

The indigenous knowledge of plants and plant medicines is based on a deep relationship to the land, place, and home. This understanding is handed down through many generations using natural wisdom and scientific study. While allopathic drugs burden our natural resources and create waste contributing to global pollution, the use of local plants deeply benefits the body and the earth.

Plants are radiant beings with pure essences that heal the world. Simply being in their presence has a natural balancing effect on the human psyche and spirit.
From drinking herbal tea in the afternoon, to inhaling lavender essential oil at bedtime, we maintain our essential humanity by ingesting and infusing our bodies with the wilderness.

Benefits of Studying with Ohlone

ˇ Learn from inspiring, hands-on experience and mentors using innovative teaching methods
ˇ Understand plant medicine and its applications to physical, mental and spiritual healing
ˇ Gain deep understandings of herbalism by directly experiencing plants in the environment and in the body
ˇ Learn how to make the full range of custom herbal medicines, from extracts to salves to teas
ˇ Learn to work with complex, systemic health challenges
ˇ Gain extensive clinical training with expert supervision
ˇ Prepare for a wide range of herbal careers
ˇ Study and practice with peers who become a lifelong support group for networking, creating businesses, and case consultation

Ohlone Center Mission
The Ohlone Herbal Center encourages and renews a living knowledge of the healing powers of plants through the study and practice of traditional Western herbalism. The Center is committed to educating healers in successful careers as practicing herbalists and herbal educators.

Ohlone Center Divisions
ˇ Education
ˇ Clinic
ˇ Dispensary

The Ohlone Herbal Center is a California non-profit corporation and has applied for a 501 (c) (3) status. The Center has been educating clinical herbalists since 1995. We are committed to educating healers for successful careers as herbalists and/or herbal educators. The school offers a clinical herbalist training program in two different formats. The first option is a 3-year program consisting of two 10-month, Apprenticeship and Therapeutic courses, followed by a one-year Clinical Internship. The second option is a two-year program designed for the full-time student and has two courses: an 8 month Intensive and a one-year Clinical Internship. The entire program takes between 24 and 36 months to complete and consists of over 1,000 hours of direct teacher contact. Students who complete the Clinical Program graduate with a profound understanding of how to create, promote, and manage a successful herbal practice.

For more information, download a copy of the PDF document of Ohlone Center's 2008 brochure or click "contact us" button at top of this page to request a printed copy to be sent to you by regular mail. For Subject, key in Brochure; be sure to fill in your name and address.

Ohlone Herbal Center
Pam Fischer, Director

(510) 540-8010

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