Constitutional Homeopathy Addresses the Physical, Mental and Emotional Planes

The philosophy of homeopathy holds that the mind, body and emotions are not separate. Every human experience has can leave an imprint in the physical body or the emotional sphere. For this reason, the homeopathic process begins with an initial in-depth interview. Usually this appointment takes 90 minutes but more time will be allotted if necessary. The homeopath will ask an extensive range of questions to achieve a complete understanding of the state of health on the physical, mental, and emotional planes. The homeopath also takes into consideration the energy level and how the individual responds to the environment.

Homeopaths are interested in understanding all levels of function: mental, emotional, and physical. For example, sustained emotional stress can cause problems in the immune system, difficulty in the digestion or assimilation of food, or difficulty sleeping and conversely, physical problems can result in emotional unrest or anxiety. Generally, all of the presenting symptoms of the patient, including the chief complaint, behavioral tendencies, and the patient’s personality traits, are important symptoms in homeopathic analysis.

Each of us experiences key moments in our life, often beginning early and continuing throughout our lifetime, when we encounter stress or situations that are difficult to reconcile, and our organism begins to devise strategies that enable us to survive. This process can occur even without our being overtly aware of it, simply by the natural workings of our nervous system. The homeopath strives to understand the unique dilemma that each patient has evolved, based on consideration of the multilayered, multifaceted clues that the patient provides. These clues involve not only the complaints and symptoms that the patient relates but also the myriad details that help to define us as individuals. The homeopath then prescribes a remedy intended to stimulate the innate vitality of the individual, to resolve the trauma that produced the symptoms in the first place.

What Homeopaths Perceive

Observation and Determining a Remedy
The job of the homeopath is to try and understand where the flow of energy is impeded. Every nuance of the individual becomes a clue to the correct remedy: breathing patterns, eye contact, body posture, the sound and quality of the voice is significant. The interesting and unique way each person copes with stress or expresses creativity is also a piece of the puzzle.

Next the homeopath reconstructs the data: the information about the physical, emotional and mental symptoms; and matches this with what she knows about the remedies in our materia medica-which is our homeopathic medicine chest.

As part of the education of a homeopath each remedy is studied carefully. A remedy is like a crystal with many facets to its character. The remedy will be associated with physical symptoms and will target certain areas of the body such as the digestive system or the nervous system, and each will have an emotional and mental component. Many homeopathic writers describe the symptoms of a remedy as if it were a person, and a sketch or portrait begins to emerge. It is this whole portrait that the homeopath is attempting to uncover. When the correct homeopathic medicine is administered-the remedy that fits both the physical symptoms and the emotional and mental symptoms, there will be a response that will reverberate on all levels and the net result is a triggering of the immune response and the natural tendency for the body to return to a state of balance.

How Is The Correct Homeopathic Remedy Found?
Homeopathy is truly holistic in that mental and emotional symptoms are considered to be as important as physical symptoms in deciding on the correct remedy for an individual. When a person has a health problem each symptom expressed is like a star in a constellation. The symptoms are you body’s attempt to balance itself. As you gaze into the sky you can often recognize a constellation even if some of the stars are obscured by clouds, similarly an individual may not have all of the symptoms associated with a specific remedy. Finding the correct homeopathic remedy depends on gaining a complete understanding of your state of health on the physical, mental, and emotional planes. In the homeopathic interview you will be able to explain your health history and current problems and will be asked an extensive range of questions. In this way as many “stars” as possible will be revealed so the full constellation can be understood. The remedy suggested for you will precisely match this constellation and help your body re-establish its natural state of health.

The Patient is an Integral Part of the Process
Homeopathy is an active process in which most of the healing is fueled by the patient’s own immune system. The homeopathic remedy acts as a catalyst to change. The patient can greatly assist the process by being thorough and clear when reporting symptoms. Be open and truthful in describing those things which are most limiting for you mentally and emotionally. Be observant of changes taking place in your system. You may want to keep a journal of specific or general shifts in your health. Be committed to avoiding activities that might interfere with your remedy.

