Herbalista Apprenticeship

An Herbal Tradition

Herbal apprentices are a vital part of our herbal tradition. For many years, we offered an apprenticeship program at Herbalista so herb students could put their learning into practice.

Our herbal apprenticeship is currently in hibernation as we focus our efforts on the Free School initiative, creating free online programming and courses for all you herbalistas. And although we are not currently running this program, we have left the page intact to demonstrate our approach to apprenticeships as a guide to others looking to offer apprenticeships as well.

The Atlanta apprenticeship program has been a vital part of Herbalista and we thank the apprentices who took part for helping us build the Herbalista programming and our Model of Community Care. When Herbalista resumes our apprenticeship program, we will announce it here and on our social media accounts.  Thank you for your interest in working with us.

In the meantime, if you are in the Atlanta area and are looking for an herbal apprenticeship, please consider the Fleur and Forage Apprenticeship with Marie-Lies Van Asten who has been a longtime crew member of Herbalista and steward of the Atlanta Herb Cart. 

Lorna sits outside the Herb Bus at the intake table and Corinne stands over her shoulder making notes in the files. Inside the bus are three other apprentices, sitting at the different stations.

About our Apprenticeship

Although we are not currently running this apprenticeship program, we are still sharing the information to demonstrate our approach as a guide to others looking to offer apprenticeships as well.

The Herbalista apprenticeship blends community healthcare and herbal education with passionate service,  and typically requires a 1 year commitment. There is no tuition fee for this program. 

Please note, this is NOT an academic herbal training program and applicants must already have a solid foundation in herbal medicine, including some medicine making, materia medica and the basics of western medical herbalism.  A familiarity with TCM, Ayurveda, or other traditional herbal modality that provides an understanding of energetics is also helpful.  If you don’t already have a valid first aid certification, you will need to schedule this training if accepted into our program.

As a community health initiative, Herbalista adapts our programming to the changing needs of our community.  This has never been more important than during this pandemic.  The schedule we have indicated below is what we are currently running, but we ask that all applicants be flexible and understand that details of the apprenticeship program can be subject to change! 

General Herbalista Apprenticeship Schedule:

  • Apprentices will also assist with other activities scattered throughout the year– such as with fundraisers, contributing to the Grow a Row Program (plant harvesting and processing work), our Seasonal Hydrosol Distillations (4 x’s per year) and occasional Solidarity Medicine Making Workshops.
  • Apprentices meet 1 day a week at Herbalista HQ, typically from 10am – 5pm.  Apprentices learn skills as they assist with apothecary maintenance, medicine making, herb processing, and community clinic management.
  • Once a month we offer an Edible + Medicinal Plant Ramble in a different city park around Atlanta.  The scheduling of these walks are weather and daylight dependent.  They can be during a weekday evening or a weekend afternoon, depending on the season.  These Rambles raise funds for the Free Clinic and are also a learning opportunity for apprentices!
  • The last Thursday of each month is when we offer our free mobile clinic (i.e. Herb Bus, Herb Cart, etc.)   On this day the the apprentice hours are from 8:30AM-3PM.  
  • Apprentices also have the option of working at other pop-up HerbCare Station that Herbalista offers around town.

Full Disclosure

Dedicating yourself to free community herbal healthcare is not an easy task! Basically, it’s not always a rose-scented-cauldron-stirring kinda situation.

The hours we spend in actual clinic are minor in comparison to all of the behind the scenes work we must do to keep a project like this going! There is bottle washing.  There is schlepping. There is paperwork.  There is medicine making.  There is kit and dispensary maintenance.  There is organizing… and reorganizing. There is scheduling.  There is fundraising.  And yes, there is laundry and dishes.

We are the underbelly of healthcare and we take on what others won’t or can’t.  We make the best of often shitty situations.  We navigate difficult personalities and bear witness to injustice at all levels of society.  We do a lot with a little and a little with next to nothing.  We make a difference… sometimes.  We are cultivating community day by day, planting seeds and pulling weeds (which we then turn into medicine, of course.)

