Marina Pellerin CHT has been a certified Clinical Herbal Therapist for a number of years and since 2004 has been the Secretary Treasurer of the CHA of BC

In Canada, the Clinical Herbalist or Clinical Herbal Therapist title lets the consumer know that he or she is being assisted in the pursuit of good health by a practitioner who has passed an extensive program in materia medica, theraputics, pharmacy and pharmacognosy, wildcrafting, and cultivating of North America's and Europe's many medicinal plants as well as a good selection of Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs. Each herbalist with this title or the letters CHT after her name has also spent years in the study of pathology, anatomy and biochemistry, as well as nutrition. Each has spent at least 500 hours in a student clinic under the supervision of graduate herbalists and medical doctors gaining experience before starting private practice. This degree is modelled after the Medical Herbalist degree that can be obtained in England, where herbal medicine has been in uninterrupted popular use since the dark ages. Many of us believe this phenomenon can be attributed to the Henry VIII Charter (please see Columbines and Wizardry Herbs web site for a copy of this interesting charter) in which Henry stated that herbalists must be allowed to practice without fear of being burnt at the stake. It's interesting that the charter applied to the thirteen original states and has never been repealed.

In North America, we immigrants from Europe brought seeds for our favourite medicines with us on the boat and combined them with local plants being used by native Americans to make a unique style all our own. The herbalists at Oh Natural are trained at Dominion Herbal College (est. 1926) where the study of healing with herbs has produced many notables over the years. Please see the Dominion Herbal College web site for more information on courses being taught and information on graduates.

In British Columbia, Canada, clinical herbalists may also be registered with the Canadian Herbalists Association of British Columbia, our professional association. If so, the letters RHP (registered herbal practitioner) or RHC (registered herbal consultant) will also be seen after the herbalist's name , right after the CHT. This lets you know you are getting a practitioner with the highest training available in North America.