PAY IN FULL OPTION

*If there is enough demand, a Sunday morning session may be added. Please send Lauren an email at lauren@areteherbs.com to be added to the Sunday morning session waitlist.*

Scroll down to the bottom to watch video testimonials of previous DIY Herbalism students sharing their experience!

Do you want to become a pro in the healing properties of plants? Would you like to develop a deeper connection with nature? Are you interested in developing the confidence and understanding of how to use herbal remedies to restore and improve the well-being of you and your loved ones? Imagine opening your cupboards to a wide range of natural herbal remedies that you personally handcrafted and knowing exactly how to apply your herbal wisdom to support healing for any health concern.

Join us for our 9-month herbalist intensive program and infuse yourself with wisdom passed down by many generations of herbal healers.

Immerse yourself in hands-on remedy making, develop plant-centered healing knowledge, and galvanize your potential.
Aka, let’s step up your self-care game!

Herbalism is about being inquisitive, resilient, and skilled at keeping you and yours safe and healthy. From making your own herbal teas and tinctures, to discovering food medicines, to first aid and crafting potent cleaning products, this course by Arete Herbs x Paula’s Herbals will plunge you into the art, science, and celebration that is plant-centered wellness.

Over our 9 classes, you will learn to:

• Craft remedies and medicines
• Improve your body’s natural functions and capacity
• Develop inner knowledge and perception
• Experience individual and gardening growth and changes
• Establish personal agency and authority
• Cultivate and refine your working plant knowledge of dozens of healing herbs

This course is for anyone who wants to develop a deeper understanding of plant medicine. Whether you are a complete beginner or already have begun working with herbal remedies, this course will provide the foundational knowledge and skills that are necessary to become a medicine making herbalist.

The goal of our program is two-fold—

1. Entrust you with a new, foundational skill set and

2. Inspire you to keep exploring, learning, and experimenting with the abundance that is our plant world.

Will I get a certificate?, you may be wondering.

Yes, you will get a certificate of completion (upon completion, more on that in class), but this doesn’t make you a certified herbalist. There are no certification standards for Herbal Medicine, which is another topic we will discuss. Essentially, you are free to practice what you learn but never (ever, ever) pretend or suggest or imply or outright impersonate a medical professional- those whose schooling legally allows letters after their names.

What else will you get?

Better start clearing out cupboard space now. 18 projects plus monthly herbal observations will provide you with many, many jars of new herbal goodies to play with. In addition, you will find yourself dabbling and expanding upon our lessons and adding to your remedy stock on your own.

You'll learn to make:

• teas

• tinctures

• body care products

• cleaning products

• first aid and wound care products

• elixirs

• herbal foods like syrups, golden milk, and herbed wine

• salves

• bitters

• and more!

You'll also learn about:

• harvesting, foraging, and storing herbs

• building a personal inventory of medicine making supplies

• organic, IPM, biodynamic, and other growing methods

• supporting all your paths of elimination

• stress, sleep, and the health of the nervous system

• that hot new topic, CBD and your endocannabinoid system

• traditional healing systems and seasonal practices

• movement and breath techniques for daily wellness

• developing intuition and personal relationships with herbs

• resources and best practices to deepen your new skill set

• plus monthly tasting, testing, sampling, and personal guided herbal experiments

We have a beautiful class garden that we'll visit each month, and you'll have a chance to plant, harvest, taste, and help grow some of the plants we work with. This is an experiential class, and not only do you have the hands-on experience in class, but you'll have homework and practice ongoing between classes too. You'll also be invited to join our private DIY Herbalism FB group for continued discussions and sharing.

Class handouts, worksheets, and notes will be provided to you as well. We suggest a 3 ring binder to organize and store all the class materials.

Location: Areté’s newly renovated barn studio in historic Unionville, PA
(near Kennett Square — exact location will be given once registered for privacy reasons because this is a residential property)

Class Schedule: In order to provide more options to fit your schedule, there will be a total of 2 class sessions/options offered. Each session will meet once per month for 9 months at the same time and day for 4 hours. You get to choose if you would prefer the Friday afternoon session, or the Saturday afternoon session. You will get to select which day that you prefer when you register using the dropdown menu at the top of this page.

