Founded in 1997 by Steve Schechter, NP, HHP, the Natural Healing Institute of Naturopathy operates a nationally accredited holistic health college on Encinitas Boulevard, offering certification and licensure programs in clinical nutrition, herbology, aromatherapy, and naturopathic practice. Accreditation through the AADP, the California Naturopathic Association, and the American Naturopathic Medical Accreditation Board validates the curriculum — a credentialing framework that parallels the traditional Chinese medicine training at Dahms Acupuncture in the same Encinitas health-education corridor. NHI was the first state-licensed college in California to offer an in-depth Clinical Nutrition Consultant (CNC) program, and its proprietary Dynamic Healing Touch Massage technique was developed between 1966 and 1969 by the founder. Distance-learning programs in all five certification tracks allow enrollment from outside San Diego County, while the campus clinic pairs student practitioners with Encinitas residents alongside the naturopathic care at Nature & Science Medicine on the same boulevard. The Clinical Master Herbologist certification integrates an advanced triangle system of individualized formula-making with ethnobotanical pharmacognosy covering over 300 plant species used in Western and traditional healing systems.