PREREQUISITE:
Completion of BSHS Advanced Practitioner Program (BSHS 3rd level training)

Instructor: Tommy Priester
Date: Aug 30th, Oct 11th, Nov 22nd, Dec 13th, Jan 10th, Feb 28th
Time: 1-4pm
Location: Lincoln, MA
Tuition: $450

For those of you who would like to continue to practice assessment skills in a supervised setting with guidance and feedback, this is the course for you!

This course meets one Sunday a month for 6 months. During these 3-hour sessions, students will perform consultations to assess body systems and identify areas of imbalance. There will be ongoing practice of pulse, tongue, sclera and facial diagnosis to assess where the body needs support. Comparing these methods of assessment reinforces the information the body is providing, allowing for confirmation of our understanding.

This clinic will be free for volunteers. More information can be found under “Free Clinic” in the website’s heading. Students are encouraged to invite friends and family to attend.

Description

The Boston School of Herbal Studies is delighted to offer their level I apprenticeship students the opportunity to study herbs at Sweet Autumn Farm (180 Prospect St. Carlisle, MA), a pristine organic herb farm that allows people to "pick their own herbs." This rare experience brings a deeper knowledge and understanding of the plants, plant identification and harvesting practices that are necessary for every herbalist. We feel fortunate that our students are able to follow the growth of the plants through their many forms, which provides a well rounded and complete education.

Our weekends are structured to combine cognitive learning with hands-on experience. Students identify and harvest plants and make a variety of herbal products.

Each weekend, we cover a different body system. Mornings, we focus on a particular organ system and the herbs that nourish and support it. Herbalism is also an education of the senses, and we teach students to identify the energies of herbs: warming, cooling, moistening or drying, among a number of factors.

Afternoons are an immersion into the plant world with plant walks and harvesting. Students learn to blend teas and to make tinctures, infused oils, salves, flower essences, liniments and much more. Students also learn about essential oils and experience Shamanic Plant Journeying.

This well-rounded education places a strong emphasis on community. During the apprenticeship, students connect with each other. The Apprenticeship offers opportunities for all kinds of learners to assimilate material.

Once students graduate from the program, they earn a certificate and most importantly, are transformed in how they view plants. This program changes lives and provides a perspective of gratitude that everyone experiences.

2027 Schedule
The Apprenticeship meets on Saturdays from 10:00 to 5:00 p.m. and on Sundays from 10:00 to 4:30 p.m. on the following dates:
April 17 & 18
May 15 & 16
June 19 & 20
July 17 & 18
August 14 & 15
September 11 &12
October 16 & 17

Areas of Study
Herbal Energetics and World Systems
The Digestive System
The Respiratory System
The Nervous System
The Immune System
The Circulatory System
The System of the Skin
The Muscular-Skeletal System
The Urinary System

Topics Covered
Plant identification and herb walks
Creating your own teas, tinctures and salves
Remedies for acute and chronic illnesses
Historical traditions in herbalism
Plant meditation
Intro to assessment skills
Seasonal tonics
Bibliographies
World systems
Online resources

Tuition
The full tuition for the 2027 Level I Apprenticeship is $1,895 including a material fee of $45. A $300 deposit is required to sign up. Tuition and deposit are non-refundable.
You may pay in full, or reserve your spot with a $300.00 deposit (non-refundable). If you would like to pay your balance in installments, reserve your spot now and we will email you a link where you can make your payments. Installment payments will include a 4.0% processing fee that is non-refundable.

For more information, please contact us at 781.281.8787 or email herbstudies@gmail.com.

Click Here to Pay in Full

Instructors: Rocio Alarćon & Michaël Friedman
Date: September 12th and 13th
Time: Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm; Sunday 10:00 am - 4:30 pm
Location: Carlisle, MA
Fee: $300

Join Dr. Michaël Friedman, ND and Rocio Alarćon, PH.D. for a remarkable weekend of herbal wisdom and joyful ceremony. Michaël will share his expertise working with thyroid and adrenal disorders while Rocio illuminates how to heal underlying causes of disorders with the master plants of the rainforest.

This practical session with Michaël Friedman integrates lifestyle strategies and herbal medicine to help you navigate the demands of modern life, with insights from Western herbalism and traditional African botanicals.

You will Learn:

- Thyroid Health & Metabolism: Recognize signs of imbalance, support your metabolism through nutrition, and understand the role of key nutrients.

- Stress, Adrenals & Energy Resilience: Identify personal patterns, and learn how adaptogenic herbs support cortisol balance.

- Mood, Focus & Neurotransmitters: Understand the influence of serotonin, dopamine, and GABA on cognition, and learn herbal strategies for emotional balance and mental clarity.

Practical Skills Included:

- How to create a personalized daily routine for energy and mood.

- Learn to match herbal strategies to your specific needs.

- Confidently choose herbs and understand proper dosing.

- Avoid common mistakes that contribute to fatigue and stress.

This class is designed for anyone interested in improving their overall wellness using natural, evidence-informed approaches. You will walk away with clear tools to create a personalized plan to regain balance, and practical protocols that will support your thyroid, stress response, and mood.

