Homeopathic Practice

The practice of classical homeopathy is based on the art of careful observation, patient listening, and exact questioning, combined with the science of case analysis, to produce a unique clinical method. Following is a description of the typical process of homeopathic treatment:

The initial visit

The initial interview in classical homeopathy typically lasts around two hours for chronic complaints and as needed in the case of acute complaints. The homeopath begins by listening to the details of the patient’s ailments as well as anything else that the patient feels is relevant to the case. In addition to eliciting objective symptoms relating to these complaints, the homeopath, through the use of many open-ended questions, encourages the patient to describe his or her exact experience of the illness or discomfort in progressively greater depth and detail. The aim of this process is for the homeopath to perceive the inner state of the patient, which is the state that best points to the correct prescription. This inner state is expressed through mind and body but is deeper than both; although in everyday life many of us are unaware of it, it is constantly expressed in the way we speak and interact with others, in what we choose to do in our spare time, in how we dress, and (perhaps most importantly) in our dreams. This elaborate interview process, when competently guided, inevitably leads to a holistic view of the patient’s state, and to a perspective that ties together seemingly disparate phenomena into a unified story and picture of disease.

Case analysis

The portrait of disease is represented through a totality of symptoms which the homeopath deduces from the information collected during the interview. This totality is a carefully selected subset of the collected symptoms, one which emphasizes those things about the patient that are strange, rare, or peculiar: strange symptoms are ones that do not make sense from a logical point of view (e.g. a pounding headache made better by hitting the head against a hard surface); rare symptoms are phenomena rarely observed in the general population in that time and place (e.g. tuberculosis in modern Israel); and peculiar symptoms are very detailed symptoms whose presentation is unique (e.g. a tickling sensation inside the left knee felt only when drinking water).

Whether common or not, symptoms belong to one of two categories: pathological and characteristic. Pathological symptoms are those that are of concern to the patient: these include physical pathology, pain, bothersome sensations, and thoughts or feelings which interfere with normal functioning. Characteristic symptoms are phenomena not medically problematic but which distinguish the patient from everyone else with the same complaint: these include details of the patient’s personality, reaction to external influences of food, weather, and the like, and significant past events in the patient’s personal and family history, such as accidents, emotional trauma, and serious disease. To these are added the homeopath’s observations of the patient’s physical appearance and behaviour.

Through respecting the subtle differences between different people’s life journey, classical homeopathy achieves the ideal of individualization. Classical homeopathy demands fine skill of its practitioners, as in order to prescribe successfully the practitioner must perceive the patient’s state with great precision and a minimum of bias.

The prescription

The homeopathic remedy that is prescribed is based on matching patient and remedy with respect to their totality of symptoms, following the law of similars on which classical homeopathy is based. These remedies originate from a huge variety of substances of natural or man-made origin: remedies can be prepared from various minerals, from plants, from animal products, from synthetic chemicals, and from sources of radiation such as x-ray. Regardless of origin, the final product, which is dispensed either as sugar-based tablets or in liquid form, contains very little or none of the original substance, having undergone a prolonged process of dilution. Thus the patient need not ever worry about ingesting a harmful substance or about chemical interaction with other medications. The only effect these remedies have is through a mechanism, possibly electromagnetic in nature, that is still not understood by science. Despite this, classical homeopathy functions as a complete system of medicine, while scientists continue to debate the reasons behind its mysterious clinical efficacy.

The followup visits

After the first prescription the patient returns for regular visits so that the homeopath may determine the response to it and decide what to do next. These visits are scheduled once every few weeks — more frequently at first and less so as treatment progresses. The whole process of interview, analysis, and prescription is repeated during every appointment, albeit on a smaller scale than during the first visit. Just as important, the patient and homeopath continually discuss the patient’s experience of illness in order to facilitate the long-term spiritual healing that most patients ultimately desire and which classical homeopathy is capable of facilitating.