Welcome to the website of Silverhand Botanicals, the Western Clinical Herbal practice of Rob Brown Llwyd of Lansing, NY. Here you will find some information about herbs, herbal medicine, and wellness and educational services available from Rob plus a few resources regarding this art and craft.

Western Clinical Herbalism

Western Clinical Herbalism is an eclectic discipline which draws from many sources in its creation, with many different forms which vary practitioner to practitioner. It's important to know that Western Herbalism is not the same as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, or any number of cultural health modalities which may also use herbs as part of their approach to health and wellness. Many Western herbalists have studied one or more of these to some degree, and may incorporate some of their herbal remedies or philosophical approaches into what they do, but the synthesis of these elements is rarely too similar to the practise of traditional students of these professions.

Western Herbalism is very strongly informed by the historic (or 'traditional') use of plant remedies in Europe and the Euroform cultures of the Americas and other regions. While our understanding of how our bodies work in health and illness has changed in many ways over time, the ways that plants affect our bodies have not and the benefits of traditional folkloric herb lore are many and priceless. Modern Western Herbalism also relies strongly on the best knowledge and understanding we have inherited from the herbal medical colleges of the 19th and early 20th centuries (I myself hold a deep appreciation for the work of the Eclectic Physicians and their Physiomedicalist counterparts), the physiological and pathological knowledge provided by advances in allopathic medicine (often called 'traditional medicine' or 'conventional medicine', allopathy is the work of Medical Doctors and their related trades and sciences), and also new research into the activity of herbs which has come out of a recent resurgence in interest in herbal medicine and the growth of the herbal and dietary supplement industries. Woven together out of these sources and others, herbalism is a diverse and beautiful Craft which has a lot to offer to our progress towards a holistic culture of health.

My own herbal practice draws heavily upon folk herbal traditions of Britain especially, and many other cultural sources to varying degrees. I also use knowledge of the Specific Indications and herbal medical knowledge of the Eclectics, and contemporary research as above, and I see all of these as powerful complements to each other. Herbalism for me is not the use of plant substances as 'substitutes' for pharmaceutical drugs. These are very different things and need to be addressed by their own strengths. My herbalism is about plants: the living and growing wonderful plants who share our world with us, and offer uncountable blessings through their presence. My herbalism is about people: individual people whose lives and bodies have their own unique strengths and weaknesses which can be affected to help each of us become closer to the healthiest, best manifestations of our selves that we can be. We humans and plants have always been intertwined in our lives, and herbalism is a living celebration of how we can benefit each other.

I am a vitalist: I believe that the natural state of all living things is wellness, and that by addressing imbalances or specific pathologies in an elegant fashion we can better enable ourselves to be well. My work with health is very minimally nosological; I do not diagnose named diseases, nor do I offer herbs as medicines to treat disease. Instead, I work within a holistic, constitutional framework of how our bodies operate. Every part of our bodies is interconnected within us, and each influences the others in turn. By coming to an understanding of whole patterns of how each person's body works (and what ways it isn't working well), the use of herbs, changes in lifestyle and diet, or other therapies can help relieve the health problems we face.

The focus of my work is very generalist (almost all herbalists are, by the nature of what we do), but I have a particular interest in chronic disease: longer term health concerns are an aspect of wellness where I think that herbalism has a lot to offer. I also work with more acute illness where appropriate, and have a very strong background in herbal first aid. My focus is almost entirely herbal: I make herbal formulations individual to each client's constitutional health patterns and may sometimes suggest changes in diet or lifestyle. I have a strong knowledge of what herbs are helpful in which ways, and I also maintain a healthy respect for what herbs cannot do so well. I'm not here to tell anyone that herbal medicine is the only way to be well, and I'll freely tell anyone when I think that some other health oriented modality might be better suited for them.

It is important to understand that one of the many things I am not, is a Medical Doctor. Herbalism is a non-licensed wellness discipline here in the U.S. where I live, and whilst I have studied health and herbs extensively (human bodies and floral ecologies, among other facets) and may be able to help you in your own wellness process with this knowledge, if what you want is a Doctor or Acupuncturist or Chiropractor or any practitioner of any healing art, then you should research those in your area and find one who is good at their Craft and a good fit for you. I do not, as above, diagnose or treat disease; I do not prescribe drugs. Neither do I wish to be considered anything less or more than I am: a learned and caring advisor who does his best to help anyone who wishes it.

Take responsibility for your health! Know what any health practitioner has to offer to you. Take ownership of your own healing: drugs and plants and orthopedists and herbalists don't heal you; though we all may help. You heal you. Know that your life is your own, and the choices you make to improve it are your own.