I just finished up the CNC distance program, and am about to start on the herbalist certification. I have to agree that this school is definitely not your typical, well-organized, conventional school. The director, Steve, comes across as pretty eccentric, and I can see how that can be a deterrent to some. But when it came down to it, I found the textbooks to be extremely dense with information, and the audio recordings of the classes, although poor quality, contained many informative lectures on all types of nutrition and health subjects. I am not sure what this school or director Steve did to attract so many bad reviews on Yelp. Besides it being a quirky school with notable imperfections, I'm overall quite happy with the education I gained. Keep in mind this is NOT a university but a vocational school. If you want a university-level experience, go to a university. read more

NHI has left a positive impact on my life. There is always that one teacher or professor that becomes a favorite in one's life. That is Steve Schechter for me. His knowledge and way of teaching has always inspired me. I graduated from NHI 14 years ago, there is not a day that goes by that I do not utilize the tools and knowledge I had received in my daily life. The responsiveness of NHI's staff is Stellar! The communication is always open. The guidance from the staff to help you on your journey is remarkable. I highly recommend NHI to anyone who is interested in the Wellness field . I am forever grateful to Steve and Staff for all that they have done for me. Sending light and love to NHI always! read more

If you have any doubts if this program is the right fit for your or not, DO NOT enroll. I enrolled at NHI and paid in full ($3900) for the Holistic Health Practitioner program. Upon receiving materials, I completed one lesson within the entire 1,000 hour certification, approximately 5-8 hours of coursework and felt the program was not the right fit for me. A large portion of the materials was emailed and it took over an hour to sort out what, was what. Most if not all of the program is chapter reading and then a quiz. I contacted NHI using their stated email address on their FAQ but did not receive any response for two days. The FAQ listed on the NHI website stated a refund could be issued based upon percentages completed in the program. Upon making contact again using a different email, I had to reach out every day for 5 days being told "they would hopefully get back to me later that day". Eventually being told that the Director would not honor my refund; "Once you have received your books and all of your enrollment materials, there is no refund except for the books, if you want to send them back, providing they are in "like-new" condition and we can send them to another student. (About $250 mind you) We would, however, like to offer you some extra help and other live lectures at no cost to you, that hopefully will help you get the most out of the program." Why would I want free lectures if I do not want your core content? The communication with NHI has been nothing but unprofessional and the fact that they advertise but do not honor their own refund process is extremely frustrating and concerning. Please do your research and know that this program is for you before you drop $3900 on a useless certification like I did. read more

This school is a fraud. Absolutely NO student support. They charge you $1600 for 3 books. There are inaccuracies in the online test. I feel like I should have done more research before I signed up on here. Extremely disappointed. Do your background checks before spending this kind of money on a school!! read more

I absolutele enjoyed my CNC studies with NHI. Cannot wait to share my knowledge with clients!!! read more

I had paid this guy (STEVEN SCHECHTER) for private consultations, boy was that a mistake - The 1st 20 plus minutes was him scrambling around complaining trying to figure how zoom meetings work, ultimately he had to abandon it & call me, then the next 20 minutes is disclaimers on how he isn't a Dr & this discussion is basically for entertainment purposes ECT ECT meanwhile I am paying for this incompetence. He's very angry & will yell at you basically sayings things like 'you don't know, I know everything, leave it to me I am the professional' INSANE & will repeatedly talk over you & never allow you to explain yourself or give light to the question. His reference material is very dated, seems liked reading an encyclopedia from 1950. Then his secretary had the nerve to call me & say they needed to charge more for the time the appointment went over, I am like what about the 40 minutes of nonsense before we even got to the meeting. I thought the whole experience was a joke ! By the way this 100 % a 1st hand experience of me dealing with natural healing institute & I (Shaun) was the customer & I have the credit card charges & phone records to prove it, so even though he tried to have my initial review removed it's not going to work STEVE ! read more

