FOR NEW CLIENTS
In an era when the demand for natural and complementary care is growing at an unprecedented pace, we find that people often confuse homeopathy with other natural health practices or don’t know how to maximize their potential for benefiting from homeopathic care. This is written to help you understand what homeopathy is and is not – and to guide you in knowing what to expect of homeopathy as well as how to maximize your potential for an ideal homeopathic outcome.
If after reading this you have questions about homeopathy or about your care, please feel free to call or bring your questions to your first visit. If you would like to know more about homeopathy, you can purchase an introductory book such as Amy Lansky’s book, The Impossilbe Cure or Dr. Tom Dooley’s Homeopathy:Beyond Flat Earth Medicine.
HOMEOPATHY is a healing art that works by stimulating your body to heal itself on all levels and naturally. Homeopathy aims to treat the whole person (the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual being) and never aims to treat only a part of a person (a headache for instance). A homeopathic healing response is stimulated by a homeopathic remedy that is recommended for your case by matching what is unique about you and how you experience your world with what we know to be unique about the remedy recommended for your care.
A HOMEOPATH is a consultant who details and interprets your personal history from a homeopathic point of view and then makes a recommendation for a homeopathic remedy for your case. A homeopath’s expertise is in discerning the one remedy that may be best for your case at any one time – and for her expertise in guiding your case to full resolution once a healing response has begun.
Because homeopathy is sometimes confused with other healing practices, we want to say what homeopathy is not. It is not allopathic medicine, nutrition, herbalism, naturopathy, or psychology. A homeopath does not diagnose or treat disease as conventional medicine defines disease. A homeopath does not interpret laboratory tests or make recommendations for the use or non-use of drugs, radiation, or surgery. Homeopaths are often certified by national or state professional organizations but are not regulated or licensed in most states, including New York.
A HOMEOPATHIC REMEDY can be derived from any source but most are derived from plants and minerals and most are prepared so that they are 100% non toxic. The majority of remedies are available from licensed homeopathic pharmacies. You will be given a list of the pharmacies we recommend at your first visit.
WHAT TO EXPECT DURING TREATMENT A well prescribed homeopathic remedy stimulates your body to heal itself gently, fully, and with no side effects. There are, however, two phenomena that your homeopath will look for in your case that you may want to be aware of before you begin treatment.
The first is called an “aggravation of symptoms” and refers to a common phenomenon of healing where symptoms seem to worsen as the body begins to heal. Aggravations in homeopathy often go unnoticed, should not cause suffering, and should pass quickly.
The second phenomenon is called a “return of old symptoms” and may be experienced later in the course of your care. A return of old symptoms is a sign that the body is ridding itself of imbalances caused by past suppression of disease. As with aggravations, one may not notice a return of old symptoms, should not suffer from them, and they should pass quickly.
Both of these phenomena are the signs of an ideal course of healing from a homeopathic point of view. All changes following the use of a homeopathic remedy should be reported to your homeopath at an interval agreed to at your appointment, or as you would like to discuss them.
As was the case before you became a client of homeopathy, if you experience concern about your health at any time, you should call your primary care physician for urgent or emergency care, go to a nearby hospital, or dial 911. You should contact your homeopath only after you have responded appropriately to the signs or symptoms of the need or possible need for immediate medical attention.
THE LIMITS OF HOMEOPATHY: Because homeopathy treats an individual’s capacity to heal naturally and does not treat disease as it is termed by the medical profession, the limits of homeopathy are more related to who might be helped and less related to what conditions might be helped. The length of time you have been unwell, the conditions you suffer from and the degree to which your symptoms have been suppressed with drugs, radiation and surgery all affect your prognosis for an ideal outcome.
Also affecting your prognosis for an ideal outcome is the degree to which you desire full restoration of health, vs relief from your current symptoms. Full restoration of health will take longer than palliation of symptoms.
As with any medical or healing modality, one may never promise an ideal outcome for any particular person. Janice Solomon does promise you ideal homeopathic care while you are a client in the practice.
HOW LONG AND HOW MUCH: It can take more than one consultation and the recommendation of more than one remedy for your homeopath to ascertain the best remedy for your case. Once that remedy is found, full resolution of acute conditions can take minutes to hours or a few days. Full resolution of chronic conditions can take weeks to years but you will feel increasingly better during this passage of time.
As a general guideline, one can expect to be in homeopathic care for about one month for each year one has been unwell. After the best remedy is found for your care you can expect to consult with your homeopath only a few times a year. A completely healthy client consults with her homeopath only as the need arises, usually when acute conditions arise.
Insurance seldom pays for homeopathic care while employee “flex spending plans” that cover uninsured services often do.
THE RIGHT CARE AT THE RIGHT TIME: When should you choose homeopathic care, medical care, or other care? That is a private decision that only you can make after consultation with all who advise you on matters related to your health and well being.
Many people who use homeopathy also use one or more of the other healing arts in establishing, restoring, and maintaining health over their lifetime. Almost all have a physician or physicians. There may be instances where your homeopath will recommend that you see a physician for a medical opinion. We can refer you to a physician if you don’t have one. Homeopathy is complimentary to conventional medical care.
SELF CARE: Once you are in the care of a homeopath, you should consult with her before self prescribing homeopathic remedies, herbs, and other natural care for yourself. Self-prescribing can interfere with the progress of a homeopathic case and should be discussed at your visit if you regularly self-prescribe.
MIXING MODALITIES: Homeopathy works with all other healing modalities and treatments, but it is not wise to begin two or more new treatments in close proximity to each other. This is because it is unlikely that either you or your practitioners will be able to discern which treatment caused changes in your case or to know if one treatment affected the potential benefits of another treatment. It is wise to give any new treatment a few months to act before introducing another.
All of your caregivers should be made aware of all the treatments you are using to prevent illness and establish or maintain health.
RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE HEALTH CARE RELATIONSHIP: A client of homeopathy, educated about how homeopathy works and how it may interact with and complement other choices of care, should consult with her other providers to obtain the information she needs to exercise informed choice.
If you have any questions about your case or about homeopathy, please call before your visit.
If would like to arrange for a public speaker on homeopathy, please contact Janice Solomon.
Janice Solomon, CCH
914-522-0913