Monday Mentoring Conference 2023
A conference for practicing herbalists and nutritionists to learn with and from one another
Saturday, April 15 from 11 am - 4 pm ET
🌿 About the Conference 🌿
Each year, we have a conference for folks who are members of the Monday Mentoring community of practice to share their experiences, expertise, passion and learning with other practitioners. All sessions take place via Zoom. This is not a professionally-run conference with a big support team. Most folks presenting are new to speaking at conferences. If you're an herbalist or nutritionist, we invite you to join us to learn with and from others engaged in this work.
Conference Schedule, Topics & Speakers
April 15, 11 - 11:45 am ET
Greek medicine: a very brief introduction with Nick Cavanaugh
Greek medicine is a comprehensive system of holistic medicine with a similar depth as Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine. It's possible to trace many aspects of contemporary Western herbalism back to Greek medicine, though many concepts have become unfamiliar to Western herbalists, such as the 4 humors.
For those looking for a deeper way of applying energetics to their clinical work they may find that Greek medicine offers some helpful conceptual frameworks which may be easier to comprehend than those often borrowed from Ayurveda or Chinese Medicine.
In this presentation Nick will share a little bit about what he's been learning about this system by studying historical texts as well as the modern practice of Unani medicine (which translates as "Greek medicine"). Nick will explain some of the basic aspects of this system that are unique, and will point people toward ways to learn more.
About Nick
Nick is a clincial herbalist working at Railyard Apothecary in Burlington, VT. He completed the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism's 3-year clinical herbalism program in 2016, as well as programs at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine and Herb Pharm. His herbal work includes helping to manage a retail store, teaching and clinical work. He has a particular interest in herbal energetics and Greek medicine.
April 15, 12-12:45 pm ET
Understanding Fertility Labs: Decoding day 3 bloodwork and other routine fertility labs with Liane Moccia
When people are having trouble conceiving for more than one year, many doctors will order is day 3 blood work plus additional blood work later in the same cycle. Clients often come to herbalists and nutritionists for support on their fertility journey and understanding what these tests measure and the difference between low, normal, and optimal ranges will help complete the health history. In this session, we will discuss routine fertility labwork, identify optimal ranges, and discuss some of the fertility concerns that may be associated with non-optimal levels.
About Liane
Liane Moccia is a Registered Clinical Herbalist specializing in fertility, hormone balance, stress, and sleep. She helps people optimize their fertility through herbs, nutrition, lifestyle changes, and a clear plan.
In 2018, Liane was certified as an herbalist by Maria Noel Groves of Wintergreen Botanicals in NH. She was accepted as a peer-reviewed registered professional herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild in 2021 (RH, AHG). Liane also completed an Integrative Fertility 1-year Mentorship Program with a naturopathic fertility expert in 2020. She is a professional member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), volunteers as an infertility peer support leader for RESOLVE New England, and is an Education Advisor for Wintergreen Botanical’s herbal training programs.
Liane lives in Andover, Massachusetts and sees clients from all over the country using video conferencing.
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April 15, 1-1:45 pm ET
Succeed With SIBO: Avoid These Common Treatment Mis-steps and Mistakes with Louise Beach
Half of all visits to the GI doctor’s office are for IBS; that ‘incurable’, ‘unexplainable’ syndrome that plagues millions of people around the globe. But despite research from 2000 that has been duplicated and validated showing that Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) is the underlying cause of almost 70% of all IBS cases, most conventional doctors still turn to the SIBO breath test only after running their patients through a mill of expensive, invasive and unnecessary tests––IF they test for SIBO at all. As a result, the majority of those suffering with GI distress are not getting the help they need. So if someone with SIBO is lucky enough to show up at your door after losing years of their life wandering in the medical wilderness, let me help you be ready to help them. (Because I wasn’t ready! )
In this presentation, we will examine the complex, bugs-in-the-wrong-place predicament that is SIBO; we'll understand how the bugs might have gotten there in the first place; and we'll find out how the top SIBO practitioners judiciously use herbal antimicrobials in rotation, and alongside nutraceuticals, prebiotics, probiotics and antibiotics to eradicate the bugs altogether and heal the damage in the small intestine.
Importantly, we will also consider how SIBO perhaps needs to be approached as a problem of terrain rather than (just) of killing bugs, and how rebuilding the microbiome should be prioritized to help the client maintain optimal health going forward.
