personal wellness classes
***limited availability***

My availability to offer these may be sporadic,

or I may just not be able to see new clients.

It's always worth a call or email, but I can't make any promises regarding my ability to see you.

thanks, in advance, for your understanding.
Because of COVID, all consults are currently done through a combo of phone and email.

Initially, it must be said that, by law, only a licensed medical doctor can diagnose or treat disease.  I cannot make any claims that should you use any given herb or implement any ideas I offer, you will receive any purported benefit.  This is not "code" meaning to imply that that's what I am doing, but just can't say it, it's the law and needs to be understood from the get go.  Holistic herbalism is about cultivating the well being of individual people, not about treating disease.  What I can offer is to educate you so that you can make your own informed decisions, and/or be able to have more constructive interactions with people who are licensed to diagnose and treat disease.  This is both your right and responsibility.

Educational consultations are not intended to be a replacement for medical attention.  Rather, they are an opportunity to have a sort of "one on one class" discussing the role of herbs in the topic of your choice, where I can offer information, thoughts, opinions and ideas for your consideration, based on traditional or contemporary uses of herbs, or simply my own personal experience, beliefs and impressions.  Should any of these ideas or concepts resonate with or make sense to you, you may take responsibility for your well being and make decisions that might affect it.  Please remember that I am not a doctor and I am not certified or registered in any way (there is currently no certification for herbalists in the US, and hopefully it'll stay that way).  I'm just an herbalist: a person who has learned about how the use of plants can support health and well being.  That's all I claim to be, and all I want to be.

I currently offer personal educational consultations on a "by donation" basis.  This mean that there is no set fee, and no one will be turned away for financial reasons.  I simply ask that you consider the value of my time and consideration when determining what kind of donation you choose to offer; this applies to the initial consultation as well as follow ups.   Your heartfelt donations allow me to keep doing things like this.  People who can afford to offer more help maintain the balance for people who cannot afford to offer a lot.  I very deeply appreciate your support.

(I know that some may find the whole donation thing confusing, and really want a "range" to consider when offering; check out this link for more info...)

Please do plan to pay for consultations when we meet.  I accept cash, checks or paypal (and credit cards via paypal).

I am often asked about phone consultations.  I may or may not be able to offer these.  Many factors come into play here, but the biggest one is that personal consultations are best done in person, and being in a person's physical presence helps immeasurably in my ability to offer ideas they may wish to consider.  Sometimes, though, certain situations may arise that I feel comfortable with discussing over the phone.  It all depends on the nature of the issue at hand.  I do not generally offer consults strictly via email.  But if you want, you can ask. 

Suggestions I may offer for your consideration are not limited to the use of herbs (expect teas); they may (and likely will) include breathing exercises, creative endeavors, prayer/affirmations (call it what you will), physical activities, introspective assessments of your life, diet, or whatever other practices strike me as important to discuss with you.  In some cases, I may consider these other, "non-herbal" suggestions to be more important considerations than any herbs that might come to mind, and in most, I'd consider them of equal importance.  Please inquire about consultations knowing that the cultivation of well being requires more from you than just "What should I take".  Likewise, please be aware that it is often not the case that one personal wellness class will answer every question you have or be able to educate you on every facet of an issue.  Learning is a journey, and most often a relationship is required when education is being cultivated.  Things shift, circumstances change as we do, and learning does as well.

Please also know that I hold the information you share with me during a consultation in confidence.  Exceptions to this would include issues regarding your or another's safety.  I may share aspects of your experiences using herbs in an educational context; if I do, please know that I take utmost care in preserving your confidentiality (I usually mix up stories of different clients when telling stories while teaching). 

Also, please remember and understand that I'll only be able to offer personal educational consultations if I feel I can offer the time and attention you deserve and need.  Sometimes demand may exceed my ability to keep up, and there are times I can be hard to get a hold of, due to excesses of work, out of state travel, and need for my own down and family time.  I ask you to please bear with me and be understanding if I'm unable to get back to you or set up a class as soon as you'd like or perhaps need: I do the best I can, but often an herbalist, in addition to being a teacher, wildcrafter and medicine maker is also bookkeeper, supplies manager, publicist, janitor and a whole lot of other things, and there's only so much of us to go around.  I love to educate people about herbs, so please, call or email again if you don't hear back from me in a reasonable time, and we'll do our best to make things work.  

jim@herbcraft.org
(248) 238-8733
(please note that this is not a cell number and doesn't get texts)