We self-reflect.  We acknowledge our privilege and our trauma. We acknowledge those things in the world.  We meet people where they are at. We hold safe space.  We do our best and we make mistakes. We learn and we give it another shot.  We are works in progress.

Community herbalism inspires creativity and promotes agility.  It is empowering and humbling. It illuminates your mind, nurtures your capacity for love, but can also break your heart.  For me the important thing is that we are in this together.   We have each other and we have the plants.

We are lucky to be community herbalists indeed!

Apprenticeship Requirements

Please note, this is NOT an academic training program, but a chance to put your learning into action. We expect folks entering this apprenticeship to already have a foundation in herbal medicine. We understand that folks will have different backgrounds and hope that these requirements will make for a more cohesive experience for the crew.

  • Have a solid foundation in herbal medicine acquired through either program study, apprenticeship, or rigorous self-study. A basic understanding of energetic herbalism (Ayurveda, TCM, Humoral Medicine, etc.) is recommended.
  • First Aid and CPR certification.  If you don’t have this, you must enroll in a basic course if accepted into our program.  (Wilderness First Aid encouraged)
  • Demonstrate herbal competence, compassion & pragmatism as a health worker.

Since Herbalista serves the community, we adapt our clinical and community programming due to the changing needs.  We ask that all applicants be flexible and understand that the apprenticeship program is subject to change.  That’s community health care for ya!

Herbalista Application

We are not currently accepting applications

OUR APPRENTICESHIP IS NOT RUNNING AT THIS TIME. But we still wanted to share with you a bit about the application process in case other herbalists were considering creating apprenticeship programs of their own. Here was the spiel:

If you have passion for supporting and serving your neighbors (both people and plants), if you have a basic knowledge of herbal medicine, if you can dedicate the time to our mission, and you are ready to make a commitment to our crew, this is the program for you!

Example Apprenticeship Application

Example Apprenticeship Application

Apprenticeship Gallery

Lateefade stands at the Herb Cart dispensary and creates a label for a formula.
Two crew members stand in front of a garage at tables several feet apart. They both wear bandanas on their faces and are packing up HerbCare Packs.
Three apprentices work in the Herbalista apothecary, making remedies along the countertops.
Tincture bottles are set across a counter inside the Herb Bus dispensary. A hand is pouring from a measuring cup into one of the brown glass tincture bottles.
A foot worker sits at a foot station caring for someone's foot. They both smile at the camera. In the background are other foot care stations.
Lorna sits outside the Herb Bus at the intake table and Corinne stands over her shoulder making notes in the files. Inside the bus are three other apprentices, sitting at the different stations.
Four members of the Crew stand around the cart in conversation.
Lisa is seated at a table making herbal capsules.
Abbe and Kelsey tip a wheelbarrow filled with soil over and dump it onto the ground in the garden.
Lorna and four other crew members stand outside the Herb Bus, each holding herbal kits.
Two apprentices sit at a table sorting bottles and bits.
Three crew members are working at the Herb Cart, pouring medicines and looking through the kits.
Eight woman posting for pic.
The crew stand in front of the Herb Bus.
Several crew members stand with the Herb Cart.
Chelsea pours herbs into a measuring bowl. She has a notebook with a worksheet next to her. There are bottles on the counter behind her.
Sara and Heather stand working at the Herb Cart.
Lateefade and Sam stand working at the Herb Cart.
The crew members with the Herb Cart on the street with the red umbrella open overhead. They are all wearing masks.
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HERBALISTA TOOKIT

Our online Toolkit is filled with the tools to help folks do herbwork in their community. From templates to recipes, how-to videos to packing lists — we got you covered. Available to Sustaining Members, we hope the Herbalista Toolkit helps you on your herbal journey, just as your support helps us on ours.

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