Crafting Your Herbal Practice
Teachers
Patricia Kyritsi Howell
Patricia Kyritsi Howell, RH (AHG), is an herbalist, teacher, author and mentor. For the past 30 years, she has been director of the BotanoLogos School of Herbal Studies in the mountains of North Georgia. She closed her practice in 2018 to devote herself to mentoring student practitioners.
Her book Medicinal Plants of the Southern Appalachians is considered an essential reference for the uses of regional herbs. She was the Herbalist in Residence at the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center for many years. Patricia now coordinates the American Herbalists Guild's Admissions Committee and AHG's annual symposium from a log cabin in the woods of northern Georgia.
Kat Maier
Kat Maier, RH(AHG) is a clinical herbalist, author, and teacher. Her approach to herbalism combines what she learned as she began studying plants as a Peace Corps volunteer and training as a Physician’s Assistant. As a result, her approach to clinical practice weaves biomedicine with traditional energetic herbalism.
As the founder and director of Sacred Plant Traditions, a center for herbal studies in Charlottesville, Virginia, Kat has played a pivotal role in inspiring and training her students. The impact of her work is evident; she inspired the first free herb clinic on the East Coast, which began at Sacred Plant Traditions, and the Botanica Mobile Clinic, a nonprofit she also founded to provide accessible herbal medicine to local communities.
Kat is the author of Energetic Herbalism: A Guide to Sacred Plant Traditions through Integration of Elements of Vitalism, Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine (2021) and co-author of Bush Medicine of San Salvador Island, Bahamas (2011).
She also served as president of United Plant Savers and received their first Medicinal Plant Conservation Award. Drawing on over 30 years of experience as a clinical herbalist, she frequently teaches at universities, conferences, and herb schools both in the USA & internationally.
Guest Teachers
Camille Freeman
Camille Freeman, RH(AHG), has practiced as a registered herbalist and licensed nutritionist since 2003, focusing on fertility and menstrual health. She runs Monday Mentoring, a community of practice for herbalists and nutritionists, and offers continuing education courses for highly trained practitioners. Camille also has a podcast: In the Clinic with Camille (intheclinic.com).
She's in the process of writing a book about how to use newsletters to build your 1:1 practice. You can find out about upcoming classes & sign up for her practitioner notes newsletter on her website: camillefreeman.com
Mimi Hernandez
Mimi Prunella Hernandez, M.S., R.H. (AHG), is a clinical herbalist with a master's degree in herbal medicine. As a Registered Herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild, she has mentored students in clinical and community herbalism through various educational platforms. Mimi is known for her ability to explain complex information in a relatable way, which has gained her a dedicated following. For over a decade, Mimi served as the executive director of the American Herbalists Guild, where she worked tirelessly to ensure that herbalists have a solid professional community to support their work.
Her Colombian and Mexican Grandmothers inspire Mimi's herbal roots via a Latin American Folk Herbalism and Curanderismo lineage. While Mimi finds immense joy in practicing kitchen herbalism, she finds tremendous fulfillment in delivering herbal house calls. She loves providing baskets filled with homemade nourishing goodies, using the herbs she grows in her garden to provide natural remedies to those in need.
Emily Ruff
Emily Ruff is a community herbalist who has practiced the art and science of plant healing for over a decade and is a co-founder of the Crafting Your Herbal Practice course. Her journey into herbalism was inspired through apprenticeships in Guatemala under the tutelage of local healers on the southern coast of Lake Atitlan, in the mountains of Vermont at the feet of Rosemary Gladstar, and in the Central Florida apothecary Leaves & Roots with herbalists Carolyn Whitford and George D’Arcy.
Emily formed a nonprofit in 2018 to continue the legacy of Rosemary Gladstar, focusing on conservation, education, and healing through the stewardship of the Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary, where she currently serves as director. In 2005, she founded the Florida School of Holistic Living, a 501c3 nonprofit fostering a sustainable community through education and the Florida Herbal Conference in 2012. Emily received the American Botanical Council Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award in 2022.