About Louise
Louise has an MS in Clinical Nutrition from the Maryland University of Integrative Health, is certified as a CNS, and sees clients in her Pleasantville, NY office or via telehealth. She took on an additional 22 hours of SIBO study under Allison Siebecker when a client showed up at her door with SIBO (who she wasn't ready for), taking courses as well with the top Australian SIBO doctor, Nirala Jacobi and the Tanzanian microbiologist Jason Hawrelak. She specializes in SIBO, GERD and other digestive disorders, and is passionate about microbiome health for everyone with any condition. She is also an award-winning composer of classical and theater music, a long-time teacher of music at the private and university level, and an explorer of the mind-body practices of Qigong and Buddhist meditation that gently rock her world on a daily basis.
April 15, 2-2:45 pm ET
Permaculture & Holistic Health Care with Chris George
Permaculturists are Holistic Practitioners, they look at improving the natural environment for ALL elements in a system thus improving the health of each individual element.
Participants will learn about permaculture ethics and principles and the correlation between their systems work and the work that we do as herbalists. Permaculture is a broad subject, but sustainability and self-sufficiency are core tenets. Permaculture Design Courses (PDC's) are taught worldwide and permaculturists can be found most everywhere. Herbalists typically teach a half day of the curriculum at many permaculture design courses, as the practice compliments the permaculture lifestyle.
About Chris
Chris George was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, she is a proud Mom and Grandmother. Chris received her autoimmune disease diagnosis in 2008, just as she was installing the orchard at her budding urban farm. That same year her job of 25 years was transferred to Houston. She chose not to uproot her family and declined the move, turning her focus to volunteering and studying sustainability. She studied Permaculture Design in 2012 then went to Haiti in 2014 where the Garden Pool team built an aquaponic food production system at the Naturopaths Without Borders compound. By 2016 she was pre-diabetic and suffered from a long list of symptoms. Knowing she had to focus on her health she found a functional doctor who diagnosed her with leaky gut and prescribed an elimination diet. She strictly followed the AIP protocol for 8 months before reintroducing foods. Her A1C normalized, her energy returned, 80% of her symptoms went away and she lost 45 pounds.
Feeling like a new person, she decided to follow her lifelong dream to be an herbalist and enrolled in the Holistic Health Care degree program at SWIHA to study Western Herbalism and Holistic Nutrition and has never looked back.
Today she still volunteers for four non-profits; Arizona Herb Association, Sun Produce Cooperative, UofA Master Gardener Program and Maricopa County Food System Coalition, and in March launched her business, Urban Apothecary LLC, as a Clinical Herbalist and Nutritional Health Consultant online, specializing in Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, catering to older clients.
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April 15, 3-3:45 pm ET
A Case for Topical Medicines: Oil Spotlight, a Historical and Modern Introduction with Sia Hanna
In modern "western herbalism," we focus a lot on internally ingested preparations - tinctures, teas, capsules, glycerites, etc., with the assumption being that these will be the most effective ways to restore imbalanced bodily systems. Topical medicines, while an equally respected aspect of Indigenous medicines, folk medicines, and large medicine systems (Ayurveda, Greek, Persian, etc.), have fallen mostly out of favor, except for the occasional salve. This means that not only are we neglecting an important aspect of physical, mental, and spiritual health, but that we have largely forgotten the functions of why we even would turn to topical medicines in the first place. Far beyond bruises, bumps, scrapes, and other first aid, working with oils, herbal or otherwise, can form a foundational part of our and our clients' preventative practices and recommended protocols.
About Sia
sia hanna (she/her) is a mixed ethnicity diasporic herbalist whose foundations in herbal medicine are connection to plants, land, each other, and the fertile space of deepening and repairing those relationships. sia's practice is based on collaboration and co-conspiracy, as we work toward your personal goals, weaving the wisdoms we both hold, learning more together, and centering your deep self-knowledge and self-exploration. she currently lives in the Wapato Valley on unceded Chinuk territory (Portland, OR) where she spends time with plants, her thoughts, friends and loved ones, books, swampy marshy goopy areas, pen and paper, her dogs, bowls of soup, cups of coffee, crows and seagulls, unending projects, an unmade bed, and the rest of the wonders and challenges that life and community brings.
