How To Prepare for Your Homeopathic Intake

Every client has a unique set of emotional, mental, and physical constructs and imbalances. Therefore, providing as much information as possible about your physical ailments and your emotional and mental state (especially past and current stressors) is essential.

Information about any diagnosis or medication (allopathic, herbal, or supplements) is vital for determining an appropriate remedy and monitoring progress.

For most people, visiting a homeopath for the first time is an incredible experience. The consultation lasts longer than with an allopathic physician, and the questions asked go well beyond the immediate problem.

A homeopath will utilize the information you provide to select the most suitable remedy, so your answers should be as accurate and complete as possible — the better the data, the better the remedy recommendation, and the better the results.

I will assist with this process by asking many questions and encouraging you to share your story as completely as possible.

To explain these points, let’s consider that you have a headache. Before a homeopath can treat it homeopathically, they will need the following information:

1. Location: where does it hurt — right side, left side, top, temples, forehead, the base of the skull, or …?
2. Sensation: What does it feel like — throbbing, aching, burning, stabbing, dull, band-like, or …?
3. Cause: was it triggered by anything — fever, shock, a blow, heat, grief, anxiety, a particular food, or …?
4. Modalities (things that make it better or worse): heat, cold, bending, lying, sitting, moving, eating, drinking, rubbing, light, noise, or …?
5. Accompanying symptoms: are there other symptoms that occur with the headache — food cravings, changes in thirst, itchy skin, cramps, burning eyes, chilliness, or …?

As you can see, a headache is more than just a headache! I need this detailed information to recommend an effective remedy.

We will generally cover the following:

1. Physical Complaints

I want to know all the health problems you have experienced, whether currently or in the past. An excellent way to bring these complaints to mind is by asking yourself when you have:

• Visited a doctor or other healthcare practitioner
• Taken medication (orthodox or complementary)
• Required hospitalization or surgery

I will certainly help jog your memory during the consultation. It is also helpful to note symptoms down beforehand (in the order they occurred) for easy recall. Providing reports from relevant pathology tests or diagnostic investigations, along with a list of your current medications, will also be beneficial.

2. Your Individual Response

As I collect the symptoms that create a picture of your particular imbalance, I may ask questions about:

• The strength of your thirst and appetite, the type of food you usually eat — especially food cravings and aversions, and any foods that disagree with you
• Sleep patterns, repetitive dreams, and even the position you sleep in
• The sort of weather that does or doesn’t suit you
• Your reactions to things such as different environments, animals, music, and company — do you enjoy or avoid them?

3. Temperament and Personality

• Excesses in personality traits are also symptoms of ill health. For example, being careful with money and using it wisely is a good thing, but if spending creates anxiety that leads to hoarding, a problem exists.
• Similarly, there is nothing wrong with being organized and neat. Still, if these good traits are replaced by obsessive tidiness or controlling behavior, the person no longer operates from a place of health.
• Changes in behavior during sickness are also significant. For example, if you are generally calm and relaxed but have become irritable and fussy in your illness, I will note these changes as symptoms.
• One of the fantastic things about homeopathy is that the correct treatment can put you back in control of your moods and behaviors rather than them controlling you.

4. Anxieties, Fears, Phobias

• Fears and phobias such as the dark, animals, heights, poverty, something happening to family members, cancer, thunderstorms, snakes, crossing bridges, and a range of other things that clients should not think of as normal in life.
• They also are symptoms of imbalance that point to the needed remedy.

5. Children – Additional Information

Suppose the consultation is for an infant or young child. In that case, I will also be interested in the mother’s physical and emotional state before and during pregnancy, the pregnancy and birthing experience, vaccines given, and possible reactions, plus the time it took for the infant to reach “milestones” such as teething, walking and talking.

6. Other Things

• I may ask about your family medical history. Tendency to diseases such as cancer, heart disease, lung problems, strokes, and mental disorders in other family members may indicate remedies that could help you.
• I will also check for things that cause your health problem or act as a barrier to healing. For example, a person with respiratory issues will not improve in a moldy house. Likewise, constant exposure to harsh chemicals can cause dermatitis and stop healing even though the client was given the correct remedy. In both these instances, the best solution is to remove the maintaining cause.
• Finally, I will refer you to your doctor for pathology or diagnostic tests should your symptoms indicate the possibility of a more severe disorder that has not yet been diagnosed.