Meghan Rhodes MCPP MAPA

Want to Care for Your Family with Confidence? Explore Courses in Natural Medicine

If you’re tired of wasting time at the bottom of multiple greenwashed rabbit holes and want to shift to investing your time in courses in natural medicine so you can confidently and effectively care for your family naturally yourself, you’ve probably been on a bit of a journey. You want to acquire and develop knowledge and skills, rather than more bottles and products that still keep you guessing, because you don’t fully understand what they are or or how they work. You want to develop your confidence, so you can step further away from the allopathic medical system, further away from the latest supplement or trendy ‘natural’ remedy and further into your own power and autonomy as your family’s personal herbalist. You want to create a legacy for your children, modelling what health and resilience look like and teaching them the skills so they can care for themselves and their own families one day without all the distractions and confusion. My journey began with similar dreams - long before I was a parent, I started looking for courses in natural medicine because I knew someday when I had a family, I’d want to be able to care for them myself, naturally, safely and effectively. If this sounds like you, read on to hear my thoughts as a qualified herbalist and director of a school of herbal medicine on how you can turn your desires into reality.

courses in natural medicine give you the ability to be your family's personal herbalist

1. You’re Ready to Go Beyond the Greenwashing and Gain Knowledge and Skills on Courses in Natural Medicine

As parents, we know the value of time - how those first weeks, months and years can somehow both fly by, but also have moments that seem to happen in slow motion. How much we want to be present with our children whilst the long list of to-dos is on perpetual scroll in our minds. When we care - and care a lot - we can find ourselves spending huge amounts of time sifting through all the greenwashing to figure out something that should be so simple, so we can do what we hope is the best we can manage for our children. (I’ve been there - I cannot tell you how many hours over how many days I spent researching all sorts of things - cloth nappies, stainless steel water bottles, the list goes on. I know I’m not the only one!)

At a certain point, quite frankly, this gets pretty boring (not to mention exhausting).

The scale - and stakes - become next level, however, when it comes to medicines for our children. Is that product as organic/chemical-free as it seems? What are the herbs in that remedy actually doing? Why are there still ingredients that seem confusing? Is it safe? Is it healthy? Is it natural? Is it actually going to work?

If you’re here, you’ve probably realised the only way to get beyond the greenwashing is to gain the knowledge and skills to care for your family naturally yourself - to become your family’s personal herbalist. That’s why you’ve stopped looking for the ‘best echinacea gummy for kids’ and started looking for courses in natural medicine. I did the same many years ago.

2. You Want to Be Confident in Using the Skills and Knowledge You Develop For Your Family

Not too long before I met my husband all those years ago, I knew if I was going to be my one-day family’s primary source of health and care, I would need to acquire not only knowledge and skills around natural medicine (which, I realised what I was really looking for was herbalism - working with whole plant remedies to bring the body back into balance addressing the root cause - read more here), but I would also need to make sure I was confident in putting them into action. As I’ve always said - everything feels like an emergency when we are bereft of knowledge. I never wanted to sit in a waiting room with a poorly child worrying about why they were ill and what I could do about it, knowing I wouldn’t want to give them whatever a GP would write a prescription for anyway.

This is why I went on those very first courses in natural medicine and ultimately ended up qualifying as a clinical herbal medicine practitioner. I knew reading endless books through self-study or going on a smattering of weekend workshops or racking up the on-demand webinar hours wasn’t going to cut it.

Knowledge is power. Skill is being able to put herbalism into action safely and effectively. Confidence is trust in your ability to care for your family yourself. All three of these come with focused learning guided by an experienced teacher and practitioner.

When I was taking courses in natural medicine, the options available were either weekend workshops or a full-scale clinical qualification - so I did both, alongside an apprenticeship with a respected teacher over many years. This is a big part of why I’ve created the intensive herbalism course I offer the way it is - because there are so many people who want to develop their skills and knowledge to a really high level so they can genuinely be the go-to for their family’s health but without having to do all the requirements of a formal clinical qualification. Because you don’t want to open up a clinic - you want to care for your family safely and effectively.

