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Home arrow Tutorials arrow Tutorial 14 - That First Appointment
Tutorial 14 - That First Appointment PDF Print E-mail

That First Appointment

Most people find their first visit to a homeopath a surprising experience. In light of this, the following guide has been written to help you with what to expect. The information you provide to your homeopath at this consultation will determine the remedy you will be prescribed so it is important it is as accurate and complete as possible - the better the information, the better the results. Your homeopath will guide you in this process by asking you many questions and encouraging you to tell your story as fully as possible. Do be aware, however, that some practitioners may have slightly different approaches to those listed below.

 

Acute and Chronic (Constitutional) Consultations - What's the Difference?

One of the first things to know is that not all consultations are the same; an appointment for an acute complaint such as insect bite will be different to a consultation for a chronic condition such as arthritis. An acute consultation deals with health complaints that have a limited life - they come and go over a short period of time. Acute complaints include things such as migraines, coughs, colds, indigestion, sprains, strains, bruises, stings, burns, diarrhoea, and ear infections. A consultation for these problems will take less time than one for long-term chronic complaints. If you feel your "acute" is really just the tip of the iceberg it would be best to book a longer "constitutional" appointment to deal with any underlying weakness or imbalance that is triggering it.

Chronic problems such as arthritic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, infertility, asthma and eczema are not short-lived events - they stay with us. From the homeopathic perspective they are not even separate diseases but different facets of the one larger disease - a deep energetic imbalance. As such, a longer consultation is needed to collect all the information about this imbalance for a good homeopathic prescription. These consultations are often called constitutional or chronic consultations. If you are unsure which consultation would be best for you, your homeopath will advise you at the time of making an appointment.

 

Acute Appointments - What Your Homeopath Needs to Know

While acute "case-taking" styles may differ from practitioner to practitioner, your homeopath will fundamentally cover the following points:
  • Location
  • Sensation
  • Cause
  • Modalities
  • Accompanying symptoms

For the purpose of explaining these points, let's imagine you have a headache. Before it can be treated homeopathically your practitioner will need the following information:

  • Location: where does it hurt - right side, left side, top, temples, forehead, base of skull, or ...?
  • Sensation: What does it feel like - throbbing, aching, burning, stabbing, boring, bandlike, or ...?
  • Cause: was it triggered by anything - fever, shock, a blow, heat, grief, anxiety, a particular food, or ...?
  • Modalities (things that make it better or worse): heat, cold, bending, lying, sitting, moving, eating, drinking, rubbing, light, noise, or ...?
  • 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 not just a headache in homeopathy! Without this additional information a curative presription cannot be made.

 

Constitutional or Chronic Consultations - What Your Homeopath Needs to Know
In a consultation for a chronic health problem, your homeopath will ask questions similar to those for acute complaints. Remember that from the homeopathic perspective though, your current complaints are really just the tip of an iceberg of a much larger imbalance. Your homeopath will have to gather information from well beyond your immediate symptoms before a deep-acting prescription can be made.

 

Physical Complaints

Your homeopath will want to know of other health problems you have also been prone to, either now or in the past.

A good way to bring these other complaints to mind is to ask yourself when you have:

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

While your homeopath will certainly help jog your memory during the consultation it is also useful to note them down beforehand (in the order they occurred) for easy recall. Your homeopath will also appreciate it if you bring in any reports from relevant pathology tests or diagnostic investigations you have had, along with a list of the current medications you are taking.

 

Your Individual Response

As your homeopath continues to collect the other symptoms that paint a picture of your particular imbalance, they may ask about things such as:
  • The strength of your thirst and appetite, the type of food you normally eat, and 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 does not suit you.
  • Your reactions to things such as different environments, animals, music, and company - do you enjoy or avoid them?

 

Children - Additional Information

If the consultation is for an infant or young child, your homeopath will also be interested in the mother's physical and emotional state before and during pregnancy; the pregnancy and birthing experience; vaccines given and any reactions that took place; plus the time it took for the infant to reach "milestones" such as teething, walking and talking.

 

Temperament and Personality

Excesses in personality traits are also symptoms of ill health. Being careful with money and using it wisely is a good thing but if spending creates anxiety that then leads to hoarding, a problem exists. Similarly, there is nothing wrong with being organised and neat but if these good traits are replaced by obsessive tidiness or controlling behaviour, then you are no longer operating from a place of health. Changes in behaviour during sickness are also important. If you are normally calm and relaxed, but have become irritable and fussy in your illness, your homeopath will also note these changes as symptoms. It is one of the amazing things about homeopathy that a good treatment can put you back in control of your moods and behaviours rather than them in control of you.

 

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 should not be thought of as a normal of life. They also are symptoms of the imbalance that point to the needed remedy - symptoms that resolve with treatment.

 

Other Things

Your homeopath 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 can indicate the remedy that may help you. Your homeopath will also check for things that have caused your health problem or are a barrier to healing. A person with respiratory problems, for example, will not improve in a mouldy house. Likewise, constant exposure to harsh chemicals will not only cause dermatitis but will stop it from healing even though the correct remedy may be prescribed. In both these instances the best solution is to remove the maintaining cause. Finally, your homeopath will refer you to your doctor for pathology or diagnostic tests should your symptoms indicate the possibility of a more serious disorder that has not yet been diagnosed.

 

Conclusion

A true homeopath treats the diseased person rather than the diseases they have. To do this, they focus on the person's unique experience of their illness rather than common symptoms of the disease, those that everyone with the disease would develop. (In contrast, a conventional doctor is dependent on these common symptoms for their prescribing.) The information on this unique response is then graded in importance by the homeopath to find a single matching remedy that will hopefully return the unwell individual to health. This process takes time. Your first consultation with a homeopath will be longer than a normal visit to a doctor but if it starts you on the journey back to health, it is well worth it.
 
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