Rocio Alarcón brings forty years of experience with ethnic groups in the Ecuadorian rainforests to combine sacred ceremony with herbal energetics. She addresses spiritual illness which is the cause of low frequency vibrational states found in both individuals and communities. These states manifest as physical and emotional imbalances.

Rocio offers a path to healing (on all levels) through the use of master plants and powerful ceremonies. In this intensive, she discusses ayahuasca and deeply engages with herbs such as cacao, and tobacco. Students will experience the cleansing actions of tobacco, and the effects of cacao on neurotransmitters. The class will participate in Rocio’s cacao ceremony! This ceremony involves all the senses, it raises vibration, builds community, and is a joyful celebration. All of Rocio’s teachings involve the magic and power of herbs to heal both individuals and communities.

Instructor: Brendan Kelly
Date: Saturday, November 7th & Sunday, November 8th
Time: Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm; Sunday 10:00 am - 4:30 pm
Location: Lincoln, MA
Fee: $300

Using the lens of Chinese medicine, we will discuss the underlying causes of autoimmune disorders and the use of local western herbs to bring the body back into balance. You will learn strategies to address Irritable Bowel (IBS), Crohn’s disease, Celiac diseases, Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and Graves disease, among others. We will also look at nutrition, lifestyle and the connection between the mind, emotions and autoimmune conditions.

Brendan Kelly, a Doctorate in Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine and a master practitioner, explores how our self-understanding plays a role in our immune responses and how heat/inflammation is often a root cause for autoimmune issues. The excess heat experienced with autoimmune disorders mirrors the heat of climate change and cultural overstimulation. Brendan will address ways to bring balance to our health in a world that is out of balance.

He will also discuss how major concepts and traditions in Chinese Medicine can be used to help identify and heal autoimmune imbalances. These concepts include Yin/Yang, the Five Phases (or Five Elements), and the Eight Principles of foundational diagnostics, all of which help illuminate the root cause of disease.

Finally, participants will learn tongue diagnosis, how it is used to assess the body’s internal environment, and its importance in the treatment of autoimmune imbalances. Students will practice their new-found diagnostic tools on each other to cement this ancient art of diagnosis into their repertoire of knowledge. 

This workshop brings insight into autoimmune diseases, provides information about the herbs that benefit these challenges and offers practical methods for regaining balance.

Please register directly here: **EventBrite Registration Link**

Location: Cambridge Naturals: 23 White St, Cambridge, MA
Times: 7-8pm Feb 5th, May 7th, Aug 6th, Nov 5th
Cost: sliding scale of $15-$25 per class

Ready to take your tea game to a new level?

Cambridge Naturals and the Boston School of Herbal Studies are teaming up to bring you a new tea series, empowering you to blend teas for your specific needs. 

In this quarterly series, a professional herbalist from the Boston School of Herbal Studies, will guide attendees through a specific formulation, offering suggestions for substitutions to meet tailored needs. Each tea night will have a theme- join them all or pick the ones that resonate most with your needs and health goals. 

Feb. 5th- Immune-boosting tea with Kristina

May 7th- Respiratory support tea with Dominique Ross

Aug. 6th- Decompress/calming tea with Rachel Warnock 

Nov. 5th- Helping digestive tea with Tommy Priester 

During this one-hour event, you'll sip on a pre-prepared version of that night's tea blend while a Boston school herbalist describes what all the ingredients do, and how they relate to that night's theme. They'll teach you how to make the tea (infusion vs decoction) and talk through some potential ingredient substitutions to make the formulation more tailored to individual needs. Afterwards, there will be an optional 30-minute Q&A where you'll have the opportunity to shop with the herbalist, or get additional support in tea blending. 

There is a sliding scale exchange for this event: $15-$25, tea not included. If you enjoy the tea blend shared that evening it will be available for purchase by the ounce. Please plan for an additional ~$10 if you wish to purchase the tea blend from that evening. 

** EventBrite Registration Link **

Instructors - Vikrant Rama & Rachel Warnok
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Time: 1-5
Location - Carlisle, MA
Fee (materials included) - $55 (includes a $7 material fee) 

Experience vibrational healing through sound paired with the energies of herbs. Rachel Warnock and Vikrant Rana will guide participants in a healing journey that includes mantras, singing bowls and medicinal plants. There is a synergistic effect of all these energies that deepens the process of healing. Students will taste herbs and receive information about them, chant mantras and listen to singing bowls - all to bring vibrant health to particular organs.  This workshop combines the wisdom and traditions of both East and West to promote a deep level of healing.
Sometimes, on our path of healing, we come up against illnesses that go beyond our lifetime- they stem from personal karma or they are inherited from our ancestors -“It runs in the family.” In Ayurveda, when we come up against a malady that follows genetic lines or has deep spiritual components, it is common to prescribe chanting specific mantras to ease the burden. Infusing a mantra into medicines is a common practice in Ayurveda and typically performed by the most authentic medicine makers in South Asia.

Ever wonder about the plants that grow around us? Medicinal plants are everywhere - in our backyards, along the streets we walk, and in open spaces. Many weeds have medicinal value and have been used by our ancestors for thousands of years for food and medicine.

