I offer this article for everyone to consider, with trepidation about the vilification that spouts from some.

Some articles of mine have been published elsewher under my name so you may have come accross them before.

Start the Healing Process by Responding to Your Patient With Consideration

The patient comes into the office and sits down. You observe the patient automatically
as you have already mentally started to take notes. This is good for you but is it of
any benefit to helping the patient feel relaxed so he can not only talk to you but open up to you.

You watch how he moves, how he is dressed and the expression on his face. What do you see that isn't being said. Is he here because someone wants him here or has he come in on his own.

He will not be comfortable until he realizes you are interested in him from his point of view. This can be accomplished by putting some of his interests first and thinking of how he feels not just what you need so you can write good notes. If we look at the patient from only our point of view we are being prejudiced.

White coat syndrome. He looks scared, now what. If you say something like, "is the
office anything like what you thought it would be?" You are now talking on his terms and he might ease up or he might think now I am getting interrogated. If he relaxes then you may have settled him down and you can ask him to talk about what he is really concerned about. Note what is important to him and contine on from there with your consultation.

What will you do if the patient still appears uneasy? Now you may need to use other means of calming him. One may furnish the office with two or three different styles of chairs for the patient to sit in. Ask him to sit in the most comfortable chair.

Lets say a guy is very casual in dress and yet he sits in the most upright chair. He is
probably still uneasy. You might say, I would have chosen this chair looking at an easy chair. Be careful not to push him or direct him. It is important that he sits where he decides.

In the previous example what technique is being used? People respond to their different
senses. What they feel, what they see and what they hear. One of these qualities usually predominates in each of us. Some people are endowed with more than one of these qualities and they will possibly be more adaptable to fit in with ease.

The casual person may likely not care how things look but he wants to be comfortable. He feels things. A person who dresses beautifully will most likely respond to what they see. For these people a beautiful picture on the office wall may be just what they will be drawn to. Ask them what they like in it and they will probably seat themselves in the chair of their choice and start talking on their own.

Now we come to the person that hears. These are the ones that may get hurt or offended
easily. They may or they may not like music in the office. It might be harder to detect
this quality since it is not so visible in the patient. You must then be able to listen
to them and hear what is being said. Do not interpt. If not clear rephrase the query.

Your office should reflect all these qualities. It should not be messy as that will offend the person that see things. It will be cozy for the one that feels things and peaceful considering the patient that hears things.

By recognizing these personal traits and acknowledging them you will draw patients to you and your office because they will respond to your sensitivity and consideration of them.

The Importance of a good interview:
It is important to write down what the patient says without preconceptions. Avoid forming conclusions until after the whole history has been taken.

Consider the following:
A patient comes into your office and sits down. You notice that he is meticulously dressed. He has taken a lot of care with his appearance. However while listening to him he makes the statement that he is disorganized. This doesn't seem possible since he is totally put together. Is he lying? Never think that! Your attitude is important. Look for the reason for this seeming contradiction. Perhaps this patient has very high standards, he
views himself disorderly. You might ask, "In what areas do you think you are disorganized?" Using the same word he uses is a technique called reflection. This shows him that you care. It reassures the patient that you are really listening to him. This will help him build confidence in you. He will be able to elaborate on what he means. Let him talk. If he digresses too much then gently bring him back to where he was. Give direction to the interview.

In another situation at a clinic the patient has come in and is too shy to say what they have come in for. You become aware that the patient is reserved. Look carefully. Now you see the patient has a furtive manner about them. What things may indicate this? Are they talking only in generalalities. This may be a good indication. Do they look you in the eye or do they always look elsewhere? Do they sit still or squirming all the time. What are their hands doing? All these are signs of body language that supply important clues.

If you are a lady physician and a man asks if there is a man doctor then you know right away that he wants to talk about personal male problems. In this case you will have to take the initiative to put him at ease. You must establish a relationship of trust and reassure him that it is proper to discuss intimate matters with you. Do not say, "What are you really here for?" That will put him right off. Be sympathetic to his concerns. Be aware of
cultural influences because they can have a significant impact on communication.

