Native Healers

Anita Ralph qualified as a medical herbalist, becoming a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) in 1991. She runs a busy practice and herbal dispensary in West Malling, Kent, and since 2006 has collaborated with a consultant gynaecologist offering integrated health care to women of all ages. Her paper and clinical audit on women's experience of herbal treatment at menopause was published in the Journal of Herbal Medicine in 2019. She has been a clinical supervisor and tutor for degree and master's degree students of herbal medicine in the UK and is now course leader for Heartwood's foundation course in herbal medicine and is a writer, tutor and clinical trainer for Heartwood professional course for medical herbalists. Anita and Mary co-authored the Foundation Course in herbal medicine for Heartwood.



Mary Tassell commenced training to become a medical herbalist in 1996, after working for over 10 years within an NHS setting in clinical biochemistry. On graduating she became a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (MNIMH) in 2000, subsequently taking over editorship of their in-house magazine for a number of years. She taught at both Western Herbal Medicine training clinics and for the Northern College of Acupuncture, where she taught Anatomy and Physiology. She strongly believes that medicine should not be a 'one size fits all' discipline and actively encourages and enables her patients to adopt strategies to improve their own health wherever possible. Mary completed an MSc in Western Herbal Medicine in 2006. She runs a variety of informal courses, walks and workshops in the Dorset area.