I noticed that most if not all reviews on here are by people with VERY few reviews or just a handful. Its hard to take reviews seriously when its not coming from someone who has a background with yelping. I found out about this school through a friend who took their aromatherapy course. A few months later I went to the open house. I don't recall Steve having an air of self importance or a raging ego. I remember after leaving the open house, thinking "wow it is a lot more legitimate than I had expected". After a few years (I didn't have the $ at the time) I decided to take the long distance course for Herbalism. They offer some great discounts to students outside of SD county. If you live right outside the county or in LA, you can take the classes hybrid, so you can do some work online and the hands on parts in class. I honestly didn't have high hopes for the online program as it seemed pretty new and like they wouldn't have their sh-t together. I have taken many classes at the university level back in college online, and in comparison to those, NHI online classes are structured very similarly. Some of my complaints with the program is there isn't much interaction at all. In college level courses usually there are discussions going on all day, and there is a lot of interaction with the teacher. There doesn't seem to be any here. I think one student posted a comment with no response from a teacher at all. Other than that, I really enjoy the self paced class since I run my own business and am very busy. I unlike some don't agree that I could have learned it on my own. Sure, I do own tons of books on herbalism, and I could do my own research but having the structure and tests to back it up really help someone with a scattered mind to absorb the info and be tested on it. After having almost finished the course, I can say I have a much higher understanding of herbs and herbal medicine. Looking back on the price tag on the whole thing, I am not sure that its really worth the money considering the low interaction rate with instructors or other students. It would be nice to know who else is enrolled and be able to have discussions. I think if they lowered the price to somewhere around $800 it would seem worth it to me. But I am thankful to almost have my certificate in herbal studies. For me this is just a jumping off point into further studies, but I am overall pretty satisfied. I wish they would have called me about the nature walks though, as I would have loved to have gone on one! read more

I have had a great experience with Natural Healing Institute and going through their Certified Nutritionist Consultant program. The books are very informative and will be added tools to my coaching practice. Steve is a great instructor and with the distant learning program, Lauren in the admistrative office has always been really helpful in assisting me in answering all my questions in a timely matter, so I could do the program at my desired pace. I would definetly recommend Natural Healing institute to other holistic health coaches to get a well rounded program. read more

As a professional working in the medical field i am open and love incorporating holistic medicine into western medicine. I had a phone consultation to discuss some issues i was having, it was basically a babble of things to increase and run up your bill of time. Then encouraged to take a handful of herbs and supplements and promised this list of an email of where to buy these things at a discounted rate. Everything was rushed to do and collect payment. Never received email, no phone call or email received back when contacted them about it on 3 separate occasions. Basically paid them for an hour for nothing, waste of money and time. There is no integrity honesty or professionalism with this place!! STAY AWAY! read more

I am about 4 months into the Clinical Nutritional program. I have always had a passion for health and nutrition and I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to be a resident student. The teachers and the lectures they provide are really informative. The downside is that there is absolutely no structure to this program whatsoever! Lila the lady that works at the front is just one unhappy lady. She makes me feel like I inconvenience her anytime I have a question or need something. Steve might be passionate about this program, but he has no business teaching any of the classes!! He talks to much and tells too many stories about himself and then wonders why half the class leaves at break! He won't answer any questions during class or during break... you have to "make an appointment"!!! I feel like I can find more info online instead of sitting listening to him talk. The quality of the recorded lectures are SO BAD it isn't even worth listening too. Save the $10 and do your own research online. Regarding emails... I responded to an email regarding the temperature control and I received an extremely RUDE response back. I was giving my honest opinion in feed back and the respond was just really unprofessional. I feel like the staff needs to "grow up". Like I said I am 4 months into this program and I am not super impressed. I feel like it is more informative information vs teaching one to be a Clinical Nutritionist. I am really bummed because I was hoping to learn how to apply this information to potential clients. I will update my rating farther along in the program or after the program if it gets better, but so far it's just ok! UPDATE: April 2014 This program is almost over and I am no where near feeling ready to put my information to use. I have actually enrolled in another program at another school that I feel will give me the knowledge I need to carry out to be a Clinical Nutritionist. The only thing this is really good for is the piece of paper that will have my name on it at the end. Over all had I known the program was going to be run like this I never would have enrolled. Save your money and go somewhere else. Utter disappointment! read more

I received funding from the military education program to complete both the Nutritional Consultant and Clinical Master herbalist Distance Learning programs. I have always been interested in nutrition and herbology and have educated my self through many books. I was excited to start the program but to keep a long story short, It was a huge disappointment! They put absolutely no effort to designing the course for the distance leaner. It consists of a few textbooks (that were delivered late by 2 months) and audio files that aren't even monitored by anyone for content, at the end you get a certificate. Is all this worth the 2k that the program costs? The courses at the school are recorded in a very low quality way and originally only for use when students miss a class. The school decided that this was a way to make more money and created a distance learning program because they had the necessary components. I don't think so, a lot of them are missing or cut short and incomprehensible. This may be a different experience if you actually go to the school but I think it is a huge scam and rip off for the distance learning program!! Also, If it were a decent school they would at least try to address the issues i have and they DID NOT even try. I even talked with the director and he was very rude and short as he could be with me. His excuse was that no one else has had these issues. If you have had the same issues please speak up and validate my claim so that more people realize that this college is just trying to get into a new pot of money without doing ANYTHING. There is no thought into their distance learning program and is NOT Military Friendly. Please let my experience teach you to find a better school that actually puts work into designing the course for a distance learner and creates better audio files and ideally videos to help you learn. This is not a college credit course for which you would at least get a legitimate credit for your self study. THIS IS A SCAM!! read more

