Adopted by AHG members at the 1996 General Meeting in Boulder, CO.

Informed Consent/Full Disclosure

AHG members shall provide clients and potential clients with informed consent/full disclosure information outlining scope of practice, services rendered, experience, training, client expectations, practitioners expectation, payment structure, disclosure of financial interests if they can present a conflict in practice, and information about client redress in the event of a disagreement between client and practitioner. Client redress can take the form of an informal review by the AHG Grievance Committee, or a review by appropriate state associations where the member is operating under a state license.

Confidentiality

Personal information gathered in the herbalist/client relationship will be held in strict confidence by the AHG member unless specifically allowed by the client.

Professional Courtesy

AHG members shall present opinions about and experiences with other practitioners and healing modalities in an ethical and honorable manner.

Professional Networking

Clients shall be encouraged to exercise their right to see other practitioners and obtain their botanicals from the source of their choosing.

Practitioner as Educator

AHG members shall assume the role of educators, doing their best to empower clients in mobilizing their own innate healing abilities and promotion the responsibility of clients to heal themselves.

Peer Review

AHG members shall welcome a peer review of their publications, lectures, and/or clinical protocols. Peer review is a primary means of enhancing our level of knowledge and expertise and should be encouraged.

Referring Out

AHG members shall recognize their own limitations when they feel a condition is beyond their scope of expertise and practice as an herbalists, or when it is clear that a client is not responding positively to therapy.

Avoiding Needless Therapy

Recommendations shall be based solely on the specific needs of the client, avoiding excessive or potentially needless supplementation.

Environmental Commitment

AHG members should acknowledge that individual health is not separate from environmental health and should counsel clients to embrace this same Earth-centered awareness.

Sexual Harassment

AHG members shall not use their position as teachers or consultants to seek sexual encounters with students or clients