do you tell the patient?

[Simon King LCPH MARH]

I also tell them even if they are H's or students of H. So what if they look it up?

If they disagree I want them to be able to articulate why. That will give me additional and very useful info about the case. I have had only positive feedback from telling people the Rx never negative. In fact if H's or students of, why would I not want to discuss it with them . IF it means educating Px then fine, if they don't want a particular Rx e.g. Apis because they are Buddhist, or syph because they're squeamish, that is their choice not mine to sneak it to them (or offer it radionically made). But if I have explained well it won't be problem. If someone really want to argue the Rx then I point out my recommendation but explain that they are perfectly entitled to take whatever Rx they prefer. Why should I be attached to MY prescription?

It is no biggie to talk to the Px and explain what /why etc. Why should that be a problem?

I remember when first an patient, then an H student then a homeopath myself, going to Homeopaths and sometimes getting what to me seemed like this 'holier than thou' attitude. It came across as a 'control' game, or a way to keep them above me. I remember thay so often would also sit with te light ( be it window or desk light) behind them, , putting them slightly in the shade, not hugely but it meant you had to try that bit harder to see their eye. I also noticed ( now I was looking) that they sat in a slightly higher chair. I found it inconsiderate at best, demeaning at worst..

Whether intended or not this was the perception of me, the patient. I vowed never to do that to my Patients. It is so easy to slip on the jacket of self importance when consulting. My experience is that that a stance does not improve one's ability to communicate or to find the Rx. it is self defence for the homeopaths insecurities.

In fact my first hint of what was to come was when I sat in with certain homepath. (others would know who I mean if I gave a few more details lol) Her excessively patronising attitude to student homeopaths ( feedback from others concurred) confirmed in my mind that there were some who were 'playing consultant'. i.e. they must really want to be allopaths with white coats and fawning acolytes beause they certainly were not demonstrating holistic principles, except where it made them look good ( in lectures etc)

As many arguements there are for witholding Rx info, there are for not witholding it. It is a personal choice of the practitioner. I would recommend challenging onesself on why one holds those beliefs.

The ONLY time I've lost Pxs is when I have insisted they pay full whack for missed appointments (with no good reason) !lol

[Simon King LCPH MARH]

That's it, in a nutshell.

[Simon King LCPH MARH]

This is not an uncommon experience of many patients, not only those of homeopaths. There are books dedicated to this very subject

[Rochelle]

Love to know how you "insist". I send an Invoice. Those you pay up are those who want to continue., those that don't pay up I am quite happy to lose!! My invoice states at the bottom that if they make another appointment within the next 7 days the invoice may be ignored!!! That sorts them out!! Luckily the "no shows" are very rare in my practice. If a patient is 15 mins late I will phone and usually they have forgotten and say "can I come straight away?"
Rochelle
Registered Homeopath
EFT(Advanced) Practitioner
www.southporthomeopathy.co.uk

[Shannon Nelson]

Rochelle,
My reaction was like yours--that Irene should do/say something! But it
sounds like she really tried, and this woman wasn't interested. To me
it sounds like a really shocking situation. I'm sure the h'th would
give many reasons in defense of her actions, yet still, to put a
patient in a position of powerlessness like this, to probe so
persistently and harshly that the patient winds up feeling abused and
mistreated--I don't quite know what to think. It seems really
unethical to me!!!!!! Sometimes you *do* have to probe uncomfortable
areas, and sometimes you do have to take the patient through unpleasant
re-examinations, yet it should--and can!!!-- be done in a way that
keeps the patient feeling safe, supported, and *not judged*!!! If
you're asking a patient to expose that vulnerable "underbelly" to you,
you have IMO a HUGE obligation to respect and support them through that
process. If you can't do it (maybe the patient has issues that really
"push your buttons"), you should refer them on. What a thing... Quite
possibly that homeopath works out for some of her patients, yet to show
that degree of disrespect toward anyone who comes to us for help, what
a sad and alarming thing....!!
Shannon

[Shannon Nelson]