The following are the dates for each of the available class sessions:

Class Dates:

FRIDAY AFTERNOON SESSION:

March 22nd, 2024
April 19th, 2024
May 17th, 2024
June 7th, 2024
July 12th, 2024
Aug 9th, 2024
Sept 6th, 2024
Oct 4th, 2024
Nov 1st, 2024

SATURDAY AFTERNOON SESSION:

March 23rd, 2024
April 20th, 2024
May 18th, 2024
June 8th, 2024
July 13th, 2024
Aug 10th, 2024
Sept 7th, 2024
Oct 5th, 2024
Nov 2nd, 2024

*If there is enough demand, a Sunday morning session may be added. Please send Lauren an email at lauren@areteherbs.com to be added to the Sunday morning session waitlist.*

Class Time: 2PM-6PM

Student Max: 8 per session

Tuition Payment Options:

$1,080 Pay in full option — This is the ticket page for this option. Choose a class day, then hit ‘add to cart’ on this page if you’d like to pay in full.

$1,180 Payment plan option — 5 payments of $236/month, starting immediately upon registration. Your payment will come out on the same day each month as your original date of registration. If you’d like to register for the payment plan, please select the “DIY HERBALISM PROGRAM: PAYMENT PLAN OPTION” on the shop page or go HERE.

Please note that classes are non-refundable.

Required Text:

Body into Balance: An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self-Care by Maria Noel Groves

About Your Instructor:

Paula Billig is a life-long herbal enthusiast, having been started on herbal medicines as a toddler way back in the day, before this was a trendy topic. She’s been the weird one ever since, until her passion suddenly became popular in the last several years - she’s still a little eccentric, but now also on topic! Paula’s diverse background makes her an entertaining and engaging teacher who is enthusiastic and devoted to teaching you how to be more in charge of your health.

Paula studied Herbalism with Maia Toll in Philadelphia, PA, and was certified through her Sage School of Clinical Herbalism. She has also studied other herbal and wellness courses, benefiting from the teachings of experienced practitioners like Linda Shanahan, with whom she has collaborated as a guest instructor on several occasions. In addition to teaching with Arete, Paula is also the Wholesale and Events Manager for a prominent herbal institution and the Personal Development Program leader with My Social Support Network, a virtual provider of social rehabilitation in New South Wales, Australia.

She holds a B.A. from Temple University in Human Biology, where she also earned her EMT certification. She has honed her understanding of our body's form and function teaching Reformer Pilates for 16 years, which led to a related certification in Pelvic Floor Personal Training, and she polished her public speaking and presentation skills performing for a decade with an interactive Children's Theater.

Check out our 2 PART interview with our DIY Herbalism instructor, Paula Billig, on the blog! We're sharing a few Q&As with her so you can get to know this incredibly knowledgeable Herbalist and the next big name in herbal education to hit our local area! Read Part 1 interview here, & read our newest Part 2 interview here!

What past students have said about the program:

“Recommend! A ton of great info. The hands-on classwork is better than any online version, plus meeting like-minded students to share experiences with is so great.”

“Do it! You will learn so much and be motivated to keep learning!”

“Great for someone with little to no experience with herbs but a great interest in learning and experimenting”

“Get ready to learn and experience the natural world around you! Prep yourself mentally for a certificate course and course load.”

“I highly recommend this program for anyone interested in herbalism. This program has helped me bring to life my interest in herbs and herbal medicine. Paula has a wealth of knowledge and is constantly sharing little golden nuggets of herbalism experience and knowledge so keep your notebooks close! She also shares lots of resources so you can dive as deep as you want.”

“The program is very inclusive and covers a lot more material than I expected. Each class is active and jam packed. I love the hands on component and being able to take something I’ve made home with me at the end of each class.”

“This class injected a lot of inspiration back into my life at a time when I needed to restore my creativity, and my connection to the earth. Of course the information is out there, but what I needed was a teacher, someone to guide me through and help me discern what had worth or not. Paula did an amazing job instilling the spirit of herbalism into our practice. My biggest takeaway was the displacement of a modern medicine mindset. The community that is built around this class is invaluable. To hear other people’s experience and stories around the monthly topics was well worth the price of admission!”

Invite your friends to join in on this plant journey by sharing this event on Facebook!

Additional Notes:

Please provide your primary email address when registering! All students will receive a welcome email, so keep an eye out!

For more information or questions, contact: Lauren@areteherbs.com

*For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the FDA. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.