The homeopathic process: from interview to cure

Homeopathy can be new and strange to most people and I think it is important to sketch out the path in general terms

Questionnaire
I usually get patients to complete a questionnaire- it is a very thorough document that goes into personal and family medical history, the patient’s nature and their responses to many different events/circumstances. I use this information to assess the medium to long term effects of my homeopathic prescriptions. Please download a copy of the questionnaire from this website {add link here}. Complete it by hand and bring it to either to your first consultation or the first follow up.

First Consultation
I like to set aside between 1 ½ to 3 hours for the first meeting (with small children about 45 minutes to an hour). It is a chance for the patient to describe his/her main complaints and how they affect their lives in great detail and depth. The consultation is video taped in order to aid my remedy selection when going over the case.

Post consultation analysis
I generally need to review the first consultation in order to prescribe a remedy. I may also need to source a remedy if it is not in my dispensary. Thus it is not always possible to prescribe immediately. In such cases, if warranted, I may prescribe a clinical or herbal remedy as an interim measure.

Follow up consultations
The first follow up consult is usually scheduled about a month after the initial consultation. Where there are acute issues this could be shorter.

We review the effects of the remedy given in quite a bit of detail to assess accuracy of the original prescription, repetition of the remedy, and/or potency changes.

Subsequent follow ups are usually more routine meetings (about 30min) aimed at keeping the healing process on track.

I urge my patients to use my services for any acute illnesses (flu, fever, etc) that may arise, even if they were not part of the original main complaint

The process of following up generally needs to be carried out monthly to 6 weekly, over a 6 to 12 months period depending on various factors. Intervals for longer term follow ups could be extended to 3 to 6 monthly.

How long does it take to effect cure? In chronic cases anything from 1 to 12 months. So it can be a long term process. Most patients however report feeling better within themselves, even before complete cure of their original main complaint.

What about Acute conditions?
Colds, flu, gastric upsets etc. do not follow pre-planned timetables. So when treating acute conditions I do not require a detailed questionnaire. The consultation is also much shorter about 30mins.

In an acute state a patient can usually describe the key global sensations of discomfort much quicker and with much more accuracy. Acute conditions generally respond very quickly to homeopathic treatment.

Treating children using Depth Homeopathy?
Children, especially babies and infants need a different approach to the standard Classical methods of case taking. Two forms of surrogate case taking methods are useful. The first is the state of the mother during pregnancy and the second is to ascertain which parent is closest in ‘energy’ to the child.

That parent is then interviewed in detail until his/her remedy becomes apparent and that remedy is prescribed for the child. This is a method pioneered by Dr. Sunil Anand: a leading pediatric homeopath from Pune, India.

Diagnostics and medical tests
Modern/western medicine diagnostic procedures are used. If necessary, blood or other tests are ordered. Depending on diagnostic results and/or presentation of symptoms I could also refer the patient to the appropriate medical specialist.

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