Advertise on podcast: In the Clinic with Camille

In this episode I talk to Jules White, a website and SEO consultant. She explains why it may make sense for solo and virtual practitioners to set up and use a Google Business Profile and how having one helps with local search, AI recommendations, and gathering reviews. She offers some important tips on getting your profile verified, as well as thoughts on service-area settings, common pitfalls, posting cadence, handling reviews, and choosing the right category for your listing.  Here's Jules' website, if you'd like to find out more about her and her work: https://thewebsitesuccesshub.com/ And here's her podcast: https://thewebsitesuccesshub.com/podcast  And here's the local google visibility checklist mentioned in the episode: https://thewebsitesuccesshub.com/google-profile-checklist

What happens when you give a presentation and the audience... leaves? One by one, until you're speaking to absolutely nobody? In this episode, I share a presentation horror story - very October-themed! -  that ends with me and a colleague presenting to an empty classroom, mid-sentence.  If you've ever had a presentation bomb or if you're scared to present because of the possibility, I hope this helps a bit.  IN THIS EPISODE The full story of a workshop that went from "the start of something big" to zero attendees Why even great speakers have classes that flop Hits and misses are part of the learning process - gotta keep going KEY TAKEAWAY If you speak or teach enough, some talks just won't land for reasons that may have nothing to do with you. It's part of the learning curve, and it happens to everyone eventually :) RESOURCES & LINKS Sign up for Camille's practitioner newsletter (out every Thursday): https://www.camillefreeman.com  Have feedback or a topic request? https://intheclinic.com

While prepping a class on iron deficiency for the Menstrual Health Intensive that Liane Moccia and I are currently teaching, I stumbled into a rabbit hole: a 1963 BMJ paper linking beeturia - pink or red urine after eating beets - to iron deficiency. Physiology nerds, check out this episode for a quick overview of why iron deficiency might cause red or pink urine in some cases, and why it's more of a clue and less of a clear diagnostic sign.  What I Cover Beeturia basics A 1963 study in BMJ that identified the relationship between beeturia and iron deficiency The working theory about why iron deficiency might cause red or pink urine Why beeturia isn't diagnostic on its own, but might be worth noticing alongside other signs and symptoms Key Takeaways Red or pink urine after eating beets does not mean you (or your client) have iron deficiency - it shows up in roughly 2-15% of "normal" people without ID/IDA Beeturia is more common in iron deficiency, especially when untreated The likely mechanism is an "iron hunger": the gut absorbs iron faster, so less is left in the lumen to oxidize and decolorize betanin before it's absorbed Links and Resources Mentioned Oski, F. A. (1993). Iron deficiency in infancy and childhood. New England Journal of Medicine, 329(3), 190–193. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199307153290308 Wang, Y., Adekolurejo, O. O., Wang, B., McDermott, K., Do, T., Marshall, L. J., & Boesch, C. (2024). Bioavailability and excretion profile of betacyanins - Variability and correlations between different excretion routes. Food Chemistry, 437(Pt 1), 137663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137663 Watson, W. C., Luke, R. G., & Inall, J. A. (1963). Beeturia: Its incidence and a clue to its mechanism. British Medical Journal, 2(5363), 971–973. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.5363.971 Wiczkowski, W., Romaszko, E., Szawara-Nowak, D., & Piskula, M. K. (2018). The impact of the matrix of red beet products and interindividual variability on betacyanins bioavailability in humans. Food Research International, 108, 530–538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.04.004 Menstrual Health Intensive - my class with Liane Moccia, in case you're interested! The 1963 paper is open access; the others may take some scouting to find full text. Stay in Touch If you're not already on my Practitioner Notes newsletter, I send it out every Thursday with things we don't cover here on the podcast. You can sign up at camillefreeman.com or intheclinic.com. Thanks so much for the work that you do!