In a process as complex, "holistic" and individualizing as homeopathic
casetaking, surely it's not surprising that there's a diversity of
approaches...
Shannon

[Irene de Villiers]

Robert & Shannon Nelson wrote:

True - but there are certain principles and ethics that ought to be
adhered to by all of us, such as the right of the client to know and
have control over what's happening to their own body (which is not
possible with a secret remedy)... and the principle of the client and
not the homeopath being "boss"...which also argues against a hidden remedy.
I do not think those aspects are for the homeopath to choose. Those
kinds of choices belong to the client - it's not our prerogative to make
decisions that belong to the client, nor to undermine the rights of the
client under the guise of "individual homeopath preference".

In addition, in this profession we may not prescribe but only
suggest. The choice to use a specific remedy MUST be made by the client
on consideration of the suggested remedy. It seems ludicrous to me to
claim one is making a "suggestion" about a remedy when in fact the
client's choice has been removed by not divulging what the suggested
remedy is. How is that a client choice of whether or not to use a
*suggested* remedy - when no remedy has actually been suggested?

I have yet to hear a reason in the *client's* favour as to why any
homeopath would withhold the remedy name. So far I hear that secrecy
helps the homeopath to not have to explain what they are doing!
Is the client supposed to be impressed by that reason? Do those
that withhold the remedy name explain that this is the reason they
withhold it?

Namaste,
Irene
--
Irene de Villiers, B.Sc AASCA MCSSA D.I.Hom/D.Vet.Hom.
P.O. Box 4703 Spokane WA 99220.
www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboots/clickhere.html (Veterinary Homeopath.)
"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt one doing it."

[Rosemary C Hyde PhD]

Hi, Simon.
Thanks for this. It matches my own personal experience very well (both for myself and for patients). In fact, I have a patient who's a dedicated amateur/ student homeopath, who's insisted all along on prescribing her own remedies -- my role has basically been to educate her on how to better sort out the totality, how to manage decisions such as repetition or remedy changes -- and occasionally, with an acute exacerbation, to suggest an intercurrent remedy. She's doing amazingly well, obviously with better insight into her own symptoms than ability to express them to someone else. It's certainly a different kind of relationship than usual, but it seems to work, and that's the important thing. She's learned a lot, in terms of her own symptom management, about classical methods, so she's less impatient, less inclined to overdose on too many remedies -- all good. I've found it very interesting treating other homeopaths or homeopathic students -- they all have different knowledge, needs and paterns of interpersonal communication, but working with them and finding how I can help them has been rewarding. I tell them I'm working as their consultant, rather than taking a more authoritiative stance. They all want to participate in choosing the remedy, and that makes a lot of sense to me -- often discussing remedy choices prompts them to tell me symptoms they hadn't thought of that turn out to be important in making a differential diagnosis.
Like you, I resolved at my first homeopathic encounter never to keep things from patients or to treat them condescendingly, because I hated being treated in that way myself. (Obviously, it tells you something about my remedy picture :-O). I planned to become a homeopath, but I just couldn't see myself treating others in that way. Rosemary

[Shannon Nelson]

I'll repeat one reason, which I offered from my own experience as a
student/patient. I found I was basically "torturing myself" with
reading up on the remedy and "second-guessing" my experiences, trying
to figure out "what's happening now", and getting tangled up in my
reporting. My h'th and I *agreed* that for the time he would not tell
me what I was getting--tho he promised that he would tell me once the
rx had either worked or not worked.

A huge point, tho, was that this came out of discussion and agreement,
not something he forced on me.

I have on a few occasions, when I'd prescribed a rx with a "weird"
aspect to a pt who reads up, explained to them that like many remedies,
this one has a complex picture, and is described differently in
different places, and much of what they read will *not* apply to them!
(Which was quite true, FWIW.)
Shannon

[Simon King LCPH MARH]

I haven't had a no show in the last 10 yrs I don't think.
By insist I meant that I wansn't going to carry on seeing them if they weren't going to pay up