Minutus

Hi there, I've decided not to see a homeopath who lives 3 hours from
me, although she said she could do the whole thing by phone and had
various phone clients. I mulled it over for about a month but I felt
uneasy. Given my health issues (chronic lyme which leads to all kinds
of problems that need constant attention) and my work commitments,
taking an entire day and a six hour roundtrip drive sort of seemed an
exhausting thought. On the other hand I thought to myself, how could
you do that first visit, where you try to really take the case, by
phone? For instance, how could you see the facial assymmetry that has
been discussed on here for syphilinum? Or all the physical clues, the
way a person moves, speaks, their appearance, their expressions, so
many clues you need to taking a case, right?

Followup by phone seems logical, but not taking the case by phone. In
any case I was so ambivalent that I had put off a decision and finally
asked if, I started by phone but if after a few remedies, nothing was
happening, she let me drive out there and "re take" the case, and do
that particular retaking for free. I am not sure if this was a kind of
nutsy proposal but it was my attempt to respect her belief that she
could do it by phone, possibly save myself this long daytrip, and yet,
not feel I was an idiot who wasted time and money a few months down
the line by only doing phone which probably is inadequate.

Her answers perplexed me. I quote:

"Most of my work is done through phone consults throughout the country."

Is this typical? Well in any case I now realize that I just am not
comfortable having my case initially taken on phone so will continue
to search elsewhere.

The next paragraph really gave me pause. I excerpt the parts that
concerned me:

"I do not promise cures for I work only as the facillitator and I am
not the one that has to heal in this process. I say process for that
is exactly what this is. Homeopathy is healing on a very deep level.
We are not dealing with you with lyme disease we are dealing with you
as someone who has fallen off their path into a state of disease. You
are the one who will be doing the work, healing those old scars, those
buried emotions, and those old traumas. I work only as a
guide....What if it is the client that is really not ready to face
that road, and believe me there are many of us out there. Yes I
include myself in that statement as I have found that along my own
journey there have been times when I have just not been ready to do
the work necessary to face those buried traumas. I have even found
that I had worked so hard through the years to not face those traumas
that I had placed them in a space in my mind only to be forgotten. So
on a very deep level I was not ready."

It seems to me she thought I was asking her to guarantee a cure,
whichI wasn't. I agree it is healing on a deep level and lyme disease
is my particular manifestation etc, yes I got bit by a tick, but I
understand that part of what she's saying. However what troubles me is
the idea that if I weren't really "ready" to face "buried emotions"
and "old traumas" I could actually BLOCK the effect of a correct
remedy? That unless I'm "ready" no remedy will work? This seems
clearly what she's implying. That seems to undercut homeopathy to me
entirely. It seems to suggest that if the constitutionals a homeopath
suggests don't work, the fault lies not with the homeopath, not with
the remedy either, but with the client for not "wanting" or being
ready to change.

This kind of talk would make complete sense if she were a
psychotherapist. But that paragraph above was what made me decide I
could not see her. I want a homeopath who is convinced of the power of
homeopathy, that if they can take the case properly, they will find
remedies to help. I also totally understand its a crapshoot. There's a
bit of luck and persistence in it, and there has to be a kind of
chemistry btw homeopath and client, and that is also a bit of luck,
too. No homeopath is omniscient etc.

Please let me know your views of the above. Basically I'm hoping to be
reassured that my views are not that off base.

Dear Jill,
Firstly I am one of those homeopaths who insists on seeing the patient at least for the first consultation so I am with you on that.
Secondly - if you don't feel comfortable - and it appears you do not- with the way this homeopath thinks about homeopathy then this homeopath is not for you - period!!
Find a homeopath who you are comfortable with, have an empathetic relationship with and you will probably progress well.
Just my take on what you what but I am sure there will be others!!
All the best
Rochelle
Registered Homeopath
EFT(Advanced) Practitioner
www.southporthomeopathy.co.uk

I wouldn't be comfortable either!
My own homeopath was asked to take a phone patient only last week and but she would only be comfortable with a first consult in person and then occaisional visits if required.
That certainly seems to me to be the only way it would work.
mary

jill1313 wrote:
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I work nearly entirely by phone.

If there is any question I can get a video, but there is enough other stuff that will show syphillitic without seeing facial assymetry.

I find that it works extremely well, but not every homeopath can or will.

I certainly will see people in person if they are available but most of my clients are far from me and not possible.

The fact that she refuses to see you in person would concern me.

Where do you live?

Sheri

--
Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath
Well Within & Earth Mysteries & Sacred Site Tours (worldwide)
Vaccination Information & Choice Network (new website)
http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm
http://www.wellwithin1.com/homeo.htm

As far as Iam concern as being a homoeopath I prefer to see my patient
in person atleast once if possible but if the patient is living far or
in some other area or country than its fine. Being a homoeopath one
should always keep in mind that in "HOMOEOPATHY" the foremost important
thing is "SYMPTOMS" not the person, yes if one can have a look of the
person it can help prescribing the medficine but symptoms are more
important . So finally I should say it dosen't matter weather the
consultaion is by phone, by mail or by e-mail.