Today I'm bringing you an interview with Kimberly Gallagher, co-founder of LearningHerbs.com and author of Aphrodisiac: The Herbal Path to Healthy Sexual Fulfillment and Vital Living. If you've been around me for a while, you've probably heard me recommend Learning Herbs. It's an incredibly affordable, rich resource for anybody learning about herbs, whether you're brand new or have years of experience. What we talk about: Kimberly's new course with Lauren Morgan, Rhythms and Relationships: A Feminine Way into Herbalism, and how it came to be Why embodied, relational plant knowledge matters just as much as book learning How the course uses plant sits, dreaming with plants, and ceremony to reconnect you with herbs in a visceral way Why this type of learning helps whether you're an experienced herbalist who's lost your beginner's mind or a nutritionist just starting to bring herbs into your practice The kitchen herbalism component: nourishing infusions, herbal vinegars, pestos, and shrubs Who can join - the course is open to all genders and focuses on lifting up the feminine, intuitive, nurturing aspects of herbalism that our culture often pushes down

I'm sharing a pricing concept I picked up from the Death, Sex, and Money podcast that struck me as interesting/useful. Here's what I cover: Pricing by your client's hourly rate. Instead of a traditional sliding scale, what about pricing consults as a multiple of what your client earns per hour (e.g., one hour or two hours of their pay)? For many people, this feels more intuitive and equitable than a fixed dollar amount, and it reframes the exchange as commerce rather than capitalism. The right message at the right time. Sometimes you've heard a concept before, but it doesn't land until the moment is right. (That's how this pricing idea landed for me this week.) The same is true for your clients. Don't underestimate the power of timing when you're sharing clinical recommendations; you may be the person who finally makes it click for them. Revisiting pricing models. If you've been experimenting with accessibility but haven't found a model that fits, this "unit of time" approach might be worth testing. Referenced: Death, Sex, and Money podcast episode on pay-what-you-want pricing Previous In the Clinic with Camille episodes on pricing: pay from the heart (ep 53) and putting prices on your website (ep 118) I'm heading out to teach my Deep Dive class on omega-3 fatty acids right after recording this, so it's a quick one. Have an amazing week!

I'm joined in this episode by my colleague and co-teacher, registered herbalist and fertility specialist Liane Moccia, to talk more about the responses to the question, "Are you ovulating?"  We cover what signs to look for, how to interpret tracking data (cervical fluid, LH strips, temperature), and why ovulation is a vital marker of hormonal and overall health even when someone isn’t trying to conceive. We also discuss practical intake phrasing, common misunderstandings, and introduce our Menstrual Health Intensive: a physiology-focused course with live teaching and case observation groups for clinicians who want to support clients experiencing menstrual health concerns. Key Takeaways Many clients have never been taught to recognize ovulatory signs/symptoms Cervical fluid is a reliable, free marker of rising estradiol, though some clients may mistake it for infection Having a baseline understanding of ovulation before perimenopause makes later changes easier to interpret and may reduce the need for expensive testing Clear, specific wording on intake forms prevents misinterpretation The luteal phase length and confirmed ovulation timing help us place premenstrual symptoms accurately on the timeline Links referenced in this episode: Liane's website: https://lianemoccia.com/  Liane's book, The Herbal Fertility Handbook: https://lianemoccia.com/book/  Menstrual Health Intensive: https://www.camillefreeman.com/menstrualhealth/

Let's talk about a "normal" menstrual cycle. What counts as "normal," how can we spot concerning signs, and when does it make sense to consider medical referral or further testing? We'll dive into this and more in this brief episode. For more information and clinical strategies to support clients around menstrual health, join the upcoming Menstrual Health Intensive.  Key Takeaways Bleeding longer than 8 days warrants referral for possible clotting issues, fibroids, or other concerns Heavy menstrual flow is often subjective, but if it interferes with daily life or causes soaking through protection, refer for assessment A stable luteal phase is a good sign; significant variation may indicate something else is going on Many clients were never taught basic cervical fluid physiology - this is valuable clinical information to share Reference Bahamondes, L., & Ali, M. (2015). Recent advances in managing and understanding menstrual disorders. F1000Prime Reports, 7, 33. https://doi.org/10.12703/P7-33 Upcoming Liane Moccia and I are launching an 8-week Menstrual Health Intensive for Practitioners starting September 15, 2026 (you can join later!). Review the sales page and join us if you're interested in more education on this topic. 20 NPCE available.

