Herbal Integration Course Apprenticeship Program Herbal First Aid Intensive About Me Videos

Have the Medicines in Your Home fit with the Values in Your Heart!

Do you agree that pharmaceuticals are not sustainable and cannot provide the change the world needs right now?

You're not alone in thinking the Earth has answers that will restore balance and provide healing.

More and more people these days are losing faith in western medicine. They hate taking pharmaceuticals but see no other reasonable options when they (or their kids) get sick.

What if wild food and herbal medicines are part of the solution because they connect you to the mystery of Earth's wisdom?

 

2025 Herbal Integration Course

6 months of in-person, hands-on herbal training to build your resilience

  • 1 Weekend Intensive each month
  • May - October 2025
  • limited to 12 people

Five branches of this course

  1. Connecting with the plant world. 

    The first step is learning to recognize and identify the plants growing around you - in your yard, your garden, the neighbourhood park, and the forests around Vancouver. By the end of this course, you'll know more than 30 plants. You'll know which are medicine or food and which are not.

  2. Developing Plant Allies. 

    Half of all classes are Field Classes where you'll actually sit and "talk" with a medicine plant. Then the class will debrief so that you develop trust that you can learn from the plants directly (even if you're skeptical).

  3. Gathering and Making Your Own Remedies. 

     When you're not in the field, you'll be in Lab Classes learning to make a variety of herbal remedies. From the basics of tinctures and infused oils, to salves, balms and eventually medicated creams and lotions, while you are building your confidence, you'll be developing your own herbal apothecary.

  4. Using Herbal Remedies to Heal. 

     Your herbal apothecary won't be sitting around collecting dust. Your medicines mean empowerment and improved health for you, your friends and your family. You'll be able to treat common illnesses and infections, burns and bites, fevers and flus. You'll feel confident both making and using your own herbal remedies.

  5. Creating Herbal Community. 

     Traditional practices of herbal medicine have always been done in community. There's a reason for that. This is the first step of herbal healing: reminding each of us that we're not alone. Fortunately this also adds a great deal to your learning.

 

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[I know it’s from 2014, but when I reviewed it for 2023 I realized that I can’t improve on the content. Covid only intensified the need for resilience through nature-connection]

Who is this course for?

  • Parents and Caregivers who nourish children with compassion and gentleness and want their medicines to do the same
  • Permaculturists, Gardeners and Food Security Activists who are ready to connect more deeply with plants and the Earth; who are ready to bring plant medicines into their work of healing the planet
  • Sensitive and Intuitive Souls who feel a profound connection to Nature and want to Learn the Lost Language of Plants
  • Anyone who wants a closer connection with their food and medicine. If you'll do the work, then you're among friends in the Herbal Integration Course.

 

Whether your experience is at the Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced level, this course will open your heart and your eyes to the depth of healing that plant medicines offers. 

Advanced herb students can learn a great deal because direct communication skills aren't taught at most schools.  Sometimes a background in herbalism can make this facet of the course more challenging. When the mind thinks it knows something, it can be harder for the heart to listen. Practice and the group debriefs are an excellent antidote to the mind's doubt.

"This class brought into focus that plants are allies, healers, delectables AND tools for the regeneration of the earth and our relationship to it. I simply never knew how much I loved plants.”

~Adam

"This course has created within me a deeper sense of peace and connection to the earth - how I am a manifestation of other beings that have come before me. It has created a sense of wonder in the mysterious elegance of nature. It has awakened the intuition, spirit and creativity in me that has felt oppressed by all that is the concrete jungle."

 ~Malaxi

"This information has come to me as a rich resource of knowledge... It has led me to develop a form of communication that I had never known was available. In essence, listening to what the plants have shared with me has prompted me to use my own intuition as an internal guidance system… These plants are part of my tribe."

~Stephanie

You know there’s a difference between having an expertise with herbs and being a good teacher, right?!

 

So… How is Garliq as a Teacher?

My background is in popular education - which means teaching people in ways that make it easiest for them to integrate what they're learning. The way I see it, my role is to introduce you to some of my plant allies, to create a safe space that  supports and mentors you in developing your own relationships.