The Homeopathic Follow-up
After the first interview and remedy prescription there will be follow-up visits scheduled at intervals of 4-8 weeks. These visits are important in determining the extent of the action of the remedy and if additional remedies are required. Some cases are relatively simple and the individual will feel significantly better after a short time with one remedy. In some cases there will be layers and more than one remedy will be required to “peel” away the layers so that full health can be regained. The changes experienced after the correct remedy can include removal of specific symptoms, increase in energy, improved immune response, and the general sensation of less limitation to expression. Because homeopathic therapy is subtle and deep, the changes are long lasting and can take time to evolve.

Homeopathic Medicines Stimulate an Internal Readjustment Toward Balance
When stressed our organism devises strategies that enable us to survive. In health, our bodies respond to stress in a variety of mechanisms that maintain a process of continual balance is known as homeostasis. When stress or trauma exceeds the organism’s ability to respond, the vital force or internal defense mechanisms will be unable to neutralize the stress. A variety of chronic symptoms can often be the result including such diverse conditions as; recurrent infections, fatigue, digestive disturbances, headaches, chronic allergies, and emotional imbalances such as depression or anxiety, etc.

Interestingly, homeopathy does not seek to remove the symptoms that the body produces. Symptoms are seen as a purposeful response to stressful stimuli. This is most easily understood if we consider the symptoms of the common cold: These might include fever, lethargy, and the production of mucus. These symptoms are an intelligent response to a viral infection. The fever speeds up enzymatic processes and mobilizes specialized cells in the immune system that combat the virus. The lethargy requires physical rest so that all available energy is being used to overcome the cold.

In homeopathy, the goal is not the removal of symptoms but the recognition and removal of the underlying cause of the symptoms. For this reason, the correct homeopathic remedy is based on understanding the whole person rather than matching the symptoms of the disease.

The Energetic Component of Homeopathy

The remedies used in homeopathy have qualities that are energetic and dynamic. A homeopathic remedy might be made from the same plant that is also used to make an herbal tonic. One example is the remedy Ipecac. Syrup of Ipecac can be found in the drug store and is an herbal distillation from the plant ipecacuanha. If you eat the plant or take the syrup you will experience severe nausea and vomiting. The syrup is used to induce vomiting and emptying of the stomach when someone has swallowed a potentially toxic substance for instance if a child eats a bottle of aspirin.

When Ipecac is made into a homeopathic remedy through an exacting and specific process it is transformed into a very different substance that acts in a different way. The homeopathic remedy is like an energetic hologram of the original herb. It can be likened to a silicon chip containing information rather than being a nutritive extract like an herb. When the remedy is given the body take in the information and uses it to make a change. The information in the remedy ipecac helps the body cope with nausea and vomiting and so is often used as an acute or short acting remedy for the treatment of morning sickness.

The Energetic Nature of Our Beings

Throughout history there have been writings about the energetic qualities associated with living things. This can be found in spiritual writing from many cultures but also is a topic of scientific exploration in many fields including physics, medicine, and psychology. This description of the energetic nature of our beings comes from the book Body, Self, and Soul by Jack Lee Rosenberg and Marjorie Rand, both clinical psychologists who explore the mind, emotion, body interface:

“Now, if you think of a person as being, in essence, a constellation of energy, how would you envision a healthy person? We picture him or her as a free-flowing energy. The unhealthy person has blocks in the system and the flow of energy is impeded.”

“The essential Self of each of us is both energy itself and the awareness and appreciation of energy. If something happens early in life, the sense of Self develops poorly, and is buried under defensive blocks……For example; the baby whose needs aren’t taken care of and who seals off her feelings is forming blocks to her energy flow. The blocks are represented by growing muscular tension. In blocking off feelings, she stifles the flow of energy and the core of her being–her sense of Self–lies hidden within.”

The remedy constellation is the precise patterning of blocks that both protect and obscure the inner self. Each remedy has a different pattern of energy blockage. The symptoms that describe the patterns of blockage are those that are integral to a set of symptoms that are blocking or limiting the freedom and expression of the organism. In ulcerative colitis the diarrhea and cramping limit the function of the person and are one of the things taken into consideration when finding a homeopathic remedy. But in every individual who has been given that diagnosis there are other components or blocks that for a constellation leading to a correct remedy match.

Healing

By seeking to deeply understand the etiology and underlying source of disease, the homeopath becomes an energetic conduit between the patient’s conscious understanding of themselves and their unconscious knowledge of what is really wrong. An energetic opening is created and the healing process is initiated. The remedy further fuels this healing process by adding information to the system-the precise information needed to catalyze a reordering and slow but steady dismantling of the energetic blocks. When this occurs the actual symptoms will diminish and better function and creativity of expression will return.

