Lets say a person has unresolved issues of anger towards their father. They usually have issues with male authority figures...but they cope and get by. And nothing else is an issue for them. But lets say their wife is doing homeopathy for some reason and she wants her husband to go. His issue is not a problem for her...but she just for whatever reason wants him to go. So he goes cause she wants him to...He isn't really sick..just a little neurotic...has a bad day when he has to deal with a domineering authority figure. He knows it and can talk about it.

Is he in a state where something needs to be cured? What will a wise homeopath do? Is there an issue of if it aint broke don't fix it? Is there an element of preventive homeopathy that exists?

If, as you say, the issue is unresolved, then it needs to be dealt with. None of us is perfect and when the case is taken, there will be a number of things that come up which will point to a remedy. When the remedy works, it may not resolve the issue directly, but the patient may decide he wants to work on it in therapy. At any rate, neurosis is an illness whether the person recognizes it as an interference in his freely functioning life of not.

__________________
Shirley Reischman

If he's not in much discomfort (at least from his own perspective) and he's going only because his wife wants him to, then it doesn't sound as though he'll be real invested in the process, and in my opinion, remedies don't override free will.

Now David...that sounds like a loaded statement. You're saying you think that a person can choose to not respond to a remedy? That would be a pretty strong will? Is that what happened to hansmrc...his will to not be effected by the remedy stopped the remedy from acting? Or are you saying that a new understanding might occur to the guy with anger issues(stimulated by the remedy)but he will choose to maintain the status quo? Where does the free will reside separate from the rest of the person? I could suphurize myself into oblivion asking questions about this.

By the way..do you think there is any connection between hans mrc taking the arsenicum and disappearing off the face of the earth?

[ 03. January 2004, 19:16: Message edited by: carolorr ]

In this sample case, the wife didn't think there was any real problem, either, but asked him to go. Often, it's becasue the spouse is having a good response and wants the best for the other. It was my understanding that the husband agreed to go. People often agree to things for their spouse, even when they don't see a big need for it. They aren't being dragged in, just not something they would have picked for themselves if it weren't for the spouse. In my experience, these are usually good marriages where the couple are interested in self improvement and the spouse who agreed to come often becomes very interested in the process.

__________________
Shirley Reischman

Shirley's right, but the point I was trying to make is that, in my experience, when adults are not somehow invested in 'getting better', that is, when they 'enjoy' the experience of their state, then a well-matched remedy may have a positive effect in the short term, but things somehow decompensate over the long term. I've seen this same type of thing happen in a number of different ways over the years.

For instance, the person often will not continue with the remedy over the long-term, eg., staying in touch for follow-up's, repeat dosing, etc. A couple years ago I saw a fellow who clearly was experiencing and demonstrating a hyoscyamus state, but he made no secret about the fact that he really didn't want to change, nor did he feel any need to. In spite of the fact that others around him recognized the positive changes after the dose, he had no interest in continuing, insofar as it meant he would need to 'shift'.

PS. No, I don't think a couple doses of arsenicum 30 had anything to do with Hans going away. In that regard, let's let sleeping dogs lie. Unless he wants to come back and start taking 30C helleborus 3 times daily.

[ 03. January 2004, 23:59: Message edited by: David A. Johnson ]

okay, that makes more sense.