Hi Louise,

Look, we ALL have mums and dads.

But some people have set up relationships with these figures in their lives which create problems for them--all over their worlds.

When those people come to you for help, you will be able to see quite clearly that those relationships are problematic. Believe me: your patient will practically SCREAM out these symptoms at you. There is no way you'd miss them, no way you'd think they are not "part of the disease". Unless you willfully chose to ignore them.

As Hahnemann illustrates and advises: just use your eyes, ears, nose, your sensitivity and all your senses--plus your mind--and take in what is clearly presented in front of you.

If the patient gives you numerous examples of the problematic nature of his/her relationship with his mother or father, are you going to sit there and IGNORE IT because you are afraid you can't trust what you're observing, and you think other people will call you "biased"?

Are you going to ignore someone who tells you, repeatedly, in a number of different ways including literally, that they have a problem with their mother or father getting in the way of what they set out to do? Even when they give you a million examples? They tell you about every aspect of their lives--their relationships with friends, spouses or lovers, co-workers, children...and in every story they give, they tell you about another problem with their mom or their dad...are you going to just say,

"Isn't that interesting, how that comes up over and over again...oh, but I don't want to be judgemental here...I better just repertorize that his hair is falling out..."

If you have a patient who says many times (though he or she isn't aware of it--but you hear it, and you see him or her right there before you, using the phrase 15 or 16 times in an hour's conversation),

"I really love my spouse!"...

though they tell you they spend a great deal of time working far away from home, doing activities which are solitary, or enjoyed with other people and never include the spouse? Plus they add a sprinkle of critical denouncement of things their spouse seems to enjoy or appreciate...

Do you conclude that this patient does not truly love his/her spouse, though he/she feels he should, as evidenced by his "protestations"--even when his/her descriptions of his/her actions simply don't bear this out?

Or do you sit there and tell yourself to just ignore this, as its "just an emotional symptom"?

Do you continue to ignore it, even though you can clearly ascertain from what the patient has been telling you about himself/herself and the way he/she conducts his/her life that they truly wish they were not married to that spouse, and that this great expense of energy in pretense is costing him/her full health?

I don't. I make a note of the symptom, and if it is a big deal in the case, I prioritize it. Then I repertorize it. I then follow up with materia medica research. I'll often use Scholten and Sankaran, just as I'll often use one of the encyclopedias, Boericke, and Morrison. Hold on to your hat now, Louise, sometimes I even reach for...Whitmont! I know you don't want to even contemplate that sacrilege.

More often than not, Scholten and Sankaran's evaluations fit very well, and support or round out the other MM information that I have. Then, if the remedy fits, I give it, and wait to see what happens.

I'd hate to think what would happen if I had to do without any one of those sources of information. I'd really feel as though I'd be operating without my eyes...working with less knowledge than I need. I dislike doing anything if I feel that way--as it just feels wrong to me.

You can do whatever you feel works for you with your patients. No one has ever said "don't use the basics, just disregard them...read this new stuff by Scholten cause its better..." For one thing, Scholten is brilliant...but so far, he's only working with the periodic table of elements. Last time I looked, homeopathy listed a number of plant and animal remedies as possibilities too.

What I would love to know is why people feel the need to slag someone else who uses something no less effective...just a little different.

It is boringly counterproductive to homeopathy's well-being.

Homeopathy's already got many well-funded, politically powerful enemies...but they don't have to lift a finger to destroy homeopathy. They can just sit back and watch us destroy ourselves because we can't agree that the research homeopaths conduct and contribute is valid--we just have to use these arguments to divide ourselves. Over and over again, too: as if we can't even learn from our own past.


Divina

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...and deliverance has many faces<br />but grace<br />is an aquaintance of mine