Herbal Medicine or Phytotherapy

Qualified medical herbalists (who are members of NIMH or CPP) have diagnostic and clinical training at degree level. In addition, they have degree level training in phytochemistry.

Rosalind Blackwell MCPP is a Medical Herbalist with 30 years experience

Lizzie Foulon MCPP is a Medical Herbalist with 15 years of experience

In the UK medical herbalists have the right to primary diagnosis as well as to prescribe and make plant-based medicines. Herbal medicine has been practised for centuries by all races worldwide. Despite the advances of orthodox medicine and its undoubted use in certain situations, herbal medicine will continue to be used for millennia; the reason is that it works.

How does herbal treatment by an herbalist differ from buying herbal remedies from a health shop or the pharmacy?

Purchasing remedies from health shops and pharmacies or self treating with remedies from the Internet may be useful for simple condtions like coughs and colds, however, if you have a condition that is more complex it may be time to consider a deeper examination of your health. People who run health shops may be knowledgeable about the products they sell but they do not have the indepth knowledge about biochemistry, human physiology, herbs or any advanced training for treating complex conditions. A qualified herbalist has to identify the underlying departure from normal physiology and then consider ways to bring it back to normal. This may involve removal of obstacles to proper functioning such as toxins or improving function of organs and systems. Herbs will be chosen for the specific effects and activities they have on the chosen targets for treatment. For example a person in chronic sympathetic nervous sytem overdrive (fight / flight mode). Or perhaps someone has genetic mutations that renders them less able to detoxify or one that affects neurotransmitters with subsequent depression or anxiety. Laboratory tests may be required to identify such a condition but with nutrients and herbal medicines one can expect great improvements. Plant extracts well chosen will bring about a better balance of hormones and the autonomic nervous system which is essential in chronic conditions.

Is Herbal Medicine Safe?

Our genes know how to handle these phytochemicals as they have been exposed over many generations. This is in contrast to synthetic drugs. Our genes have had little experience with these. Iatrogenic deaths (physician-caused fatalities) now top 780,000 Americans each year and the proportions are similar here. This is a shocking figure and includes the use of drugs in the proper accepted way not just mistakes. Natural medicines have no such track record and the scaremongering has no basis in science.

Medicines are dispensed from our own dispensary, using medicine authorised by the Department of Health's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and licensed under the European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicine.

Endobiogeny: Advanced Phytotherapy 

Endobiogenic Medicine: a systematic and scientific method of practising a deep level of holistic medicine while telling the story of the interconnectedness of all life forms. Endobiogeny is the name given to an advanced way of analysing an individual and providing treatment with plant extracts, essential oils and sometimes a very few supplements. It is really the goal of any treatment plan to ideally work in this way. It is superior to a Functional Medicine approach and can follow on from it. Just as pharmaceuticals may be needed to stabilise a patient so nutritional supplements may also. However if one can treat "upstream" then far fewer pharmaceuticals or supplements will be required. This system is based on the knowledge of the Endocrine System as manager in the body. A specialised blood test called Biology of Functions can be done for a full analysis.

Mrs. Blackwell has a specialised knowledge of the medicinal uses of essential oils. She has trained with Dr Jean-Claude Lapraz MD, (France) over many years. Doctors Jean-Claude Lapraz and Christian Duraffourd have been medical practitioners for over 30 years, including the eight years they have served as oncobiologists in the Department of General Surgery and Oncology of a leading Paris hospital. Together they developed a new approach to medicine, Endobiogenics , which is based on a refined view of the endocrine system in its managing role over metabolisms and functions. Dr Kamyar Hedayat MD (USA) was formerly a board certified paediatric specialist in hospital. Dr Hedayat has trained extensively with Dr Lapraz and is now teaching all over the USA and Europe. He has a centre in the USA where he practises Endobiogenic Medicine exclusively. He visits the UK to conduct seminars with Dr Lapraz for medical herbalists and doctors. Dr. Hedayat on botanical medicine, “A living system needs a living treatment. A complex system needs a complex treatment. The body is a complex living system and plants are really the only thing that are intelligent enough to work at the level of the intelligence of the body.”

The test “Biology of Functions” can evaluate the "terrain" of patients by using a series of conventional blood tests that give precise information on the influence of neuro-hormonal systems. Rosalind finds this invaluable in difficult conditions.

Herbs can be prepared in various ways. Tinctures are commonly used and can be mixed into a unique formula for the patient but sometimes tablets or capsules are chosen. The unique gemmotherapy extracts are produced from the shooting buds of plants. These provide phytohormones and are used in the Endobiogenic approach. When patients are taking prescription drugs appropriate herbs will be used alongside (qualified herbalists are aware of possible herb/drug interactions) and ultimately it may be possible to reduce or stop some drugs. Sometimes certain medication may need to be continued. Creams, lotions, poultices, pessaries and suppositories may also be used.

Aromatic Medicine

Aromatic Medicine is a specialised branch of phytotherapy that is naturally used in Endobiogenic medicine. Essential oils can also be used in a symptomatic way to treat infections and in other acute situations. Essential oils also have major effects when used in classic aromatherapy where inhalation affects the limbic system in the brain. This can be very effective. Genuine and authentic essential oils are used in this practice, as a special study has been made of their therapeutic potential. Mrs Blackwell is a former University lecturer on Aromatic Medicine in Phytotherapy. Essential oils are used in all relaxing and remedial massage for their obvious benefits.