In another instance a mother comes in with her daughter. The appointment was made in the daughter's name. The daughter is twelve years old and she is not going to tell you why she is there in front of her mother. What do you do? What can you do? This will take real skill. First you want to determine the relationship between the mother and daughter. This will require some perceptive questioning of both the mother and
daughter. Does the mother dominate or does she give the daughter an opportunity to express her views? Since the appointment was made in the daughters name you can ask her general questions about school, friends and other activities. You could say "I just want to get to know you." This serves a dual purpose. Does the mother
keep interjecting? Does the young person speak freely? Does she have friends at school? Is there any obvious problem? Try to put yourself in the daughter's situation. Realize that the daughter is at an age when she thinks she is old enough to have some measure of independence. She may want some privacy in discussing some matters with you. How do you cope with this? You must also consider the mother's viewpoint
rights and responsibilities. Good interviewing technique will put both people at ease.

Remember; don't make judgments and don't form opinions during the appointment, wait until after all the case is taken to record your overall impressions. Just accurately write down what is said. Hear and record in your notes the patient's phrases not your words. When you review the notes you will get the feel of the patient and be able to experience how they see things. Look at the situation from their perspective and develop empathy. This will help when you select a remedy for this patient's specific case qualities and symptoms.

Thanks for that cib! Wonderful...and it is very much what I have gleaned from reading Hahnemann and others on case-taking.

I agree it is important to find the balance in one's office - to put patient's at ease. I wonder how easy or difficult this is in practise...as you mentioned, quite correctly, that each person reacts on different sensorium.

Interesting read...no villification here!

Lisa

Please open a new thread and post your articles. It might be interesting for others to see. If you feel they are too long please send to me through Herb who started this thread as Herb has my e mail address. Thanks a lot.

CIB:
Where did imention your name? No reason to get personal here, if i did not hit a button...

Cant any of you distinguish case frome person?? indeed, it shows proffesionality if you can do that.

But instead, i see acting from people, as they do belive their the inventors and owners of homeopathy!

And bragging, like that,i quote:"cib
GM. I have more patients than I can handle, and more patience than you can handle." shows insceurety in own action, one rubric that may, and i say may be used, is braggarts...
And may i ask, how do you know, what i can handle??
Really professional talk!

And those articles, well..many many years ago, ive seen the same type of artickles, they are not new..and if you want to se the original, then read organon!

Today, its too easy, to get artickles out, and to get fame on them, and patients on them, and this will destroy homeopathy, and cost a lot of peole their health, in the long run.
Well, i have no patience for sucth, but if you do, well, thats not alone your business, but all who get troubles form sutch a patience..

Some sell their granny to the devil for money..is it told in a proverb..

Dear cib, By all means please feel free to use my email address to forward any information you have. I will only forward to those individuals you feel privy to receive it. I have had the "honor" of dealings with Ricky and have utmost respect for the views contributed. I feel I am being very openminded in my interpretation of how homeopathy can work. There are many methods of prescribing, and I for one, would like to learn from more than one teacher. Who would have thought you could use a screw driver for more than turning a screw? You can open a paint can, pop a loose board off the floor and even jar loose a plant stuck in it's overgrown pot of soil! There are so many uses for one tool and so many solutions, using the same tool you can achieve many things.

Yeah,,, a shot gun can be used to pick lotto numbers...good luck.
Its all a matter of belive, not know...

Sorry Gm but I don't quite get the point you are trying to get across. Could you please clarify this for me?

To Lisa - I will try to explain where I am, as it were, since you wonder.

I graduated from a very "Classical" college. In fact during the Post graduate year a lecturer was berated for teaching us new remedies!!! I prescribe on a classical, one remedy ( found from the totality of symptoms Mental, Emotional, Physical and Gerneralities) and wait, stance except when a patient is on allopathic medicine when I wil dose the same remedy low but continuously. This appears to work for me and my patients. I do not turn away patients that are on the pill and low dose steroid and antibiotics treatment, antidepressants etc. from allopathic Doctors. I look on myself as a complementary therapist rather than an alternative one. The Society I am insured with (and College) forbade us to tell a patient to stop taking an allopathic medicine that has been prescribed by an allopathic Doctor. What I do is as soon as an improvement occurs I will suggest to the patient that go to their Doctor and get the prescription cut down to a lower dose or even cut out. So in this way I probably differ from GM.

