Online Training Clinic
Herbal Practitioners
Tuesday Clinic
Lara Jonasdottir BSc, MSc (Clin. Ed.) MNIMH
Lara Jonasdottir has been working as an herbalist for over 10 years. She had her own clinic in Dublin before joining Dilis and the clinical team in 2014. Lara has great passion for clinical and herbal education and holds a postgraduate diploma in Clinical Education.
Wednesday Clinic
Martin Schoenbeck BSc (Hons) MNIMH
Martin has been in practice since graduating from The University of Lincoln in 2010
with a BSc (Hons) in Herbal Medicine. He cares for patients ranging in age from
infants to the elderly.
Martin recently had the honour of being voted onto the NIMH council as a director for the Institute, and is working with other professional herbalist colleagues to run the organisation for the maximum benefit of all its members.
He utilises a variety of therapeutics including herbal medicine and nutritional advice, as well as dietary and lifestyle counselling. He has a wide breadth of expertise and knowledge to assist his patients in health and healing. Martin takes a holistic approach to illness, aiming to identify and eradicate the underlying cause of a condition rather than simply treating the symptoms.
Whilst at the University of Lincoln, Martin conducted pioneering research using
natural therapies into treating diabetic foot ulcers, and firmly believes that continuing this path provides a balance between orthodox “evidence based” treatment strategies, and connecting this to the ancient wisdom of plant medicines – which has been used by man for thousands of years.
Thursday Clinics
Calder Bendle MNIMH
Bendle has over 25 years of experience as a Medical Herbalist, and for most of his
professional life has worked in an NHS setting alongside conventional medical
practitioners. He has been a clinic supervisor and lecturer on the Herbal Medicine BSc course in Lincoln, and was a regular guest lecturer on the degree course at The Scottish School of Herbal Medicine. He also teaches on a number of post-graduate level courses, and has a particular interest in understanding the links between emotional and physical health that play a vitally important role in healing and recovery. He likes to grow and to collect plants to make his own herbal tinctures. Bendle was in 2023 recipient of The Christopher Hedley Memorial Award , a special award from National Institute of Medical Herbalists for outstanding contribution to the world of Herbal Medicine.
Hananja Brice-Ytsma MSc, FNIMH
Hananja is a Fellow of the National Institute of Medical Herbalist, and has practised herbal medicine extensively in the UK working in private practice, in the training clinic at Middlesex University, and in hospital for over 30 years. She qualified as a Naturopath in 1982 and then as a Medical Herbalist in 1990. In 1995, Hananja helped pioneer Britain’s first BSc degree in Herbal Medicine in partnership with Middlesex University, where she practised at the University training clinic. She is a co-founder and Clinical Director at the Heartwood Professional course. Hananja’s practice marries science with tradition, using the knowledge gained from new research to enhance the established traditions of herbal medicine, including the crucial importance of nutrition to health. She has lectured widely throughout the UK for her specialist experience in gynaecology, paediatrics, pharmacology, and sees a large number of patients with gynaecological problems referred to her by GPs and hospital consultants. Hananja has contributed to the BBC series and accompanying books ‘Grow your own drugs’, and co-edited the book ‘Herbal Exchanges’. Her last book ‘Herbal Medicine in Treating Gynaecological Conditions’, was co written with Adrian McDermott, and her latest book in the series is due in 2024.
Nathalie Chidley MNIMH
After first beginning to study herbal medicine at evening classes with Christopher Hedley in 1991, Nathalie formally qualified in 2000 with a BSc and then worked for 10 years as Dispensary Supervisor at the Archway Clinic of Herbal Medicine, the training clinic associated with Middlesex University’s Herbal Medicine degree, the training clinic associated with Middlesex University’s Herbal Medicine degree, working closely with her colleague Hananja Brice-Ytsma on a number of projects including a popular series of CPD lectures and workshopsAt this time she also contributed to the BBC series and accompanying books ‘Grow your own drugs’. Since moving away from London, she has been practising as a herbalist in a market town in Suffolk.
Nathalie makes many of her own tinctures from herbs she grows on her allotment and has completed a number of postgraduate courses in the therapeutic use of oils, including essential oils, and the formulation of creams.
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Heartwood Education
19 Saltfield Crescent,
Luton, Bedfordshire,
LU4 9NU
+44 (0) 1342 824555