Wow, I hadn't realised I was so scary..."pick me apart"...!

I think "Ignatia" when I look at patients while I'm taking their cases, too...but the reality is, you may very well be right--but it just isn't really scientific or good casetaking to always just move in on your gut reaction. It could be a bias (and I'm not saying you're evil, cause you have a bias, but you do have to know you are as prone to them as everyone else is). It could be you are projecting your own interpretation of your patient's experience. There could be a number of things at work to disable you from being the "unbiased observer" you need to be. Finally, keep in mind that although Coulter's books are very effective at allowing you to understand how a totality might appear, you are still looking at her clinical experience--which might vary greatly from anyone else's, or more importantly, from your own.

So these are some of the many pitfalls you want to avoid--as Hahnemann warned. I think David's suggestions for looking at the case differently (what do you think of his perspective and analysis?) could bring up the possibility of seeing "other" remedies in the case. In homeopathy the skill and discipline aren't in "recognizing" the remedy needed right off the bat--its in actually putting aside that incidental idea, and steadily collecting the information you need to keep digging up--then making sure you understand the facts in the case, and understand your patient.

So, absolute beginner that you are...it doesn't mean the "work" is over, it just means your work's really just begun.

[ 24. December 2003, 11:25: Message edited by: ChaChaHeels ]

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Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.<br />C.G.Jung