3. You Want to Create a Legacy

Once you become a parent, you have a new level of understanding of what legacy means to you. What is your place in the tapestry of the generations that have come before you and those that will come after? Are you the one who is putting in the time, energy and dedication on courses in natural medicine now so that taking care of your own health naturally, effectively and safely, with confidence instead of worry, with an understanding of how to listen to your intuition and your body and respond to it becomes second nature to your children? Are you the one who will create a new paradigm of ‘the way things are done’ in your family that is positive and nourishing and builds resilience?

It’s an incredible opportunity to be the person in your family who gets to create (or recreate) that legacy, so your children grow up knowing how to take care of themselves and that they always have a natural option, making them both prepared for the future and resilient in the face of it. Rather than just getting swept up in the current, you found a different way to swim your family to safe harbour.

4. Having Someone Model Being a Family Herbalist Whilst You Take Courses in Natural Medicine Helps Significantly

Whether it’s home herbalism, cooking, parenting - the list goes on - trying to implement a new way of doing things in your home can be challenging on your own. Often, we know what we’d like things to look and feel like, but we’re not quite sure how to get there or what to do in the moment. For example - you’ve been studying herbalism intensely and collecting all sorts of jars of herbs and remedies in the making, but now your child gets a nasty cough and a fever to match. What do you do now? This is where having someone who can model being a home herbalist for you helps significantly - and that’s not the same thing as someone’s very polished social media profile. This is someone you’ve been able to physically make remedies with, who’s been able to show you what colour or texture that remedy should be. This is someone you’ve been able to work through matching herbs and people with. This is someone who can share anecdotes and stories and examples from their own life working with herbs to support their own families. This is someone who is reputable and there for you to ask questions. Find a course near you or someone you can apprentice, whether formally or informally. Your learning will be deeper and get into the fabric of your life much faster. Your ability to assess what’s going on for your family members will sharpen. Your remedies and your intuition will become more accurate and more effective. You will ultimately have the option of stepping out of the mainstream healthcare system and choosing to engage with it if and when you need their expertise or support - not feel stuck because you’re not sure what to do in the moment.

So if you’re feeling now like I did all those years ago, seize the opportunity to shift where you put your time and energy. Instead of continually sending it into sifting through greenwashing, find the right courses in natural medicine for you. Look for ones that will help you develop knowledge, skills and confidence, so you can genuinely shift the way you care for your family. Begin to create that legacy for your children of listening to, understanding and responding to the body with natural remedies that support them in coming back into balance rather than suppress the messages they’re trying to deliver. Add a further dimension to your learning to help cement the practice of herbalism in your family by learning with a credible teacher who not only talks the talk, but who also walks the walk - for whom working with herbal medicine in her family is the daily norm. In our family, for example, it is all we use. I am our family’s go-to practitioner.


If you’re here in the UK, you’re very welcome to take the next step on your journey learning herbal medicine with us on our intensive herbalism course - Awaken Herbal Wisdom - which spans all four seasons. With up to three years of development available, our course gets herbalism both deep into your bones and your daily life. Although it is intense, it’s suitable for a wide range of herbalists, including budding family herbalists! You can learn more about our herbal medicine course here. Be sure to join our mailing list to see what the current cohorts are up to and get first access to the coming year's cohorts or enrol for the current year before it begins while places are available.

Whatever the next step exploring courses in natural medicine, I hope you enjoy the journey!

At Rhodes Roots & Remedies School of Herbal Medicine, our practice of herbalism is rooted in the belief that we must remember, reclaim and relearn our knowledge of our bodies, our autonomy and how to work with plant medicine in order to bring control of our own health back into our families and homes for a sustainable future for ourselves and the planet. Through our intensive herbalism course, we facilitate the development of confident, empowered herbalists, attuned to the messages of their bodies and the natural world. Living the deep wisdom of herbal medicine within themselves, their homes and their communities, they uplift themselves and others, creating a stronger society organically. We do hope you'll join us on your journey!

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