Herbal Medicine Making Program Immersion

Learning how to craft your own herbal medicines is an empowering tool that
provides sustained wellness and autonomy.

Colleen Emery is passionate about providing access to education experiences that inspire and connect folks to the natural living world around them. She began teaching simple medicine making classes in 2003 from her inner city kitchen and has gone on to teach a variety of pharmacy classes over the years.

From beginner, foundational tasks all the way to complex clinical pharmacy techniques, Colleen has offered many versions of the Medicine Making Workshop.

With this 20 + years experience The Herbal Medicine Making Program Immersion was created!

Students are offered an opportunity to build their skillset over the course of 6 LIVE classes

PLUS additional access to recorded video content

50 hours of Instruction

Learn hands on methods of turning fresh and dry herbs into storage ready medicines, creating a home apothecary ready to address many health concerns.

Many aspects of Herbal Medicine Making are covered in this program including Infusions, Decoctions, Syrups, Creams, Salves, Electuaries, Capsulation, Tablets, Bolus, Oxymels, Acetums and Tinctures, both maceration and percolation.

Participants be guided through several techniques from the starting of certain medicines to the finishing of others and everything in between. We examine each botanical through an organoleptic process to determine the best possible technique and solvent to yield the best medicine possible.

Good Manufacturing and Collection Practices are also covered which includes how to gather herbs ethically, proper storage of herbs, how to source herbs through an ethical lens and so much more.

Program Details

Starting with foundational principles of extraction this program is designed to provide an intentional journey through the techniques and skills necessary to create quality plant medicines.

Understanding a few basics principles gives participants the tools to create really effective plant medicine that honours the herb and the value it offers. Each month we meet, we utilize our foundational concepts and create more medicinal extractions, completing the medicines we started in the month previous, learning new and exciting techniques and layering our learned knowledge in an experiential process.

Ever wondered why some herbs should be tinctured, some decocted or made into an infusion? Why it isn’t preferable for some herbs to be capsulated or extracted in glycerine?

Curious about how to create fresh plant extractions and get the alcohol to water ratio correct? Wondering about dual extraction techniques and when this should be applied? Ever heard of double extraction herbal oil infusions or double fold tincture extracts? Wondering about the elusive percolation technique and how this plant extract is completed?

We will discover these principles by creating:

Infusions & Decoctions and other exciting water extractions.
Syrups & Electuaries, Herbal Jellies and Jams, Lozenges and Pastilles.
Capsules & Tablets: What herbs work well as a capsule or tablet?
Oil Infusions: Fresh and Dried Herbs, Passive, Double Boiler, Heat Mat, Double Infused and More!
Acetums & Oxymels and Simple Tincture Extracts
Salves & Creams
Incense and Burnables, hand rolled cones and sticks
Bolus & Suppository
Tincture Extractions: Fresh & Dried Herb, Scientific Measurement Maceration, Dual Extraction and Percolation Method
Distillation

The 2025 Program will see Patrick Kooyman of Blue Lotus Ethnobotanicals and Jess Duchart of Ritual Aromatics join Colleen in the classroom as guest lecturers.

Following homework prompts and at home learning suggestions students will prepare over 2 dozen herbal medicines for their home apothecaries with over 40 plant medicine extraction techniques taught and demonstrated for the students.

2025 Program Dates

The Herbal Medicine Making Program Series runs LIVE on Saturdays from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm PST

All Classes are recorded and made available to the students for rewatch.

Please note Dates are tentative until enrolment opens.

Tentative Dates for the Program will be announced soon: Program will begin in September of 2025.

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Included in the Cost of the Program

Over 50 hours of instruction including LIVE-classroom plus access to additional prerecorded content throughout.
Downloadable access to all course materials and powerpoint presentations.
NEW this year: printed manual of all course content will be mailed to each participant prior to our start!!
Access to the rewatch of all live classroom sessions post program
10% off purchases in the Botanical Dispensary from time of enrolment to completion of program
The MMI program is a prerequisite to register for the Holistic Herbalism Advanced Clinical Program.

Investment

Total Investment for the program is $875 plus GST.

Payment in full secures registration. All fees are due within 30 days of the start of the program. Payment plans are available.

The Herbal Medicine Making Program Immersion offers both onsite, in person registration as well as online access through our online classroom.

All classes are streamed in realtime and are interactive.

Registration for the 2025 program opens July 15, 2025.

Please contact our Emery Herbals Teaching Centre: learn@emeryherbals.com for more details or if you have questions.

Please follow this link to enrol.

Colleen’s Medicine Making Immersion program was fantastic! I attended virtually through the online classroom and it felt as though I was right there in the classroom with her. The course was very comprehensive and my knowledge and medicine making skills improved tenfold. Colleen is extremely knowledgeable, patient, kind, and has a great sense of humour – the Medicine Making Immersion program was full of great information and a ton of fun!

Coralei Brown, WRC graduate