I suggest that anyone considering attending this school should take the first class before committing to the whole program. I am so grateful I did! The Clinical Nutrition program looked great on their website, but after reading the other reviews about the owner/instructor, I was a bit leery. Steve's style of teaching was not for me. He spoke a lot about his accomplishments and how great his school was, and very little about nutrition. Unfortunately some of the other students I spoke with at break felt the same way and were considering asking for a refund - but there is a cancellation fee of $200, so I strongly suggest you take his class first before paying for the whole program. read more

This is a terrible school. I've almost completed the distance learning program for Holistic Health Practitioner, and I would not recommend this school to anyone. The failures of this school are far-reaching, from a completely disorganized staff who has asked me to resubmit work that THEY lost, typos on most of the tests, and hidden "extension" fees for not completing the course within 18 months -- they state this at the top of each study guide: "Dear Friend and Student, We wish to emphasize there are no deadlines. Complete your lessons and submit your open book exams and/or projects at your own pace as your own schedule allows." What they don't tell you is that for every 6 months you go beyond 18 months, they will charge you $50-100 and hold your degree hostage until you pay them. I am only finding out this information at the very end of my training course. I took a Shiatsu course in person with them and the instructor told me he'd fail me if I didn't wear a bikini bottom to class so we could draw meridian lines with magic markers on each other. I told him if that was how he felt, he should make all the guys wear speedos, to which he replied. "No one wants to see that." The tests are haphazardly thrown together, information is outdated and the staff are neither timely or too friendly. If I wasn't so self-motivated to teach myself, I would be extremely disappointed with the quality of information that was given. They don't even teach muscle anatomy for massage in the distance program. Please save your money. Go elsewhere. Spend your resources on an excellent education. read more

5 weeks into the Nutrition Program and the Clinical Master Herbalist Program and I am loving it! Take the negative reviews of the school with a grain of salt. Steve the owner is totally a character and his teaching style might not be for everyone. I can see why some people might not like the way he teaches (especially if you are used to "text book" style learning). I find his teaching style great and I love his experiential stories and his name dropping. THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF PEOPLE! If you want to get the cut and dry just take an online nutrition class or a program at a CC. If you want to learn from people who have been on the front lines for many years, know what they are doing and how to truly facilitate healing then go to NHI.  I have been studying these subjects for some time and have a solid foundation in nutrition and herbology... maybe this is why the program is to my liking. Most of the subject matter is geared towards practical clinical use so I can see that it might be overwhelming for some people but no one said practicing medicine was going to be easy. If you don't have patience to deal with the quirks and mutable nature of the instructors or the curriculum then I think you might be perusing the wrong field of study! Good luck finding clients that fit the "text book" style of healing... In my honest opinion this school is the perfect balance of structure and self guidance. If you have a good set of organizational skills and creativity you will certainly thrive here. read more

I have been taking their programs for over 2 years now. I am a certified health coach and was looking for a robust nutritionist program. I enrolled in the CNC program and have been doing the distance learning at my own pace. I started taking classes via zoom since Covid. I most recently completed the Master Herbalist program and I am looking forward to enrolling in the Therapeutic Luscious Chef. All programs are very comprehensive and informative. Steve Schechter is full of wisdom, his expertise and knowledge makes these programs very valuable. Their books and lectures are something you will use for the rest of your life for you or your clients. I had a great experience with their customer service. Elise is always very good in responding to any of my inquiries. I would absolutely recommend their programs. read more

When I lived in California I was able to do some in person classes and I highly recommend that option when possible, just because of the interactions and learning from other students, etc. After moving out of state I continued with their long distance learning. I first acquired the Herbalist certification and I couldn't be more grateful that I did. When COVID hit and I couldn't teach yoga and cooking, I put all my attention onto further developing my small medicinal herb farm. I've since opened an Etsy shop to sell products that I've been formulating and creating. The knowledge you acquire is useful, whether it's for yourself, or with the intention of helping others. Like most programs, your results are significantly impacted by what you apply. The advantage to the long distance program is that you can go at your pace. You can also take your time to delve into the areas that are of the most interest, or relevance, to you and your loved ones or community. read more