A Mindful Eating Metaphor It might help to think about this in terms of mindful eating. When you feel the urge to sign up for something, stop and ask: is my practice actually hungry for this? If you've decided newsletters are your main marketing focus and you're specifically hunting for newsletter training - amazing. Dive in. If you're just responding to a sale email, a fear of missing out, or a vague sense that you "should" know more? Take a step back. You might find the urge is actually about avoiding visibility work, not about needing to know this information right now. The "Someday" List When I'm tempted by a program but my business isn't actually hungry for it right now, I keep a running document with the link, price, and details. About 80% of the time, I realize that I don't need or want to do the program right now. It's a "nice to have eventually" versus a "I need to implement this right away and I think this course will help." Programs and classes are almost always offered again later. A Suggestion Before you sign up for anything this fall, ask yourself: Is this a hunger in my business right now? Am I going to implement what I learn, or just collect more information? Am I using learning as a way to avoid the harder work of being seen? We want synergy between what we're taking in and what we're putting out. Make sure there's a balance between the two. Links and Resources Submit a question for a future episode at intheclinic.com Sign up for my weekly Practitioner Notes newsletter at intheclinic.com or camillefreeman.com Find all episodes and show notes at intheclinic.com About Me I'm Camille Freeman, DCN, RH, and I host In the Clinic with Camille, a podcast for herbalists and nutritionists building and growing their private practices. I've been in clinical practice since 2003 with a focus on fertility, pregnancy, and menstrual health.

I've gotten several questions lately about whether or not I recommend Substack to clinicians who want to start a newsletter to help promote their clinical practices. TLDR: it's  not the best tool for the job.  In this episode, I spell out why I don't think herbalists and nutritionists are well-served by using Substack as a way to promote a private practice.  Essentially, it all boils down to:  It's not designed for promoting services, classes, workshops, etc. and it shows.  It's free, which is great, but you do pay in other ways - for example, in control over you readers' experience.  Support is basically nonexistent.  I go into a few other reasons in the show, but these are the big ones. Go ahead and use an email service provider that's designed for the type of promotion we do when we write a newsletter. I use MailerLite, but there are tons of great options with similar features.  For more on writing newsletters, check out my book: Write Better Newsletters: Grow your 1:1 practice with newsletters people actually want to read.  And/or join my newsletter for practitioners to get a new note from me every Thursday.  Thanks for being here! - Camille

A behind-the-scenes update on a change I've been making at Bloom & Grow: after years of offering my freebies as open downloads, I'm now requiring an email address to access them. I wanted to share my full (evolving) thinking in case it gives you permission to change your mind on something in your own practice. Key Points & Timestamps: 00:00 - Welcome and intro 00:18 - The backstory 01:10 - Why I've had a change of heart 01:35 - People don't click on web search results anymore, apparently 02:24 - Web traffic is down overall 02:53 - AI roadblocks 03:52 - Freebie set up 04:53 - Keeping an eye on results 05:13 - New website navigation 06:07 - It's okay to change your mind Resources Mentioned: My freebies page: camillefreeman.com/freebies My book: Write Better Newsletters: Grow your 1:1 Practice with Emails People Actually Want to Read My weekly practitioner notes: sign up at camillefreeman.com (or grab a freebie and join the list at the same time) If you want to check out the new setup, head to the freebies page; some are still in transition, so you might see a mix of old and new setups. If there's something in your own practice that doesn't feel in alignment anymore, I hope this gives you a little wiggle room to change it. You can always change it back 🖤

