Hi Shauna,
I suppose, if you chose, you could make the 18 hour drive to Toronto, huh? It's a straight drive all the way from the Prairies and around the lake! One highway practically!
I am glad to see that Dr. Nielsen's clinic is up and running. This is how I trained, too...lots of classroom time and behind-the-scenes clinic time then face-to-face with patients...all under supervision. Even though a student takes your case, everything she does is overseen by a highly qualified homeopath, with lots of experience (and often, the case is viewed by the entire class as well--though this may not have been the case with you and your practitioner). In homeopathy as in any medical science, the basic training takes about 5 years to complete--then the real learning starts with establishing practice.
Acute illness is especially responsive to homeopathic treatment--its easy to find good remedies, results are lightning-fast, and everyone's that much happier sooner. But, you have to understand that acute illnesses are just quick "expressions", so to speak, of the chronic state. Children may not have had much time to develop much chronic illness, but they do come into this world "inheriting" at least the potential to suffer from our own ailments, our own chronic stuff (Hahnemann writes about Chronic Diseases and Miasms in great detail, so I won't get into this here). So, establishing a long-term relationship with a good homeopath that you like and trust is a great way to encourage and maintain your own health and the health of your children. She can help you immensely when those "childhood" diseases--which do serve a purpose in child development--come along.
Here's what I suggest: if you like the homeopath you consulted, and she was effective, then it really is a good idea to stick with her. As she is a "new" practitioner, you would be helping her to build up her practice. It is really important for you and your children to get a good "feel" from this homeopath--is she confident? Is she empathetic? Is she resourceful? Is she effective? Does she have some good support, in the way of colleagues to whom she can turn for advice or commentary on her cases (this is crucial!) If you can answer yes to these questions, stick with her. If you have some issues you can't resolve with her, keep looking--good practitioners
are out there, and they have to be encouraged. When people tell me there aren't any where they live, I have to wonder, as yesterday I met a woman who lives in remote Whitehorse and is seeing a homeopath there!
Next, find some really good books on homeopathy that you can use to better understand what it is and how it works. One great one I like to use is Miranda Castro's Complete Homeopathy Handbook. It sells for about $25 CDN and it is chock full of useful information about the history of homeopathy, how the remedies are made, how the law of similars works, etc. etc. It also has wonderful materia medica information and a very easy to use repertory. The book was designed to be used by people like you who don't necessarily want to study whole-hog, but still want to know how to help yourself and your family treat acute and first aid ailments. If you can do this AND work with your homeopath on an ongoing basis to treat chronic illness, you'll be way ahead of the game...you can look after the easy stuff and take care of the deep stuff with the help of your practitioner.
Then, you should find a GP who is open to what you wish to do with healthcare, someone you can trust who is competent and helpful. You'll need the GP whenever diagnostic tests are necessary. Your test result information will be handy for your homeopath as a result.
Divina