The journey we take as herbalists into clinical practice is complex, arduous, and filled with its own special challenges and roadblocks. Sustaining and growing our clinical practices can be equally as challenging.
Social media platforms have, in some ways, helped us stay connected to one another in our shared clinical work. But more often than not, these platforms have also been incredibly divisive and even hostile spaces for folx who are navigating the tricky career path of actually working with clients. We need to feel the support and camaraderie of our colleagues and peers. And we need a safe space to ask questions, bounce ideas around, learn new things, troubleshoot problems, overcome roadblocks, and find critical resources to grow and evolve as practitioners and entrepreneurs.
The Herbal Practice Connexion or HPX was conceived and born with the sole heart-path mission of fostering a community space for clinical herbalists seeking resources and support to build and grow their clinical herbal practice. Learn all about HPX and its membership features and options in this video with HPX host Erika Galentin MNIMH RH of Sovereignty Herbs...
So, with community at the heart-center of HPX, we are bringing together seedling through seasoned practitioners of herbalism inspired to build and grow thriving clinical practices.
In HPX we will be gathering to share inspiration and practical experience, workshop challenges, and celebrate wins through monthly meetups, Q & A sessions, and roundtable discussions. We will also be gathering to hone our clinical, business, and marketing skills with exclusive specialty trainings, monthly accountability quests, study groups, and mentorship opportunities...all the while cultivating nurturing habits surrounding rest, reflection, and self-empathy.
And we will be gathering together in HPX so that we can...
So, if this sounds like what you need to thrive as a clinical herbalist, keep reading as I am about to share with you what you can expect from your membership to HPX.
So, the Herbal Practice Connexion, or HPX, is a network. Within this network there are three main spaces, or rooms where all the action will be happening…The Consultation Room, The Apothecary, and the Office & Marketing Garden. These three rooms represent the professional facets of our work as clinical herbalists.
Within each of these rooms, you will find an events calendar which thematically offers exclusive opportunities to learn about new topics by participating in specialty trainings, live monthly meetups (what I am calling Pep Talks), online workshops and seminars with special guests, and even case review sessions with your host Erika Galentin MNIMH RH.
Each of these rooms also has its own roundtable feed that functions much like the social media feeds we are all familiar with…consider the roundtable a discussion forum where you can collaborate with colleagues, share resources, seek feedback, and ask questions...
Lastly, and most importantly, you will also find a resource section particular to the subject material of that room. Here you will find a growing body of articles and other documents, videos, podcasts, etc. Now, for full transparency, these are living resource libraries that will grow and expand over time and I am looking forward to members also suggesting and sharing resources to support others in the HPX community.
Each month HPX will be guided by a theme - one of the 12 pillars of clinical herbal practice. These include: Vision, Confidence, Trust, Integrity, Professionalism, Ethics, Transparency, Safety, Accountability, Reliability, Patience, and Collaboration. Each of these themes will also be paired with a medicinal herb… with both the pillar and the herb holding the activities of each month in a perfect balance of productivity and fun.
So before I go into the details of the membership options here, I want to highlight something important. The 12 pillars of clinical herbal practice that theme each month provide a 12-month journey through the various and sundry facets of building and growing your clinical herbal practice...whether you are just starting out on your clinical herbalism journey, are returning to a clinical path after a hiatus, or you are an established practitioner re-envisioning your clinical herbal practice.
What this means is that 12 pillars of clinical practice, or a cycle of 12 months in the Herbal Practice Connexion, has been designed to be a transformative experience for each and every member. My hope, and my goal, is that should you decide to join HPX, in 12 months time you will be confidently on your way to the next level of your clinical career. And although we would love for you to stick with us and mentor other clinical herbalists with your experiences, after 12 months, if you show up and participate as much as you can, you and your work in the world will be transformed and you may no longer need the support of the HPX community.
There are currently two main membership options available for HPX, the monthly subscription at $34.99/month and the annual subscription, so a full 12 transformative months, for $349.99…(which translates to 2 months for free).
You can cancel your membership at any time by unsubscribing from automatic renewals. However, there are no refunds for months of membership that have already been charged regardless of whether you are on the monthly plan or the annual plan. Once you cancel your membership you will have access to the network for the duration of your current subscription cycle after which point your access to the network will end. You can read more about the HPX Cancellation & Refund Policy here.
You can access the Herbal Practice Connexion in a number of ways including via your internet browser and through the FREE IOS and Android Mighty Networks App. Using the Mighty Networks app is highly recommend for ease of access. Once you have purchased your membership subscription on your web browser and set up your login credentials, simply download the FREE Mighty Networks App, search for the Herbal Practice Connexion and log in using your HPX login information.
Just like anything awesome, the Herbal Practice Connexion will evolve and grow over time as as it evolves, so will the features of your membership and additional membership options. I have big plans and I am telling you all of this as what you are about to see is only the beginning of something of enormous potential which is immensely important. HPX is not a static space, it is mutable, and will continue to grow and respond to the needs of our members.
Erika is the Lead Creatrix, Clinical Herbalist, Grower, Distiller, Educator, Clinical Mentor, and Product Maker at Sovereignty Herbs. She is the host of the Herbal Practice Connexion (HPX) and the Herbal Sensorium podcast. Her home base and medicine gardens are located just outside of Athens, OH but she serves a national and international community with her renown herbs & wellness coaching, online and in-person classes and workshops, and clinical mentorship programs. She is also guest faculty with the Herbal Academy for their Advanced Course and with The Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine for their Aromatic Medicine Garden membership and community.
Erika holds a degree in Herbal Medicine from the University of Wales, Cardiff, UK and Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, Glasgow, UK. She is a professional member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (UK) and the American Herbalists Guild (USA). She is also a proud member of Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society in Horticulture (USA).
Over a decade of clinical practice has provided a platform for witnessing the efficacy of medicinal plants and aromatics within a clinical environment. It is through this clinical practice that Erika seeks to encourage positive, learned relationships between plants and people and people and their bodies. She is a firm believer in celebrating the role that emotions and the psyche play in the ecology of our physical terrain. Erika is also deeply passionate about the history of botanical medicine in the United States as depicted by the American Botanical Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and has built her clinical philosophy around the principles and practice of Physiomedical and Eclectic traditions.
In addition to clinical practice, Erika is both a student and teacher of horticulture, native medicinal plant conservation and ecology, and the phenomenological and Goethean study of plants and their medicinal virtues. With her dedication to medicinal plants native to Ohio and the Greater Appalachian region, Erika teaches, lectures, and writes on native medicinal plant conservation and applied ecology, propagation, herbalism, and clinical efficacy. She also participates as a member of the Education Advisory Committee of the American Herbalists Guild.