It's always that the best instructors are in the most random schools... I needed 12 CEU for my state licensing for massage therapy and I have always been interested in reiki... So me and my friend decided to try this place and now I feel my eyes are open to a world I never experienced. Walking in you can tell this building has old bones... very small ... they have a office for paperwork, restroom and just a medium size classroom where only one modality can be taught one at a time... During the evening class the room gets pretty chilly and dark so their are about 8 standing lamps around the room. This is not your traditional classroom more of a hands on... No desk just chairs:) But you know what they say the more run down a building is the better the instructors are .... his name was Frank Carucci.. A reiki master at that... You can sense he has been healing, teaching and inspiring for many years... Anybody that need CEU more massage therapy I advise you to check this place out and Frank Of course.. Or if you need healing you can check out Franks website: www.frankcarucci.com read more

This is a wonderful school with many great instructors. I learned so much in my holistic studies and have applied this knowledge to my entire life and I look forward to helping more people in the future. I highly recommend this school to anyone who is eager to learn an array of information related to nature and wellness. read more

I attended Natural Healing Institute (NHI) to become a Holistic Health Practitioner. NHI offers a wide variety of body work classes, as well as offering extensive nutrition, herb, and aromatherapy classes. When I researched schools, NHI was one of the only schools with this variety. The instructors at NHI are enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with students. These professionals focus on their specialized field and provide up to date information. They embody the spirit of the subjects they teach. The students that I attended class with were excited about the subject matter which made the classes more interesting. We were all engaged in learning and working together to get the most out of our time in class. The office staff are warm and friendly. They are always ready to answer questions and help you reach your goals. NHI is filled with positive energy. I'm happy that I chose to further my career by attending this school. I look forward to attending other classes to enhance my knowledge in the future. read more

I didn't have a good experience with the owner of this business. I prepaid for a massage certification course, took four courses and then turns out he didn't get his board accreditation renewed. When that happened, he discontinued the massage certification. The owner wouldn't give me back my money so I'm out $3000. This is not someone I'd recommend for any alternative health certification. read more

I completely agree with Becca M's review!! This school is a joke. I have a doctorate degree in the medical field, but I thought it would be fun to brush up on some info. Not the case. Here are just some examples of how disappointing the class series I attended- one of the teachers couldn't pronounce words in her lecture. After stumbling over some of them a few times, she actually said "and this long word". And she's supposedly qualified to teach this subject? Hmm.. Moving on. Steve comes across as very rude and clearly thinks very high of himself. His slides were from 2002, I just took the class a couple months ago in 2014. He claims that nothing has changed. I have my own research and studies that prove otherwise. His slides also say "ND", which is very deceiving seeing as he's only an naturopath, NOT a naturopathic doctor. When I discussed my long list of concerns, I met with a lot of resistance from the staff. It took Steve several weeks to even acknowledge my phone calls and emails. When I did talk with him, he was very defensive and had excuses for everything. There are so many other issues I had, but I'll leave it at this. Don't waste your time here. But if you're still interested, ask to try out a class before you pay for anything. Maybe some of the other programs are better, but I wouldn't bet on it. read more

Very poor support and little response to calls or emails. They were only responsive when i was inquiring about signing up or when I informed them that I was not continuing with the program I did not even complete a single assignment so according to their website I should be eligible for a refund of most of what I paid. Instead, I am now being told that there are no refunds for the distance programs! If that is the case, I was not made aware of it when signing up and have not seen in any document that I have signed. This is plain and simple fraud. read more

I love this school! The directors treat you like family, and the teachers are just plain amazing. I am so grateful for everything the teachers here have taught me. Really great resource for natural health education. I just finished my massage training here, and I would recommend the school to anyone who wants to be a massage therapist. read more

im currently enrolled in the CNC distance learning program and very happy. The staff is super nice and clearly cares about the success of their students. The materials and classes are well organized. The teachers are very knowledgable and very professional. I was very knowledgable about nutrition before I stated and still have learned a tremendous amount of information. Highly recommend. read more

I really think that you reaaly do a great job with your site. If you would like to get related info, click here : http://howtoimprovelife.org/category/natural-healing/ read more

