ChildrenChild Behaviour and Development
Children with developmental problems or chronic illnesses can have their (and their parents’) life improved significantly through the use of classical homeopathy, to which they are highly responsive. Treatment of children is both rewarding for the practitioner and the child’s family on a personal level, and is important for our society, as many health problems affecting adults begin in childhood or result from improper medical treatment of childhood complaints.
Importance of timely intervention
It is wise to treat childhood problems as soon as they arise, because the child is especially sensitive to disruption of the developmental process. This is recommended even and especially in the absence of a clear medical diagnosis, as homeopathic treatment is based on the specific symptoms of each child and not on the conventional diagnostic category. For example, classical homeopathy has an impressive record of catalyzing major developmental progress in conditions officially diagnosed as or resembling ‘failure to thrive’, autism, and attention deficit disorders (ADD/ADHD), as well as in physical conditions such as allergies and asthma. These conditions, for which conventional medical treatment is either unavailable or, when available, is often damaging in the long run, can severely affect development and may have lifelong deleterious consequences if not properly treated. To this end, classical homeopathy as well as the other therapeutic methods I use can be pursued alongside other conventional or alternative treatment options.
The family context
Children’s health is highly intertwined with that of their parents and other care-givers. Children both affect and are affected by the health of the others in the family unit, which implies that healthy children require healthy parents, and that healthy children in turn contribute to the well-being of the family. I therefore do not shy away from recommending at times that one or both parents be treated if I determine that their child’s ill health is significantly due to external factors. It is important to recognize that unlike in conventional medicine where psychological problems have a stigma attached to them, classical homeopathy and Emotional Freedom Technique are diagnostically so subtle that they are able to pick up psychological issues in normal, mostly well-functioning people. In other words, by recommending psychological treatment to parents we merely recognize that we all have ‘issues’ which can at times have a negative impact on those we love and care for.
Vaccinations
The topic of whether or not children should be vaccinated is both complex and highly politicized. As a general rule my position is that parents should not vaccinate their children routinely because vaccines are both more dangerous and less efficacious than is claimed by the medical community. Instead, parents must make an effort to educate themselves about both sides of the debate and make their decision independently of my or others’ advice. This cannot be done haphazardly, and I will therefore not attempt to provide quick answers on this site. Instead, I would strongly recommend that parents read books and research the Internet long before the time to vaccinate has arrived.
As a general rule, vaccinations seem to disrupt normal development in a significant number of children, and are definitely the cause of more major health consequences in a minority of children. These dangers have to be weighed against the protection that vaccines possibly afford against acute childhood illness. The only exception to this prudent approach appears to be the Tetanus vaccine, which has not been reported to cause side-effects and which protects from a dangerous illness that can occur even in a healthy, well-nourished child. This may be because Tetanus is transmitted via direct entry into the bloodstream, a mode of transmission which the injected vaccine imitates, whereas other childhood diseases enter the body through the airways but their vaccine versions bypass the airways and are instead injected directly into the bloodstream.
Those interested in an information-rich site biased against vaccinations that brings together not only the scientific but also the political aspects of the debate from an American perspective can visit the Vaccination Information & Choice Network; most medical-policy decisions in Israel and the rest of the developed world closely parallel the trends set in the USA, so the information there is highly relevant. Because physicians are not taught the complexities of the issue before advising vaccination to their patients, I believe that parents should be made aware of other points of view before agreeing to vaccinate their children. In any case, parents need not rush to vaccinate under pressure from the medical system, as there is no imminent danger from delaying vaccination. In fact, delaying vaccination is one way of reducing side-effects for those who still wish to go ahead with the process, since the infant’s immune system is very vulnerable to disruption during the first months of life.
