The Herbalism Mastery Mentorship and Supervision Program is a transitioning program that bridges formal education and professional practice. It is designed for students attending their final or second-final year of formal study in Herbal Medicine and/or Naturopathy, as well as graduates who have been inactive in the industry for a period of time and are looking to re-engage and/or recommence practice.

This program is developed by naturopath, herbalist and educator Sulin Sze, who has been creating and delivering educational content for the past decade for leading complementary medicine educational universities and colleges in Australia. Sulin is a Fellow of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society. From Sulin’s observations through teaching together with student feedback there are four key problems with transitioning to practice that many graduates will face. This program seeks to assist in these areas specifically, drawing on the creators unique skillset and training. These are:

1. Understanding how to personalise a treatment protocol with in depth traditional diagnostics
   1. Moving beyond generalised protocols to matching foods and herbs to a particular constitution (Ayurvedic). Students get stuck on how to tailor an existing protocol to suit their client, while keeping the protocol simple and affordable and avoiding interactions or adverse effects.
2. Extemporaneous manufacture
   1. Actively learn the preparation of common herbal medicines for extemporaneous manufacture with GMP. Current herbal manufacture courses do not provide extensive opportunities for students to feel comfortable making their own medicines, and they get stuck on formulations which requires understanding of plant energetics and qualities (Eastern systems of herbalism can provide this).
3. Curating a brand and communicating unique selling points both physically and in the online realm
   1. Step by step processes provided to take the students from concept creation to logo, website and photo creation. Develops materials.
   2. Reflective and meditative processes employed to help participants understand who they are, how they want to practice and what differentiates them from other practitioners. Develops purpose and confidence. Some students feel overwhelmed upon completion of their studies, and may feel lost in an increasingly competitive industry. Defining who they are, their purpose and specific offering gives them a pathway to discovering their niche.
4. Becoming a master of many skills
   1. Graphic design, audio editing, website platform selection, photography and videography basics are provided.
   2. Terms and conditions, privacy policy and other legalities
   3. Payment systems, booking systems, courier services and other practicalities
   4. Having the skills to create their own marketing materials, understanding the basics of their own website and image creation builds confidence, reduces costs and streamlines the content creation process. In one month we create an achievable ‘online presence’ plan that participants work through step by step in their workbooks, generating the content they’ll need for a website and other marketing materials.

This program seeks to take the concept of mentorship into a very practical space, moving beyond additional theory and protocol development, into the development of the individual practitioner and their unique offering, an essential component of being able to define their niche and compete in the currently dense and competitive online setting.