UNETHICAL practices and this business has absolutely NO INTEGRITY. If I could give a negative star I most definitely would. After attending a joke of a intro to nutrition class by the Owner/instructor found it almost immediately to be a waste of time. The class had to endure over 2 1/2 hours of narcissistic/ego maniac banter of self importance, and received the equivalent of a 2nd grade intro to nutrition that lasted approximately 10 minutes at the end of 3 grueling hours. The following morning I had made the decision to withdraw from all classes based on the fact the owner would be teaching the majority of the courses I would need to take for the program I had enrolled in. I was advised that I would have to go in person and drop off my books and that I could pick up my refund, and that an itemized report of fees and refunds would also be ready at this time. Once I arrived at the school, I was interrogated by the owner and advised he would "consider" refunding my money if I would reconsider attending another class that evening. I refused his offer, stating that I only wanted my refund prorated for the classes that I had attended, and a full refund for the Herbology classes that had not yet begun. Susan, the office assistant, informed me that she did not have my itemized report ready, and would have to "figure out my refund and mail" my check. After two weeks, I was notified that my refund would be mailed and was given amount that my refund would be. Upon receiving my refund check it was $200.00 less than what was quoted, and several other hidden costs and fees were also subtracted from the refund. It is evident why they no longer have VA accreditation for the GI Bill. I would advise any veteran and their family to steer away from this school and find another institution that won't take advantage of your hard earned benefits. Bottom Line: WORST educational experience. read more

Waste of money folks! You simply scratch the surface on a bunch of topics and thats about it. As another reviewer wrote, you are much better off saving your thousands of dollars and simply buying a nutrition book. Very disappointing, someone should call the board. read more

The owner may have a lot of knowledge in his field. But some people just should not be teaching! There is no organization or structure to the classes. And the teacher constantly wants to talk about how wonderful he is.Leela at the front desk has absolutely no personal skills! And the school is full of bad energy. read more

This "school" is a mess! Misinformation, double talk, every person has a different story on how to fullfill class obligation. What a joke! And the final straw was when one of the office staff HUNG UP ON ME when I called for the 5th time in a week and a half trying to decipher what I needed to do to complete my final. Now I'm out over $2000 dollars and have no certificate. Do not go to this school! The first 3 months were very interesting (Herbalist program with Steve)-- BUT after the intro to herbs, it was the same information over and over, the same stories over and over, boring, nothing new learned whatsoever. And because the office women and Steve do not communicate well nobody has a definite say on how to accomplish the parts and pieces of the final. I've called, I've gone in person, I've talked to 3 different office members... they pass you around, they tell you to talk to the next person, none of them take responsibility although they claim to be the final say. I turned in my final projects 3 times and was told that it looked great 3 times only to receive an email forwarded from a person that I had never heard of (after 9 months of classes at the school, not remote) saying that I completed 1 of 3 pieces correctly. Im tired of playing with these idiots and dont want any further association with the school, much less a certificate with their nonsense name on it. Half of my class stopped showing up midway through the 9 month course because the info was regurgitated over and over. Terrible staff, terrible teaching format, terrible waste of money, completely unprofessional. Oh sure they will take time to chat before you enroll and will spend an hour explaining how the payment plans work, but try and get a clear answer about recieving your certificate and its the major run around and RUDE BEHAIVIOR. UNBELIEVABLE! N.H.I. should be ashamed of themselves. Find another school, believe me, I should have listened to the other reviews before spending my time and money. Could have learned the same information by spending $200 on books and/or researching herbs at the public library. read more

Do not waste your money or time on this school. I took one of their online programs and I am extremely disappointed in the professionalism and structure of the whole thing. I finished knowing absolutely nothing I couldn't have learned by researching online myself. It is horribly designed and very unorganized. I am sad I wasted valuable money that could have been spent furthering my education at a different school. read more

There is nothing healing about this place. To the contrary, you need to go heal somewhere after dealing with all the inconveniences and chaos. Incredibly disorganized and hypocritical. read more

I have just completed my Holistic Healthcare Practitioner through the distance Learning Program at The Natural Healing Institute. I feel honored to be a graduate of this School. Its starts at the top with Steve Schechter,(N.P.,HHP NHI Founder). From the start I have found Steve to be passionate, inspirational, extremely knowledgable, and committed to teaching. I am grateful for all that I have learned and would whole heartedly recommend this school. I am now in the process of working toward my Naturopathic Practitioner with this College. read more

I've really enjoyed my overall experience at this school. Friendly staff and great teachers so far - I'm in the massage therapist program but excited to take more nutrition and herbs classes. I'm thinking of going into the entire Holistic Health Practitioner program. So many great classes to choose from! Thanks NHI! read more

Wish I could leave -5. This school sucks. They sold a large amount of Amazonlocal deals for $19 then turned around and discontinued honoring the vouchers. They shouldn't oversell super discounted massage services then refuse to honor the quantity sold. Bad business Natural Healing Institute! I should have known better, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Next time I'll find a local office and make sure the massage therapist isn't from this school - if this experience is any indication of the business and professional ethics being taught. Clean up your act! read more