We will look at plants ranging from the familiar such as dandelion, to the less well known: motherwort, burdock, and ground ivy. We will discuss which parts of the plants are used medicinally and how they nourish us and support health.

Walks are led by knowledgeable adjunct faculty from The Boston School of Herbal Studies. They are located throughout the New England area. Find our location and join us for an informative walk! You will never look at weeds the same again!

Walks take place sprinkle or shine - if it is raining hard enough to require umbrellas, the walk will be canceled.
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Early Summer Plant Walks

Instructor: Mairead O’Neill
Date: May 30th
Time: 1-2:30pm
Location: Thorndike Park: 99 Margaret St, Arlington, MA
Fee: Adult $25, free for children

Instructor: Ava Long
Date: June 6th
Time: 3-4:30pm
Location: Kimberly Ann Rock Memorial Complex, East Providence, RI
Fee: Adult $25, free for children

Instructor:Paul Lagrèze
Date: October 3rd & 4th
Time: 1:00 pm - 4:00pm
Location: Sweet Autumn Farm - 180 Prospect St Carlisle, MA

Come and enjoy a guided walk through beautiful forests and learn about wild mushrooms!

Mycologist Paul Lagrèze, owner of New England Wild Edibles, will be leading a mushroom foraging walk! You will meet Chanterelles, chicken of the woods, oysters, honey mushrooms, turkey tails and puff balls, are just a few of the mycelial treasures found throughout the forests of the northeast! During our walk we will discuss the intricate relationship between these ancient life forms and the forests that support them.

If the conditions are right, there could be opportunities for foraging! So bring your harvesting baskets, stout shoes, and bug spray for a day of mushroom identification and adventure!

All participants will receive a magnifying loupe for examining gills and spores! Learning to identify wild mushrooms is imperative for safety. Meeting these mushrooms up close and personally will help you to identify mushrooms for future harvesting! 

Space is extremely limited, early registration is strongly suggested. Registration is currently open for Saturday, Once Saturday’s class is filled we will open registration for Sunday.

Dress for ticks - Wear light colored pants tucked into your socks so you can see the ticks before they get to your skin. Watch for ticks on your clothing (do tick checks) regularly during activities and especially when you come in from outdoor activities.

* Sunday October 4th will be added once Saturday the 3rd has been filled*

Instructor: Linda Patterson, Clinical Herbalist, Palmistry Instructor, Aromatherapist
Date: Dec 5, 2026
Time: 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Location: Lincoln, MA
Fee: $65 ($10 fee for materials included - non-refundable)

Who doesn’t love homemade soap?

Homemade soap hasn’t been stripped of its emollient ingredients like commercial soaps, making it best for the skin! It also makes the best gift! Everyone loves receiving homemade soap! A Luxury most won’t splurge on. It’s practical, functional, and guaranteed not to end up in the closet!

Linda will teach you all the hacks and short cuts to making your own soap. She will cover how to work with lye safely, and share her decades of experience on the dos and don’ts of soap making, sparing you the mistakes she’s learned along the way.

During this demonstration participants will learn about the special handling and necessary care when working with goat's milk. Students will learn the challenges specific to goat’s milk and how to work with those challenges to make beautiful soap!

Linda will cover different types of molds and their limitations, how to get the best results from your colorants, the negative chemical reactions caused by fragrances, the curing process, troubleshooting, and more!

This workshop will provide all the information necessary to make soap safely and successfully. All participants receive a sample of soap made during the demonstration to take home and enjoy!

Linda Patterson is the director of The Boston School of Herbal Studies, and the owner of Herbs and Aromatics. She has been a soap maker for over 30 years and makes goat's milk, vegetable, and animal fat soaps. Linda uses a wide range of techniques to make her soap, and sets her students up for success by providing her many years of experience on what to do, and what to avoid. She teaches throughout New England for schools, conferences, and herbal shops.

Instructor: Tommy Priester, Clinical Herbalist, Shamanic and Flower Essence practitioner
Dates: Class consists of 6 Tuesday evenings meetings - Sept 15th, Sept 29th, Oct 20th, Nov 3rd, Nov 17th, Dec 1st
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Location: Offered via webinar only at this time.
Cost: $425

This class is designed for herbalists and practitioners who want to continue their education with a specific focus on addressing Lyme disease and co-infections.

Participants will learn how to work with a variety of protocols, including herbs and supplements, to help people return to balance. There will be information on how standard medications work and don't work and which tests are the most accurate. Participants will gain critical information to help those who have Lyme (Borreliosis), Bartonella, Epstein Barr, Babesia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Mycoplasma, and Parasites of all kinds.

This class covers how to stop or inhibit inflammatory responses; how to rebuild and repair collagen damage caused by Lyme; and how to heal Leaky Gut Syndrome, Candida, Mold, and Heavy Metal toxicity. We will Address the parasites and infections that are driving Lyme Syndrome and the psycho-spiritual dynamics responsible for immune suppression. We will also cover which tests are most accurate when trying to diagnose Lyme and the steps necessary to restore balance so that clients can live symptom-free.