Tag Archives: remedies

What was once “Alternative” is now Mainstream

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homeopathy (7)I studied Classical Homeopathy for four years after having been a patient for many more. I found the remedies especially useful as a parent of young children as they seemed to resolve all those childhood illnesses quite quickly.  Gradually I acquired a small pharmacy of remedies and the Homeopath I went to offered a short course in how to choose the correct remedy and to use the remedies safely.

One of the most useful remedies is Arnica – a plant remedy made from Leopard’s Bane and used for injury or trauma. It’s now readily available in pharmacies and health food stores and most commonly used as a cream for bruises and aches and pains. It will “bring out” a bruise and help it to resolve quickly. The pillule form, which is generally only available from a homeopath or naturopath, will be in different strengths or potencies according to the situation. It can also be used for grief, sleeplessness, trauma and even jet lag.

I love delving back into my books and reading about remedies and whilst I was classically educated, I do use combination remedies (called complexes) for some clients if I think they will be of use.

You might be wondering what the difference between classical or combination remedies is.  A remedy prescribed in the classical way will generally be a single remedy. Each remedy has a duration of it’s effectiveness and this will also depend on whether the condition is acute or chronic as to whether the remedy is repeated.  A combination remedy will be two or more remedies that have a similar action. The danger with some combination remedies are that the manufacturers will put together a lot of remedies that work for similar diseases or ailments and they may not realize that some of the remedies will antidote or cancel each other out.

 

Homeopathic prescribing

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If you are working as a therapist you may decide to use some of the homeopathic remedies readily available in the health food stores. This could be for your personal use or to use with a client – it is suggested that you do some research or take a training to help you understand the actions of the remedies you are working with, possible side effects, duration that the remedy will last and key features of the remedies.

If you have decided to use Homeopathic remedies in your practice, once you have identified the likely needs of your client, you need to become what is described as the unprejudiced observer. This can be applied to all therapies, not just Homeopathy.

Is your client presenting with a label? Do they actually want their symptoms removed or is there secondary gain? There are lots of labels in our busy world, some are disease labels; others are behaviour labels. An awareness of the difference between disease and drug symptoms, along with a good drug reference guide, is essential.

What we must do, as an astute homeopathic prescriber,  is to observe each person as a whole.

Needless to say, each person has separate needs and experiences. So, what is trauma or difficulty for one person may have little long-term impact on another. It is this difference in reaction or non reaction that makes Homeopathy an effective treatment. A detailed history is taken to search for that remedy that most suits the individual and while one person may get one remedy for a cold, a family member or another person may get something entirely different, based on their symptoms.

There may be times that the therapist or practitioner requires a remedy. It must be stated that it is extraordinarily difficult to treat oneself, family or close friends. Seek professional advice. You are of no use if you give yourself a remedy that causes an aggravation of symptoms. Remedies have been known to bring back old, suppressed symptoms of long forgotten illnesses.

Trauma can be physical or emotional. It can be caused by any of the issues below. It can be held in the body at the cellular level and homeopathically can be seen as generational, giving rise to the theory of Miasm or disposition to a particular set of disease symptoms.  Homeopathy seeks to strengthen the body at the cellular level, so with this tool, we have a greater freedom to avoid the patterns of our ancestors.

Some likely needs of the clients you might see are:

  • Grief
  • Abuse
  • Post traumatic stress disorder

As each person’s needs are quite different, so a different remedy will be needed even if there are the same or similar conditions prevailing.

The major Contra-indications to giving a remedy are;

  • If the client is already under constitutional Homeopathic treatment. Taking another remedy may interfere with the action of the remedy given by the Client’s primary Homeopathic care provider.
  • When the client is known to have great sensitivity to mainstream medications or allergens. (Seek professional advice before giving a remedy – you may prefer to use a flower essence or Rescue Remedy)
  • When informed consent has not been given.

For those interested there is a course in Emotional First Aid, outlining some basic grief and trauma remedies run by Balance4Life Programs. Contact us to find out more details.