I got a great question from Cora about whether I recommend that practitioners put their prices on their websites. Short answer: yes, I think it makes sense to publish your prices. In this episode I walk through why I feel strongly about this, what can happen when you don't share prices upfront, and how transparency frees up time and makes discovery calls more meaningful.  Links and Resources Sign up for my weekly Practitioner Notes newsletter at camillefreeman.com Submit a question for the podcast at intheclinic.com Find all episodes and show notes at intheclinic.com About Me I'm Camille Freeman, DCN, RH, and I host In the Clinic with Camille, a podcast for herbalists and nutritionists in private practice. I've been in clinical practice since 2003 with a focus on fertility, pregnancy, and menstrual health, and I love sharing the business and clinical lessons I've learned along the way.

I got a question in a recent Q&A call about wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) cream and progesterone. A client felt the cream was helping raise their progesterone, but the practitioner had questions about whether that was realistically happening. So what's the deal? I share a few thoughts on why a client might be noticing a difference and things to be on the lookout for as an herbalist or nutritionist if your client is using wild yam cream.  Key Takeaways Wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) contains diosgenin, which can be converted to progesterone in a laboratory setting, but the human body does not have the enzymes to make that conversion. If a wild yam cream seems to be helping with progesterone-related symptoms, the cream may actually contain progesterone (check the active ingredient label - some do). Lower-quality or less transparent products can sometimes contain undisclosed ingredients or contaminants, including hormones, so it's worth investigating the brand and looking for third-party testing. The placebo effect is a thing and may be at play here. Wild yam does contain phytoestrogens, and while topical absorption levels are unclear, this is a more physiologically plausible mechanism than progesterone conversion. Progesterone blood levels are pulsatile (they fluctuate roughly every 45-60 minutes), so a single lab draw in the luteal phase should not be interpreted as evidence of "low progesterone" without proper clinical context. Links and Resources Mentioned Sign up for Camille's weekly Practitioner Notes newsletter at camillefreeman.com Submit a question for the podcast at intheclinic.com Find all episodes and show notes at intheclinic.com About Camille Camille Freeman, DCN, RH, is the founder of Bloom and Grow, offering continuing education and community resources for herbalists and nutritionists in clinical practice. She has been in practice since 2003 with a focus on fertility, pregnancy, and menstrual health.

As I was out on a walk this morning, something I heard on Cal Newport's podcast resonated with me. I'm sharing a small takeaway point regarding over-optimizing and how I think that applies both to our clinical work and to everything that goes on behind the scenes to keep a clinical practice running.  Key Takeaways The optimization paradox: over-optimizing a single area can throw the whole system out of balance In client work, you don't need to move every health pillar from a 2 to a 10. Moving several from a 2 to a 5 or 7 often produces better outcomes. In your practice, "good enough" marketing across multiple channels beats getting one area in tip-top shape.  This framework is especially useful for solo practitioners without formal business or marketing training as it takes some pressure off and offers multiple ways to improve Links and Resources Mentioned Cal Newport's Deep Questions podcast: Optimization Paradox episode with Brad Stulberg Sign up for Camille's weekly Practitioner Notes newsletter at camillefreeman.com Find all episodes and show notes at intheclinic.com About Camille Camille Freeman, DCN, RH, is the founder of Bloom and Grow, offering continuing education and community resources for herbalists and nutritionists in clinical practice. She has been in practice since 2003 with a focus on fertility, pregnancy, and menstrual health.

