Standalone Class Offerings are BACK! and New Depression Course Opening Soon

Standalone Class Offerings are BACK!

Many of you have communicated that you miss being able to sign up for single classes and we heard you! Our single online classes are returning, starting with a brand-new class on depression. We’re excited to offer these specialized herbal education opportunities again, with a new hands-on format to make sure you get the most out of every lesson.


We paused these classes a couple of years ago because we felt this complex material needed the right foundation to be truly useful and safe in practice. Now, we’re bringing them back, but with a 15-hour prerequisite course on foundational health concepts and scope of practice.


This prerequisite will give you the context you need to fully grasp the advanced topics in our specialized classes, setting you up for success. Think of it as building a strong foundation before adding the specialized tools to your herbal toolkit.


Once you complete the prerequisite module, you’ll be ready to dive into any of our single classes. Some classes that are on the horizon include Thyroid health, Mast-cell driven disorders, Anxiety, PMS/PMDD and a public health class for herbalists. We are also offering our covid class on demand. We hope that you are as excited as we are, yay!!

Thomas’ New Depression Class Launching Soon!

Hi, plant people – Mel here. We are launching a comprehensive 12-week class on depression in less than one week and I am pumped! Thomas has been working on this class for a couple of years now, and it is SO darn good!

There will be a mix of recorded coursework, assignments and live class discussions.  Also included are case studies from Thomas’ practice.

You will also receive our new prerequisite coursework at a 70% discount, which will allow you to sign up for any of our single classes in the future (more on this in an upcoming newsletter).

As holistic practitioners, we already know that emotions, physical health, and social connections are deeply interwoven into the mental health of our clients (and ourselves). This course uses that understanding to explore the nuanced ways people experience depression – from the client who says, “I’m just tired all the time,” to the one who feels like they’re slogging through molasses every day, to those of us who spend time crying on the floor.

We’ll dig into the many root causes of depression, from inflammation and stress-response patterns to social isolation and environmental factors. Because let’s be honest – depression rarely stems from a single cause.

One of the most exciting parts of this course is how we’ll match herbal approaches to these varied expressions and root causes. We’re not just throwing St. John’s Wort at everything (even though we love its sweet sunshine). Instead, we’ll get super specific – talking about when to use nervine tonics versus stimulants, when mood-elevating adaptogens make sense, and how to craft formulations that meet each client exactly where they are. We will also explore neuro-anti-inflammatories, offering unique insights into addressing brain inflammation and its role in depression.

This course is built with a dual focus: it’s perfect for practitioners working with depression in their clinical practice – whether you’re an herbalist, therapist, or other mental health professional – but it’s also for anyone navigating their own journey with depression. We’ve included a whole section on practitioner self-care because, let’s be real, this work can be tough. And for those dealing with depression themselves, this course offers insights into therapeutic approaches and practical tools you can use to support your mental health, because understanding is so often the first step toward meaningful change.

TBA: a special perk for waiting list folks only!

The course will launch soon; get on the waiting list HERE.

Warmly,

Mel Kasting
ESHM Clinical Director

Plant Profile: Lemon Balm

Lemon balm is one of our favorite herbs for depression. Lemon balm is an aromatic but is also cooling (one of the few aromatics where this is the case), and uplifting but relaxing. Think of lemon balm for the person who just can’t stop going.



It helps to ease sadness and depression, calm mania, enhance sleep, and aid memory and concentration. It’s a reliable carminative, great for gastric heat and spasm.

The plant is easy to grow, and nibbling on fresh leaves is Thomas’ favorite use.



Dosage: Standard infusion, 4oz three times/day; Fresh or freshly dried tincture 1-3ml three times/day; Freshly dried sealed simmer glycerite 3-5ml three times/day. The glycerite tastes lovely in fizzy water!

Featured Recipe: Tasty Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a balanced grounding and nourishing nervine herb that helps anxiety, insomnia, exhaustion, hypothyroidism and potentially low testosterone. It improves quality of sleep, and decreases sleep onset latency and might owe many of its effects on the nervous system to this property. We prefer powder or capsules over tincture (effective dosage is too high) or tea (compounds aren’t very water soluble).  

Ashwagandha is an herb that we consider when working with depression when clients are stressed, and this stress is a contributing factor to their depression.  We especially think of ashwagandha for herbal support if they also deal with sleep issues.