About Homeopathy
There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. - Martha Graham
photo by Joel Chaban
What is homeopathy?
"There are no diseases, only sick people." - Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative health care that uses specially prepared remedies made from natural substances to stimulate our body’s natural healing intelligence and support our overall well-being. Prescriptions are highly individualized. Two people who have an identical diagnosis from a conventional doctor might receive two very different remedies from a homeopath because homeopathy treats the person, not the disease.
How are homeopathic remedies chosen?
A homeopath seeks “the Simillimum, the specific remedy, on the basis of her comprehension of the wholeness of the disease and the matching wholeness of the remedy." - Richard Grossinger, Homeopathy: The Great Riddle
Remedies are chosen based on the principle of “like cures like.” A simple example is the remedy made from wild onion, which is used for allergic conditions with symptoms similar to those experienced by a person slicing onions: watery, burning eyes. Because remedies are highly diluted, they do not produce negative side effects such as a person can experience when using conventional drugs. Homeopaths understand that the deepest cure results from addressing the underlying energetic disturbance that causes a person to be vulnerable to certain kinds of symptoms. The homeopath’s goal is to find the remedy whose curative qualities exactly match the total picture of your state -- physical, mental, and emotional. The right remedy will speak to your vital force; the vital force, not the remedy itself, cures symptoms.
What conditions can homeopathy treat?
Because homeopathy treats the whole person and the underlying disturbances that make us susceptible to illness, homeopathy can be effective for almost any ailment, mental or physical. This includes conditions for which conventional medicine has few curative options, such as persistent skin eruptions, allergies, arthritis, depression, and menopausal and menstrual difficulties. Homeopathy works for both people and other animals.
What is the homeopathic consultation process like?
The purpose of homeopathic consultations and remedy prescriptions is to stimulate our vital force to restore a state of health. Homeopathy understands health as freedom to experience the sensations and emotions of life in a state of mental clarity and to express our individual creativity, without becoming stuck in any one state or unduly susceptible to pain or illness.
The initial homeopathic interview takes 2-3 hours for adults, less for children and animals.You are invited to speak about all areas of your life: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. The totality of your state is what the homeopath tries to match with a remedy. In other words, the interview focuses as much on you as a person and your experience of life as it does on any particular condition or illness. Typically, a follow-up appointment of 60 minutes is scheduled 4-8 weeks after the initial interview, and regular follow-ups continue for at least 6 months. Follow-up appointments, and, in some cases, initial appointments, can be done by phone or video call. For acute illnesses such as flu, a remedy can trigger rapid relief. For long-term health issues, healing is typically gradual, and multiple remedies may be needed, although some improvement is usually felt within the first few weeks after taking a remedy.
"…homeopathy gives the appearance, to the outsider, of being obsessed with trivial and odd symptoms….A patient who recently suffered a heart attack may be astonished to find a homeopathic doctor more interested in his hand gestures while speaking, his ways of expressing anger, or a nightmare….Homeopaths… look for a striking symptom that unmistakably captures the whole – the constitution….Symptoms are the only visible remnants of an invisible attacker. If the intruder happens to track in a few grains of sand that show where he came from, the alert observer will use those and ignore the lamps he has knocked over and the bureau drawers he has pulled out." - Richard Grossinger