Mentorship is the traditional way that herbalism has been passed down.

That’s why I’ve spent the last 8 years learning the Art of Mentoring (through the 8 Shields tradition).

“Working with you was the most transformative educational experience I have ever participated in.  I now have high expectations for my future mentors and teachers. Thank you.”

~ Adam again.

(Yes, he really loved this course and gave 2 great quotes!)

“You are an amazing teacher.  I loved how you could hold the class in this safe little bubble where we all had space to express ourselves.  I felt inspired to read any book you mentioned in passing, and learned far more than I'd expected. You are hilarious and sarcastic, and really, really good at what you do.”

~ Erin

Here’s another example of my take on herbalism. enjoy!

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You will finish the course with:

The Herbal Integration Course Book.

These 60+ powerful pages (and still growing) started out as 21 pages in 2009. But as I grow and get feedback each year, I'm compelled to fill in gaps, add more and wax poetic about herbal healing.

The 4 chapters cover:

  1. Coming to Our Senses: Direct Communication Skills

  2. The 6 Herbs

  3. Medicine Making

  4. Recipes and Reference Materials + lots more.

    You'll receive both a hard copy and an electronic copy (which makes searching much easier).

An Herbal Medicine Apothecary

Jar by jar, you'll take home your very own apothecary that will range in retail price from $500-$1000 (depending on your efforts). This means significant savings for folks already buying retail herbal remedies.

Having this homemade tool kit means that you'll have what you need to treat (at very least) common ailments like scrapes, burns, bites, colds and flus, simple infections, rashes, fevers and so much more.

A truly fantastic herbal tea collection.

You'll be able to dazzle, amaze and nourish your friends and family. With your wide variety of handcrafted and dried herbs, you'll know exactly what's in each cup of tea: the plant and your loving attention.

A whole bucket of self-reliance and community empowerment.

What if you didn't worry so much when your family members got sick? What if you had tools that you trusted? You can. You will. This self-reliance reaches well beyond just your friends and family. Knowing about herbal medicines becomes a resource for community empowerment. You can be a living example of what it means to reduce pharmaceutical dependence. Just as the world desperately needs to reduce/eliminate its dependence on oil, we must do the same with pharmaceuticals because this will help bring us into Right Relationship with Nature.

Course Schedule

The class runs from May – October with 1 Weekend Intensive each month.   

Field Classes are Saturdays - 10am-2pm at various locations around the Vancouver area. (carpooling available)

Labs are Sundays - 10-2pm at Strathcona Community Garden

Dates for 2025…

  •  May 10/11

  • June 7/8

  • July 12/13

  • Aug. 9/10

  • Sept. 13/14

  • Oct. 4/5

A very, very special “I’m-Rebooting-things-In-Vancouver” Price 

 

Core Program:

$2250 $1950+gst Early Bird until Sun. Apr. 20

Plain and simple - I’m offering a ridiculously low price right now because I want to make this an easy “yes” for folks, as I re-establish my herbal teaching in Vancouver.

I taught herbs in Van 2009-2018, even after I moved to the Kootenays. Now, I'm back on the coast and reviving things in Vancouver.

This course is my pride and joy! I know you’re going to love it.

And this is a win-win. You get a discount of about $1000 and I get a full class of eager herbies ready to learn.

Core Program

$1950

+gst (Early bird)

  • 6 Weekend Intensives - Live, In-Person : 6 Field Classes (Saturdays) & 6 Lab Classes (Sundays)
  • HIC Resource Book - both hardcopy and e-book
  • Access to the HIC Forum with regular online support from Garliq
  • Your Own Handcrafted Herbal Apothecary
  • The Confidence to Treat Common Ailments
  • A Deeper Heart Connection with Plants and "Nature"
  • An Active and Thriving Community of Herby-s and Other Folks Passionate about Healing the Earth

After you complete the Application,
Book a time to meet with Garliq to discuss whether the course is a good fit for you

Hit the "submit" button above, then, set up time to connect 1 on 1, so I can answer any questions you may have. 

Book your interview