Haider Na

Homoeopath

Montreal, Canada.
--- In minutus@yahoogroups.com, "rochelle" wrote:
at least for the first consultation so I am with you on that.
with the way this homeopath thinks about homeopathy then this homeopath
is not for you - period!!
relationship with and you will probably progress well.
country."

Choosing a homeopath either in person or distance is your choice -
thank goodness we have choices. You obviously have preconceived
ideas of how you wish your case to be taken, and what 'school' of
ideas you wish to be included (i.e. assymetry of face). This makes
it harder to find a homeopath that will live up to your
expectations, but I encourage you to keep trying.

I reluctantly started taking cases via phone many years ago (mostly
distant family of current happy clients), having preconceptions of
my own about face to face being the only way to go. I was
pleasantly surprised to find that in a good number of cases, when
communication was open, honest, and clear - there was no problem in
achieving excellent results.

I always suggest individuals try to find a homeopath as close to
home as possible, and have an 'in office' visit. It is simply not
an option in every case.

Stick with your instincts - if you feel 'ambivilant' or don' care
for the way an individual homeopath describes their practice (phone
or in person) - keep looking. But please don't confuse your
personal preferences with the 'legitimacy' of connecting with a
homeopath via telephone or online.

D C Rona, PhD, ND, DHM

--- In minutus@yahoogroups.com, "jill1313" wrote:
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Jill,

First, I agree completely with what Rochelle said -- you need to be
comfortable with the person you're working with.

What you cited from this homeopath sounds like a pretty standard disclaimer
to me -- probably something s/he sends out to all potential clients,
regardless of their previous homeopathic knowledge. What she's said
certainly rings true in my experience.

It's not so much, though, that you can consciously block the remedy's
action. What I've found is that if people aren't really committed to
healing, they won't persevere with homeopathic treatment. It can take
courage to venture into emotionally unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory,
and a well-chosen remedy can bring us to the brink of such a challenge. Of
course, we all sabotage ourselves occasionally, at least, without even
realizing it -- until we're ready for that particular aspect of our higher
selves to unfold. Often people sabotage themselves by mixing a whole bunch
of alternative treatments together, so all challenges are mitigated.

Yes, it's a lot easier and most times faster to get the physical and
energetic cues during the intake -- and during some follow-ups -- that the
person's physical presence can provide. Also, if you're strongly oriented to
Sankaran's method of case-taking, you have to learn other non-visual signals
than hand motions to indicate hitting the core of a case.

AND yes, it's also possible -- though harder and usually longer -- to treat
someone successfully long-distance. An experienced telephone user can read
many of those same clues through a phone conversation, just as someone who
can't see learns other ways of perceiving information that we normally think
of as visual. I think that communications that are exclusively remote, as
totally through e-mail, probably do lack essential clues. But one can do an
awful lot with e-mail, and as communication progresses, one learns many of
these same things about a person, based on their preoccupations, questions,
types of reactions...

Digital photos and even short videos make it easier to actually see remotely
specific aspects of the presentation of the person and of specific symptoms.
Then of course there are webcams, which no doubt someday will be commonplace
enough to be used routinely in long-distance interviews.

Rosemary

I hope you don't mind me saying that this appeared to be a bit sharp...
my thoughts relate to the taking of case history, being able to see the body language when someone recounts their history can give real insight into the depth and kind of effect that different traumas and events have had on the person, subtlety can be lost over the phone, I am sure you can learn a geat deal more than the person is actually saying.
Also physical type and the physical signs, gestures etc. also help in building a real rounded picture of the patient.
This is why I feel that it's best to have a face to face if one can, because it can assist so much, right at the beginning!
I don't think there's anything wrong with phone consults per se and better that, than no consult at all, but surely face to face is better for the case history if at all possible?
mary

d_rona2000 wrote:
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Thanks everybody. I am answering all the posts in this one.

1) Yes, I do feel I'd rather have my first visit in person, which I
realized after mulling this through. I live in NY so I will keep
hunting for someone within, say, an hour of the city, rather than 3
hours away.
2) Yes I want a classical homeopath, pure and simple. I am not sure if
that is "preconceived" but I want a classically trained homeopath.
3) I see there is a division of opinion about the phone issue...it's
interesting
4) What about the other equally important thing she seems to feel that
I could block my own healing if I wasn't "ready"? Again, that goes
against my perceptions of classical homeopathy completely.

Thanks again folks.

--- In minutus@yahoogroups.com, "d_rona2000" wrote:

Well said, Rosemary! As someone who has undertaken, and very successfully, treatment over long distance, I agree.

I wanted to mention the possibility of using Skype for face-to-face case taking. For those who do not yet take advantage of this, it's a free application which allows unlimited video calls free of charge between any two Skype users. Most of us have built-in video cameras these days, and if you don't, it's easy and inexpensive to get one and set it up. I use this to communicate to friends hundreds of miles away, and it's definitely the next best thing to being able to hug them:)
ginny

All stunts performed without a net!