Legal Concerns of Practicing Herbalism
The Plant Path: Herbalism, Medical Astrology & Spagyric Alchemy
Sajah Popham
4.8 • 570 Ratings
🗓️ 3 February 2019
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A major concern of folks on the path of becoming a practicing herbalist is that they'll get sued for practicing medicine without a license. Being an herbalist in the United States is a little bit of a grey area, as there are thousands of practitioners out there helping people with plants that aren't necessarily licensed physicians. This is in certain ways a blessing because there is no governmental body telling us how to (and how not to) practice herbalism. But it does lead to legal concerns.
In essence, it comes down to how we communicate about the work that we do. As herbalists we are not legally able to diagnose, prescribe medicine, or treat disease. Rather, we holistically evaluate and assess a person, make suggestions in regards to diet, lifestyle, herbs and supplements, and support the health of people's organ systems and tissues. Simply by making sure we shape our language and communication in how we approach our work is one of the best ways for protecting ourselves.
This also brings us questioning around certification for becoming a practicing herbalist. Again, there is no overarching governmental body that oversees this. In North American, the American Herbalist Guild (AHG) provides the most universally recognized herbal practitioner certification, where one becomes a Registered Herbalists (R.H.) with the AHG. They have stringent qualifications on education, overseen clinical hours, and testing that enables someone to hold this level of certification.
But do you really have to be "certified" to help people with plants?
To see the full blog post, more free videos and training, head over to our blog at: https://www.evolutionaryherbalism.com/2019/02/03/legal-concerns-of-practicing-herbalism/
————————————
CONNECT WITH SAJAH AND WHITNEY
————————————
To get free in depth mini-courses and videos, visit our blog at:
http://www.evolutionaryherbalism.com
Get daily inspiration and plant wisdom on our Facebook and Instagram channels:
http://www.facebook.com/EvolutionaryHerbalism
https://www.instagram.com/evolutionary_herbalism/
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyP63opAmcpIAQg1M9ShNSQ
————————————
ABOUT SAJAH
————————————
Sajah Popham, founder of Organic Unity and The School of Evolutionary Herbalism, is committed to creating a new paradigm of plant medicine anchored in herbal, medical, and spiritual traditions from around the world. His work integrates the science and spirit of herbal medicine, creating a system that is equally holistic, healing and transformational. His unique synthesis bridges herbalism not only east and west, but north & south, above & below, into a universal philosophy that encompasses indigenous wisdom, Ayurveda, western Alchemy and Spagyrics, Astrology, clinical herbalism, and modern pharmacology.
Sajah's vitalist approach utilizes plants not only for physical healing and rejuvenation, but for the evolution of consciousness. He never allopathicallyl focuses on just what a plant is "good for" but rather who the plants are as sentient beings. Sajah's teachings embody a heartfelt respect, honor and reverence for the vast intelligence of plants in a way that empowers us to look deeper into the nature of our medicines and ourselves. He lives in southern Oregon with his wife where he teaches at his school, makes spagyric medicines, and practices his healing art. For more information about his products and programs, visit www.organic-unity.com & www.evolutionaryherbalism.com
————————————
ABOUT THE PLANT PATH
————————————
The Plant Path provides unique perspectives for the modern practitioner of herbalism that doesn't just want to "fix what's broken" in the body, but seeks to serve others with deeper levels of healing and transformation with herbal medicines.
A unique synergy of clinical herbalism, alchemy, medical astrology, and herbal traditions from around the world, The Plant Path focuses on giving you a truly "wholistic" perspective on herbal medicine so you never fall into the trap of allopathic herbalism.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey there everybody, Sagea Popham here, founder of the School of Evolutionary Herbalism. |
| 0:06.4 | And in this week's episode of the blog, I'm going to be talking about a really big issue for us as herbalists. |
| 0:14.7 | And that is kind of talking about some of the things in regards to legalities and certification. So this is one of the big things |
| 0:24.3 | that freaks a lot of people out when they're wanting to become a practicing herbalist, right? |
| 0:30.6 | And again, to me, a practicing herbalist is really just anyone that's helping anyone with plants, |
| 0:36.2 | right? Whether that's for your family, your friends, your community, |
| 0:40.3 | or whether that's, you know, you're working in a clinical practice. |
| 0:44.3 | To me, all of those really are what I think of as a practicing herbalist. |
| 0:48.8 | So there's kind of a lot of different scales of that. |
| 0:51.4 | But one of the biggest obstacles that people face on the path to becoming a |
| 0:56.3 | practicing herbalist is basically a fear of getting sued, right? As herbalists, we tread this fine line |
| 1:05.0 | where we're healing people, right? We're helping people with plants. We're providing a service that is |
| 1:12.8 | alleviating the suffering in their bodies and helping them with their health. And, you know, |
| 1:21.7 | there's a big fear, especially here in the United States, where people have a fear of getting sued for practicing medicine |
| 1:31.1 | without a license, right? And so I just wanted to talk about this a little bit. It's a big, |
| 1:36.2 | it's a big area. It's a kind of an uncomfortable subject to talk about for a lot of us, |
| 1:42.5 | but I just want to hit it and tackle this because this |
| 1:45.5 | is a real big obstacle that we all face. So first and foremost, you know, the legalities around |
| 1:53.0 | practicing herbalism is going to really differ from country to country. So no matter where you're at |
| 2:00.6 | in the world, you know, the first thing is |
| 2:03.3 | it's good to just look into this, right, and research this. Like, I know there's some countries |
| 2:08.2 | where, you know, you have to have, there actually is licensure for being a clinical herbalist. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sajah Popham, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sajah Popham and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.