It happens to every herbalist I know. A client starts doing much better after starting her herbs. As she describes the improvements there’s a noticeable sense of relief in her voice. Then she stops.
“Of course, it might just be a placebo effect,” she says. “But it does seem like the herbs might be working.”
The placebo effect is real. Arguably, it’s some of the best medicine there is…but it’s certainly not what I’m intending to do when I recommend herbs to a client or design a formula. So, how do you know when herbs are working? Is it just a placebo? Is it possible to tell the difference?
And what about all of this mystical magical talk that sometimes gets mixed in with the chemical compounds and biochemistry? Is it legitimate to maintain that insubstantial and imperceptible changes are taking place “on an energetic level” when a client isn’t feeling any changes? To put it more bluntly, is this ethical?
Of all of the ways that I hope to contribute to my field, I’m most interested in advancing the conversation about ethics. To work ethically with herbs we have to understand the placebo effect and we have to get specific about all of the magical, mystical stuff that gets mixed in with herbal medicine. Tonight, we’ll be doing just that.
Click here for the class on YouTube Live. We begin at 7 pm Eastern.
