Hi my name is Christy Zettl and I am classical homeopath with private practices in Vancouver and Kelowna. This week I wanted to talk about what to expect in a consultation.

First, it is important to know that my main goal in practicing homeopathy is being able to match the symptom profile of a patient as closely as possible to a similar profile of a homeopathic remedy.  Remedies are applied on an individual basis to match the individuality of each patient’s problem.

It’s like fitting a well tailored suit.

Applying homeopathic medicines in this way has been observed in well over 200 hundred years to start the curative process in the patient.  We all have self-regulatory and healing abilities that homeopathic medicine seem to encourage and help regulate.

During a consultation, I am trying to:
1.    understand you
2.    understand the symptoms that are bothering you
3.    understand both in relation to each other

If I can do that then I can probably find the right remedy that is individual to your case and we will be off to a great start.

In order to find out all these things, it has to be a nonjudgmental and open environment.  One of the first aphorisms in the Organon of Medicine (published in 1810) is about how a homeopath should act during the consultation.

Author, Dr. Hahnemann, writes of being an ‘unprejudiced observer’ in aphorism 6. He had left allopathic medicine  (what is now called conventional) in disgust with the harsh chemicals and ill effects from medications.

How could giving people worse side effects than the original complaint the answer for disease and ill health? Or simply trading one set of symptoms for another with no set principles on how the body functions in response to disease?

There’s a lot of shame and fear around illness and in the booming ‘health industry’ a lot of professionals use people’s perceived weakness to make more money and oversell products. People aren’t any healthier.

Homeopaths should operate on the principle that it is just as important to understand the body in context to the problem as the problem itself and to take a truly holistic approach to prescribing. The consultation needs to be open and nonjudgmental for that to happen.  I want to understand what’s going on with you so I can find the right remedy not cast judgment or blame. I think we are all pretty good at that anyways~

It’s natural for people to feel fear, anxiety, and shame over their condition. We’re shown that ‘perfection’ is an achievable goal and when we’re not, we feel bad. In the booming ‘health industry’, a lot of professionals use people’s weakness to make more money and oversell products. I would say people aren’t any healthier but they sure have spent a pretty penny.

My fees are all inclusive. No hidden costs, or surprises. No conflict of interest.

So how do I become an unprejudiced observer?

More in part 2