I am a member of a couple of eclectic newsgroups and follow them with interest. Their prescribing is often against all the principles I was taught BUT they appear to get excellent results so I refuse to knock them. I also have sets of Ian Watson's excellent tapes on various subjects- see the Lakeland College website - and these have influenced the way I think. What he says makes a lot of sense to me and also the way he prescribes on the top layer i.e. if a person comes in and complains of arthritis in her hip by stopping the pain with a remedy you get the patient's confidence and then you can go on and find the "constitutional remedy". He also describes the use of herbal tinctures as "broad spectrum " remedies to give alongside the homeopathic remedy. Again it seems to work for him and his patients so why knock it.

I personally find a lot of difficulty seeing the essence of a case without the person in front of me who gives me so many non verbal clues ( thanks cib for your contribution) and that is why I rarely give my input on these paper cases. Obviously GM has the experience to do this which is brilliant and it is appreciated by all. But this is why I have got GM annoyed when I have asked how he got to a particular remedy. My motive was not to criticise but to learn. I have learnt not to ask anymore.

Re the lack of my E mail address I can explain this to you not that I really am obliged to do so, but if it will help you understand where I am at, it may make you less critical. I have been on this BB for quite a while from when I was a student like you, way before you joined and I used to get people blocking up my E mail asking for advice and felt obliged to help them. It was taking up so much of my time that I changed my name and took my e mail off this BB. This is how I met some of these people who know my E mail address and also I have met them from newsgroups where my address is visible.

I hope this clears things up with you. As you see the crux of it is that although I accept other people's prescribing techniques I have not found the necessity to use them as yet but it doesn't mean that I may not in the future if I have a case I can't deal with the normal way! I love learning every side of homeopathy but it doesn't mean that I take it on board.

Sorry Ricky, but you, as all others understand, has to understand that i cant teach you or anyone else whats called life-experience, you have to have lived my life to understand.

So this is lame excuse for the past behaviour!
It dont fit, its the same as you admitt that you act stupid...and is a homeopat stupid???

Its experience who tell what to do, when seponating medication (quitting medication too) sorry that you dont understand Hahnemnans word, and try as you are theached, to ride two horses at the same time, and use opposing remedies,that dont work... and pschycologically manipulate the patients to belive their better over time, so it appears that they have quitted medication by them self..is that a cure?
Or is it clever sucktion of the patients wallet, and covardness??
Public relations?
Destroying homeopathy??

What is it??

It resembles nothing of what i am thaugt and experineced as homeopathy!

[This message has been edited by GM (edited 03 June 2000).]

Thanks for the explanation...my only problem with any of this (regarding you) was that you seemed to encourage people (who are not trained and are not training) who don't grasp the Fixed Principles to venture out into areas that they couldn't possibly begin to comprehend without comprehensive study.

That seems quite inflammatory and unnecessary. And, could even be dangerous to the wrong person at the wrong moment.

I, too, am all for learning - if only to gain a firm understanding of what is being utilised -but won't always agree or adopt the 'method'.

As for your comments on Ian Watson - I think to prescribe one ONE symptoms - to merely palliate temporarily could be dangerous in some cases! Or do you determine which is a risky case...?? Curious about this!!

Are you not concerned about suppressing by palliating? Or have I misunderstood that? Honestly - I appreciate your comments and reply - just trying to gain a better understanding of where some of your comments are coming from.

I just think it is a Homeopaths duty to be cautious with what they tell the general public....things are so easily misconstrued....

Just remember back to when you first studied...how long did it take for you to get your teeth away from allopathic thinking?? To NOT think in terms of Disease Names, etc., etc.... that is more to the point of what I meant in saying shame on you for perpetuating lay-people's interest in combining Homeopathy.

That may not have been your internal intent - but it cerrtainly comes across that way. I would think you would gently encourage people to understand the principles of homeopathy first....such a good and sound foundation to start from!

As for me being critical - well, I can't be too critical - I, too took me email address off - too many emails from people that wanted help - and I'm not qualified. I also received a couple of nasty emails...and my computer crashed twice..hmmmmmmmmmm - it was very suspect...but that is the reason for my email removal!

Well, I hope that you will ask questions that spark answers...as I, and many others, do learn from this.

Lastly, thanks again for your response.

Lisa