Observation and Determining a Remedy

The job of the homeopath is to try and understand where the flow of energy is impeded. Every nuance of the individual becomes a clue to the correct remedy: breathing patterns, eye contact, body posture, the sound and quality of the voice is significant. The interesting and unique way each person copes with stress or expresses creativity is also a piece of the puzzle.

Next the homeopath reconstructs the data: the information about the physical, emotional and mental symptoms; and matches this with what she knows about the remedies in our materia medica-which is our homeopathic medicine chest.

As part of the education of a homeopath each remedy is studied carefully. A remedy is like a crystal with many facets to its character. The remedy will be associated with physical symptoms and will target certain areas of the body such as the digestive system or the nervous system, and each will have an emotional and mental component. Many homeopathic writers describe the symptoms of a remedy as if it were a person, and a sketch or portrait begins to emerge. It is this whole portrait that the homeopath is attempting to uncover. When the correct homeopathic medicine is administered-the remedy that fits both the physical symptoms and the emotional and mental symptoms, there will be a response that will reverberate on all levels and the net result is a triggering of the immune response and the natural tendency for the body to return to a state of balance.

Homeopathy is not a placebo treatment. In fact, infants and animals can be successfully treated.

What do we need to treat?
As Samuel Hahnemann, the originator of homeopathy, wrote in the essential treatise on homeopathy,The Organon, the physician must strive to “clearly perceive what has to be cured in disease, i.e. in each individual case of disease.” (Third Aphorism)

The work of the homeopath is to observe, consider, reflect, and then finally determine what the underlying disturbance, the energetic “underlying wrinkle in the cloth” might be. The goal is not to remove the symptoms but to remove the deeper disturbance that results in symptoms. As a homeopath I have had the experience of taking the case of a patient and feeling that the patient might not be consciously aware of the underlying problem from which the physical or emotional symptoms spring.

The patient not the disease
The idea that we are treating a unique individual and not a disease or diagnosis is key to understanding classical homeopathy. This is one way that homeopathy differs significantly from allopathic medicine, in which the physician looks for a pattern of symptoms in order to make a diagnosis and then gives a medicine for that diagnosis.

For example, a person comes into my office with the complaint of allergies. Although I am interested in the nature of the allergies I cannot find the correct remedy based on information about the color and quality of the mucous or the itching or sneezing. Perhaps the person speaks with hesitation and has a sense of fearfulness, while another person with allergies could have a feeling of loneliness and isolation and a third sufferer of allergies also complains of mental fogginess and lack of concentration. Sometimes the patient is a young child and the allergic symptoms are accompanied by sleep disturbances, restlessness, or behavioral problems. Each will need a different remedy to address the source of irritation in their economy. One might need a remedy associated with fright while another might require a remedy that addresses a deep grief.

How can a small dosage of a substance create change or have a long lasting effect on my system?
Homeopathic remedies can be thought to have a resonant effect on the body. Similar to the way in which a specific note, played on the violin in a specific octave, can have an effect on the molecular structure of a wine glass, the homeopathic remedy which exactly resonates with the symptom picture of an individual will have a catalytic effect, triggering a systemic response in the patient. The response is strengthening to the individual from the inside out.

The remedy stimulates a return to balance which in turn helps the individual resist disease, and become more flexible in adapting to one’s environment

Homeopathy is truly holistic in that mental and emotional symptoms are considered to be as important as physical symptoms in deciding on the correct remedy for an individual. When a person has a health problem each symptom expressed is like a star in a constellation. The symptoms are you body’s attempt to balance itself. As you gaze into the sky you can often recognize a constellation even if some of the stars are obscured by clouds, similarly an individual may not have all of the symptoms associated with a specific remedy. Finding the correct homeopathic remedy depends on gaining a complete understanding of your state of health on the physical, mental, and emotional planes. In the homeopathic interview you will be able to explain your health history and current problems and will be asked an extensive range of questions. In this way as many “stars” as possible will be revealed so the full constellation can be understood. The remedy suggested for you will precisely match this constellation and help your body re-establish its natural state of health.