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Welcome!

VCIH is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing our community with healthcare resources grounded in Nature. We offer free and sliding-scale herbal consultations through our community clinic, as well as affordable classes that empower individuals to take care of themselves and their families, whenever appropriate. We also provide comprehensive herbalist training programs, which include clinical experience gained through collaborative practice in the community clinic.

Our ability to provide free and low-cost services is supported by the tuition from our training programs and by contributions of time and resources from local practitioners, herb growers and product makers. To foster a self-sustaining model of community service, we also invite those we serve to help us continue our work—and gain new skills—by participating in the ongoing maintenance of the clinic, through such activities as making remedies and growing herbs for donation.

Support our community clinic, herbal apothecary, and outreach activities! Every little bit counts!

Our mission is to:

• educate and empower individuals to use traditional remedies as viable options in caring for themselves and their families;
• emphasize partnership with a clinical herbalist or other practitioner as an important adjunct to self-care;
• provide high-quality education for aspiring family and clinical herbalists;
• offer financially accessible health consultations to the community, creating an opportunity for collaborative practice among experienced herbalists, as well as a forum for education of clinical students;
• integrate and collaborate with other modalities and advance the role of the herbalist as an integral part of an effective healthcare model;
• renew deep connection with nature, encouraging a culture of ecological awareness, respect and interrelationship.

VCIH is a small, diverse community of individuals, bringing a variety of experiences, beliefs and practices to our roles as practitioners, teachers, staff, board members, general members and students. We represent many faiths, economic circumstances, sexual orientations and political leanings, among a myriad of other differences and commonalities. We are, however united in our love for the plants and our belief in their capacity to heal. We feel our diversity makes us strong and enhances our ability to serve our multi-faceted community. We welcome you to join us!

We do not discriminate in accepting students to our school, or clients to our clinic. Please click here to read our non-discrimination policy.

We are members of United Plant Savers (Partner in Education), and a school officially registered with the American Herbalists Guild.

News:

Join us for Summer Commuinty Classes! Pre-registration is required. Call 802-224-7100 or email info@vtherbcenter.org. Cost is $12 per class for non-members or $10 per class for members.

The Perfect Cup of Tea - Monday August 4th, 6-8pm
with Danielle Charles, Clinical Herbalist and VCIH graduate
Explore the soulful art of brewing and formulating your own medicinal tea blends. Learn how to formulate herbs for flavor and medicinal properties, what extraction methods work best for various plants, and how to recognize basic plant constituents through taste and smell. Recipes both for pleasure and medicine
will be shared and sampled.

Healing Gardens: Medicinal Herb Garden Tours and Workshops

A benefit for the community herbal clinic
Tickets $30 /$25 VCIH members
Or pre-register for all three tours for $75
224-7100 or info@vtherbcenter.org
Rain or shine

**Tour three of Central Vermont's premiere herb gardens
**Connect with plants, from common perennials to rare species
**Attend in-depth workshops
**Enjoy herbal tea in flowering settings with a few sweet & savory treats

Sunday July 25th 12:30-4 pm Medicine Garden Design with Larken Bunce
Meet at VCIH (250 Main St. in Montpelier) to caravan to the site

Learn about various approaches to designing a new medicinal garden--based on color and aesthetics, medicinal use or energetic qualities, garden traffic, companion planting, use of annual vs. perennial plants, and earth energies. Learn plants for different types of theme gardens, as well as how to dowse for lay lines (earth's acupuncture meridians) in the garden that might effect your plants. See a garden in its first year that has been created with some of all of these elements in mind, while learning the basics of building soil fertility and beds. Many resources for further study, seed and plant sources, and ample Q&A time will be provided.

Sunday August 1st, 1-4 pm Tea Making with Betzy Bancroft
Meet at Gardens of Seven Gables on 546 Anderson Road in Barre

Garden to Teacup
Herbal teas can be much more exciting, yummy and potent when we make them ourselves! We’ll begin with an herb walk in Joann’s beautiful gardens, and then demonstrate tea-making methods, harvesting, drying and storing herbs. In particular we will discuss the flavors and medicinal virtues of herbs and how to combine them for extraordinary, delicious blends.

Sunday August 8th, 12:30-4 pm Tincture Making with Guido Mase´
Meet at VCIH (250 Main St. in Montpelier) to caravan to the site

3-Year Clinical Herbalist training program 

Reading and Materials list for this year's classes available. Click here.

Click here for a 2010 course catalog.(.pdf format, requires Adobe Reader)

Our curriculum begins with basic, grounded work with key medicinal plants, and progresses into advanced herbal studies and supervised clinical work. Click here for more information. Click here to apply. Application deadline is November 1st, 2010. Prospective students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible in order to allow time for interveiws and financial aid requests. Thank you.