Certifications and licenses for holistic practitioners are ultimately a good thing – they demonstrate commitment to a healing craft, peer-reviewed qualifications, and it sets a measurable bar for clients to understand what makes a practitioner qualified to give certain treatments.

The recent proliferation of certifications, however, may leave some folks tongue-tied from all the acronyms – LMT, CCH, WFR/WEMT, ND, LAc, RSHom – did you get all that? Actually, understanding these labels is as easy as a “Google” search, or you can get it all here: 

• RSHom: a professional degree meaning Registered with the Society of Homeopaths in Britian, qualifies a Homeopath to practice all over the world; adding (NA) to the end indicated acceptance into the North American Society of Homeopaths.
• CCH: Certified in Classical Homeopath, the American certification process professional Homeopaths, requiring thorough understanding not just of Homeopathic repertory and materia medica, but also clinical practice, pathology, physiology, anatomy, biology.
• WFR/WEMT – this is a First Responder or Emergency Medical Technician with the added element of “Wilderness” training, in other words, how to stabilize a patient for longer than 10 minutes (average city EMS response time) and improvise life-saving techniques with limited resources.
• ND – Naturopathic Doctor. In some states ND is equivalent to MD in that they can prevent, diagnose, treat and cure disease. ND’s have the largest toolbox – including acupressure, aromatherapy, herbalism, homeopathy, and nutrition. Their training is as rigorous as orthodox medical school (usually 4 to 6 years) and many specialize above and beyond the requirements for ND, becoming certified or licensed in Homeopathy or Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture for example.
• LAc – Licensed Acupuncturist, this licensing is rigorous and part of TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine, which takes several years and requires thorough understanding of clinical practice, pathology, physiology, anatomy and biology (and in some cases, you end up learning a great deal of Chinese language in the process)!

Oh, and there’s another kind of CCH (which I’ve recently learned about, since I’m pursuing my CCH for Homeopathy) which stands for Certified Clinical Herbalist. This is where my new friend Molly Turner comes in:

Molly Turner is a Certified Clinical Herbalist CCH and Clinical nutritionist.  Trained in the vitalist traditions of western herbalism and whole body health, she earned her certificates from the reputable herbal studies school, The Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism. Molly also has online training from Clayton college of Natural Health and an apprenticeship with Rebecca’s Herbal Apothecary on top of years of self study.

            Molly is a wife and mom to three children, a beekeeper and owner of the honey based herbal body care business, Glory Bee Body, coming BACK soon.

Passionate about holistic healthcare and herbalism, Molly understands that there is no “one size fits all” and every-body is unique. Molly takes the time to learn about YOU as an individual and loves collaborating a health plan that works for your lifestyle. 

Meet Molly this Saturday at our Holistic Health Fair! She’ll be at the Alpine Botanicals table from 11 am to 4 pm. Get your tickets here.