The Herbal Academy Review, Is it worth it? (2023) +What They’ve Been Adding

Today I talk all about the Herbal Academy! (Formally known as The Herbal Academy of New England or HANE.)

This is my personal and in-depth review after taking several of their courses and workshops.

This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I only recommend products I love and use!

If you’re looking for The Herbal Academy reviews you’re in luck! I’ve personally taken quite a few courses from The Herbal Academy and have a ton to share on them!

My own herbal journey started with an ethical dilemma. I was a nurse, with an obsession for health and wellness.

Each day I went to work and dutifully fulfilled my obligations to help teach my patients how to heal and live healthier lives.

The only problem was, the things I studied about health and wellness didn’t necessarily match what I had learned in healthcare teachings.

It seemed like every day I was administering medications that seemed unnecessary, and sometimes even harmful based on the research I was doing in private.

I am not a doctor, I do not diagnose illness nor do I prescribe medicine. I do not know all the things doctors do.

But I do know that in general, there are lots of things I can do to avoid seeing a doctor on a normal basis. I’d like to reserve that for special occasions…

I can live as healthily as possible. Eat lots of fruits and veggies.

And, I can use herbs in a way that helps keep my family protected and in tip top shape.

I wanted to learn more about herbalism but had no idea where to start.

With so much conflicting advice out there in the great wide interweb, I needed something reliable. Something I could trust and was worth my hard earned money.

After much research, I found The Herbal Academy. I’ll be honest, the price seemed steep at first.

But after speaking with a few fellow herbal enthusiasts in an online forum who raved about the course, I just had to try it.

I purchased the intro course and got to work!

It was hands down, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Before I go too deep into that though, I want to show you why it’s so important to learn about herbs.

Startling Statistics

Here are a few statistics about our current medical system.

• Adverse drug reactions (or ADRs like the Ibuprophen example above) are the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S., ahead of pulmonary disease, diabetes, AIDS, pneumonia, accidents and automobile deaths. This statistic does not take into account the number of ADRs in ambulatory settings (meaning outside of a hospital, such as a clinic) or those deaths caused by physician or pharmacy error (source.)
• Of the countries assessed by the National Institutes of Health in 2013, the U.S. had the highest or near-highest prevalence of infant mortality, heart and lung disease, STDs, adolescent pregnancies, and other issues, placing the U.S. at the bottom of the list for life expectancy (source.)
• Many pharmaceutical drugs act to mask or relieve symptoms and do not actually address the underlying cause of the disease. This I know just from my own medical experience as a nurse.

These are just a few of the most shocking facts.

(I do want to say that, although our health care system is broken, there is good in it too of course. I have seen many instances where doctors and support staff (myself included *wink*) have saved lives in the conventional setting. I just feel there are better options for dealing with many of the chronic diseases and health issues.)

Finding Herbal Medicine

I needed alternatives, so I did what I always do and dove into research. I found article after article of using plants as natural remedies.

A new spark was ignited inside me when I found the world of herbalism and I wanted to learn more.

Doing my own research was great, but I felt disorganized. I wanted a systemic way to learn about using plants as medicine.

There is so much information on herbalism and plant-based medicine out there. I needed to find a reliable source to educate myself. It’s actually really hard to find reliable information that has the research, articles and experience to back it up.

The Herbal Academy Review

I did a lot of research before deciding on The Herbal Academy. If I was going to shell out a decent amount of money for an online course, it needed to match a specific set of criteria.

My needs were pretty straightforward. I needed a course that would

• Give me updated, reliable information
• Was passionate about what they do
• Available to answer questions
• Appeal to my learning style
• Align with my views on plant-based wellness

Since I had heard nothing but good things about them in the online herbal community I jumped in and took the introductory class.

It was good for where I was on my herbal journey.

It helped me lay a good foundation for my knowledge on herbalism and helped get me started with practical uses I could work into my everyday life from day one.

Hands-on

It gave me the skill and confidence I needed to start making herbal recipes and preparations.

There are a few recipes I use all-the-time, even years later. Like their three needs tea. 

This specialty tea blend helps my toddler (and I for that matter) calm down in the evenings.

Professional Instructors

They have an entire team of professional herbalists that creates amazing, well-researched courses, with documents, printouts and videos.

They have amazing resources listed at the end of each chapter so that you can read the studies and articles at an even more in-depth level. (You can make this as simple or as complex as you wish.)

Aligned with my viewpoint

This one may sound a bit silly, but this is an important one that many people don’t consider. In the world of herbalism, you get people from all walks of life and of spiritual beliefs. This makes for an amazingly diverse community.

