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Article for "Towards Wholeness" Magazine by Anne Simpson

Last year's labelling of homeopathic remedies - help or hindrance?

By Anne Simpson, Registered Homoeopath and QS Healer

In September 2006 the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) allowed the labelling of homoeopathic remedies for sale to the public to list what conditions they treat. At the time this caused polarized reactions, such as one from Cancer Surgeon Michael Baum representing the scientific and medical community who is quoted as saying: ‘This is like licensing a witches’ brew so long as the bat wings are sterile’, - to the manufacturers of homoeopathic remedies and homoeopathic professional bodies who welcomed it as an official indication that homoeopathy was at last being recognized by the mainstream as being effective. As with many such stories, it was in the news for a couple of days, then quickly disappeared.

But has it? The real issue we are left with is whether this labelling will help people find a remedy that heals them. In my clinic I often see people who have tried to resolve a health issue by self-prescribing homoeopathic remedies. They may have had a modicum of success but then decide to see a homoeopath to, as they say, ‘do it properly’. They have been able to self-prescribe because even without the new labelling procedures, there are plenty of books available and internet sites to advise people on what homoeopathic remedy to take for what condition, so it ought to be a straightforward process with a good success rate. So why shouldn’t people self-treat and easily find a remedy that helps them?

This is where a deeper understanding of Homoeopathy is required. Firstly it is a system of medicine that is based on the premise of treating like with like. So, when selecting one of the 3,000 remedies available, the prescriber needs to take into account how the sufferer is experiencing the disease (or imbalance) on the emotional and spiritual level as well as the physical, and very importantly look for the cause of the condition. All this is then matched to a remedy that shares the same characteristics in its curative nature. In this way a homoeopathic remedy treats the person not the disease.

Secondly if the wrong remedy is taken nothing happens. If the correct remedy, or even a partially correct remedy is taken, then the system responds in some way and healing starts to happen.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the practice of Homoeopathy distinguishes between treating acutely or constitutionally. Acute conditions tend to be self limiting and to put it bluntly, we either recover or die from them. Acute conditions are caused by (a) epidemics (e.g. influenza); (b) bacterial infections (e.g. impetigo, tonsillitis), (c) virus infections (e.g. colds), (d) mechanical injuries (such as a broken limb) or, (e) a new emotional state (such as grief or shock). Constitutional or chronic conditions are those which tend to flare up periodically and don’t resolve such as eczema, asthma, hayfever, allergies, IBS, migraines, anxiety, depression, trauma, ME to name a few. Very often people have more success with treating themselves for an acute condition. It is very difficult to treat oneself for chronic on-going conditions, mainly because they are embedded within the constitution and are often inherited conditions. Treating people constitutionally is what Homoeopaths are trained to do over a four year course. It is a very involved process and goes beyond a simple prescription. We learn how to hold the constitutional case, how to manage it and how to work out further prescriptions as the case unfolds.

For the patient therefore homoeopathy is most effective when they are treated constitutionally. In this way it is a wonderful method of healing. The immune system (or vital force as it is referred to in homoeopathy) is gradually strengthened and healed, and so homoeopathic patients suffer fewer and fewer acute complaints as their chronic symptoms become less and less intense.

I see many people flower into wholeness. They come in with many different complaints – no two stories are the same – and even if the complaints share the same medical label (allergic, depressed, asthmatic etc.) the remedy they need, like the story they tell, is unique to them.

But this all takes time. It is a journey that can take years in some deeper cases. So, for me, the labelling issue is missing the point. It is trying to fit homoeopathy into the conventional medical paradigm of treating disease rather than the person. It is like advising a laxative for constipation. Homoeopathically speaking, chronic constipation would be viewed as a constitutional condition and could be the result of perhaps, held in feelings, unexpressed trauma, and fear. Yes, a laxative might open the bowels which will cure the problem temporarily, but it won’t heal the cause. A carefully selected homoeopathic remedy for a patient whose imbalance is expressing itself through, among other things, constipation takes teamwork.

This is the beauty of the homoeopathic therapeutic encounter; it is a marriage of knowledge that belongs to both parties. The knowledge the patient has of their life and the stories it tells, their medical history, and of how their body has responded to stress and difficulty. This information is then translated by the Homoeopath’s prism of knowledge, training, and experience into a remedy that will help them heal. This remedy will treat not only the body but the mind, emotions and the soul. Implicit in this knowledge exchange is science, intuition, objectivity, subjectivity, mutual trust and honesty. In this way healing happens.

I believe that a description on a label cannot fully encompass all of this. It may help someone self-prescribe for an acute minor condition, but for deeper more chronic and persistent complaints two heads are better than one.

Podcast with Sahar Hunedi

Sahar Hunedi, named as one of the top 100 psychics in the world - has interviewed Anne about the CD as a podcast which has been put on her web magazine PS Magazine. In the interview Anne describes how the CD came into being and how beneficial meditation can be as part of a healing regime. Click play to listen to the podcast, or click here.

Review in "Towards Wholeness", a Quaker Healing Magazine, of Anne's CD of Healing Meditations

Many of us have experienced the benefits of a meditation tape or CD. They can prove to be relaxing and, at the same time, energizing. They can reduce tension, relieve pain, balance the chakras and bring an awareness of our deep connection to the environment – to the earth and to the divine.

Anne Simpson who is one of our Quaker Spiritual Healers and also a registered homoeopath, has produced such a CD, and I can really recommend it. With the title ‘Back to the Source’ it contains six healing meditations: Relaxation; Stilling the Mind; Dawn; Standing Stones; Autumnal Walk and Sunset. My favourite was the Standing Stones one, and during it I found myself able to connect very fully with the energy that Anne was describing. Also very meaningful was the Autumnal Walk which is designed to bring acceptance and welcome of change and transition in our lives.