If you were trained to recommend RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) for strains and sprains, it may be time to update your knowledge a bit. In this episode, I share what came up in a recent Monday Mentoring session: the shift from RICE to PEACE & LOVE, why icing and total rest can slow tissue healing, and steps to promote recovery from soft tissue injury.  In this episode, we cover: Why the medical community moved away from RICE for soft tissue injuries The PEACE acronym explained: Protection, Elevation, Avoid Anti-inflammatories, Compression, Education The LOVE acronym explained: Load, Optimism, Vascularization, Exercise Why suppressing inflammation with ice or NSAIDs may extend healing time When gentle movement and load are better than total rest My clinical additions: topical herbs and nutrient density for tissue repair Where to find the BMJ graphic to share with clients Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: soft tissue injuries in Monday Mentoring 01:00 - The RICE paradigm and why it's becoming outdated 02:05 - Introducing PEACE & LOVE as the updated framework 02:40 - P for Protection: why total rest slows healing 03:33 - E for Elevation: managing swelling without stopping inflammation 04:00 - A for Avoid Anti-inflammatories: ice and NSAIDs reconsidered 04:38 - C for Compression: gentle support and lymphatic flow 05:02 - E for Education: trusting the body's healing capacity 05:50 - Moving into LOVE: the sub-acute and recovery phase 06:06 - L for Load: reintroducing movement without pain 06:48 - O for Optimism: mindset and conditioned recovery 07:23 - V for Vascularization: blood flow, cardio, and circulatory stimulants 08:05 - E for Exercise: returning to strength and mobility 08:30 - Herbal topicals and nutrition support for tissue healing 09:10 - Link to the BMJ graphic and client handout resources Links Mentioned: PEACE & LOVE blog post and graphic (BMJ) Submit a Question Have a clinical or business question you'd like me to answer on a future episode? I'd love to answer it. Click on the "Submit a Question to Camille" button at intheclinic.com. Join the Practitioner Notes Newsletter Want more clinical tips and practice-building resources? Join my practitioner email list, sent out every Thursday with a short note and three specific recommendations to make running your practice a little easier. Sign up at intheclinic.com or camillefreeman.com.

Gummy multivitamins are everywhere now, from adult formulas to prenatal and senior blends - but are they actually a good substitute for capsules or tablets? In this episode, I discuss clinical considerations, including quality control findings, sugar content, and formulation limits that affect dosing and nutrient stability. In this episode, we cover: When gummy multivitamins might be the best (or only) tolerable option for a client Sugar and non-nutritive sweetener content to review before recommending Why iron and higher-dose B vitamins may be missing from gummy formulations Why gummy multis tend to have lower overall nutrient doses than capsules or tablets (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) Consumer Lab quality findings: degradation issues, overages, and what they mean clinically Upcoming Multivitamin Deep Dive class details Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: answering questions about gummy multivitamins 01:00 - When gummies are a reasonable alternative (dysphagia, pregnancy aversions, palatability) 01:50 - Sugar, non-nutritive sweeteners, and blood sugar considerations 02:55 - Missing ingredients: why iron and higher-dose B vitamins rarely make the cut 04:10 - Lower nutrient density: how the gummy base limits room for active ingredients 05:00 - Consumer Lab findings on quality control, degradation, and nutrient overages 06:45 - Clinical bottom line: who gummies work for and when to supplement separately 07:50 - Other ingredients to review: dyes, excipients, and lower-quality fillers 08:30 - Multivitamin Deep Dive class invitation: July 13th, 5:00 - 6:30 PM Eastern Links Mentioned: Consumer Lab summary of gummy multivitamin quality testing Multivitamin Deep Dive class (July 13th, 2026 from 5-6:30 pm; 1.5 NPCE available through Dec 2028) All-Access 2026 Supplement Deep Dive Pass Submit a Question Have a clinical or business question you'd like me to answer on a future episode? I'd love to answer it. Click on the "Submit a Question to Camille" button at intheclinic.com. Join the Practitioner Notes Newsletter Want more clinical tips and practice-building resources? Join my practitioner email list, sent out every Thursday with a short note and three specific recommendations to make running your practice a little easier. Sign up at intheclinic.com or camillefreeman.com.