But, for me to get the most of my education, I needed a course that respected the power of nature, but also of science, and remained pretty neutral on the religion scale.

The Herbal Academy has done a fantastic job of providing an education that addresses the physical, emotional and spiritual needs that encompass an individual, without feeling flaky or irrelevant to what’s being taught.

Community

They also have an active community of beginner and advanced herbalists in their private Facebook group.

Here students gather together and discuss how things are going for them, what creative ways they are using what they’ve learned, and making connections with others who have the same passions.

Skills

Since my beginnings with The Herbal Academy, I’ve taken four courses through them, and have been very pleased with how it’s helped me grow as an herbalist.

The skills and tools I’ve developed have helped me understand on a much deeper level the power plants can have, and ways that I can take care of my family in a way that I feel good about.

This education has also motivated me to change my career path to one that I enjoy on a daily basis. You can read more about the details of how their courses are set up below.

Even the overall feeling of going through the course is pleasant and gives you that giddy, excited feeling.

Beautiful learning experience

I’ve taken a lot of online classes from a lot of different companies and individuals. This is probably the most visually aesthetic class I’ve ever taken. Each chapter has a simple but elegant layout.

I’m currently enrolled in the intermediate course. One of my favorite things to do when I actually get a bit of “quiet time” is to pour a cup of herbal tea and immerse myself into my herbal studies.

Multi-device accessible

This is a biggie. Sometimes I only have a few minutes in the day to do something for myself.

I’m usually chasing a toddler all day and care for an infant too. The fact that I can go from my computer to my phone is a big deal for me.

This means when I’m nursing my little one during my toddler’s nap time I get to review some of the things I’ve been learning on my phone and don’t have to be at my desk.

Credible information

All the information found in the course is backed up by research studies, well-known herbalists, and reference materials.

I love that at the bottom of each chapter you can find all the resources they used. It’s a great way to learn more about each subject they are teaching.

They also have multiple instructors in the course and offer differing points of view, which is important for a well-rounded education.

Loaded with practicality

Many of the chapters are set up by body system. This makes it easier to “practice” your craft.

For example, one unit is dedicated to the nervous system. There is a lot of information related to anxiety and sleep (among other things of course).

These two things in particular though, that have been a struggle in my house. I have been able to apply what I learn directly to myself and my family.

I use the recipes for teas, decoctions, and tinctures and it helps calm nerves stop panic attacks and everyone gets a bit more sleep. Here you can take a peek at what each chapter is about in the intermediate course.

Appeal to different interests

They offer several different classes depending on your experience level, interests and budget. They offer their introductory class, intermediate class, and advanced herbalist class.

These are great for building the basic foundation of herbal knowledge.

The Herbal Academy also now offer a material medica course and an herbal fermentation course, which are part of their shorter course collection.

Useful Printouts

Each chapter contains useful printouts and resource pages to add to your herbal studies binder.

They are well planned out, useful, easy to use and visually pleasing. Honestly, this is one of my favorite parts.

I really enjoy beautiful and useful printouts to add to my own herbal studies binder.

Discounts

They offer great discounts for students so that you can jump into the hands-on parts of the course. Currently, they offer a 25% off at bulk herb store. 

That’s a pretty substantial discount that I personally use often, being that I make pretty large herb purchases regularly.

They are also offering various other discounts as well, to a couple of other online shops and several magazines.

The one thing I would change

The only thing I don’t like about the course is that once you purchase it, you only have access to it for a set time.

Granted that time is 2 years for the intermediate course, and you can download the chapters to your computer as PDFs, and print them to make a beautiful herbal resource book. Which is all great, but I just really do think the course is beautiful and I want access to it forever. Heh. I just don’t do well with goodbyes I guess.

Overall I love The Herbal Academy. I get excited about their courses and the information I learn. I also love seeing when a new course comes out that I can add to my infinite to-do list.

If you’re looking for an excellent resource for your own herbal studies, I’m sure they would benefit you too.

Take a look at The Herbal Academy and see if they have a course that fits your needs.

Update**

Since I first started learning with The Herbal Academy, they’ve been exponentially growing and adding more and more courses and work shops.

It’s amazing to see not only the core herbalism courses but also lots of specific study units, like the Botanical Skin Care course, Natural Perfumery course and Foraging course.

But the workshops are detailed study units as well, covering everything from herbs to support ADHD, aphrodisiacs and even an Herbal Online camp for kids!

You can check out all of the new goodies they’ve added at The Herbal Academy and see what piques your interest!

Make sure at the very least you download their free ebook to get you started on learning about herbs!