What to Expect When You See a Homeopath

1. The Office

A Homeopath may practice from an office located in a clinic or in a home with a private entrance. The setting is usually one room with a desk and a few chairs. Diplomas and certificates should be displayed. (Note: The BCAH provides certificates for its members.)

2. The Consultation

A visit with a classical homeopath is quite a different experience from seeing a Naturopath or a Medical Doctor.

Homeopaths do not diagnose conditions and they do not use diagnostic methods or equipment. Homeopaths rely on the natural ability of the body (through the intelligent expression of ‘the vital force’*) to express its illness through signs and symptoms in the body as well as in other aspects of an individual’s life. Understanding these signs and symptoms will lead a Homeopath to an appropriate remedy. During the consultation a Homeopath pays attention not only to the symptoms of your illness, but also to how you talk about those symptoms.

The first consultation usually takes about 2 hours during which time a Homeopath will want to hear about all the symptoms of your current illness, as well as your past medical history. Homeopathy is a holistic approach to health, so that a Homeopath seeks to understand the person who is suffering the illness, rather than just the ‘medical’ condition itself. Other information of interest includes things such as, but not limited to, emotional and mental makeup, fears, anxieties, stressors, digestion and food preferences, sleeping habits and dreams, menstruation, and the effects of different weather conditions, seasons and temperatures.

3. The Remedy

The remedy may not be given on your first visit, since a Homeopath takes time to research your individual case and to find the remedy that best fits your “symptom picture”. Arrangements are usually made in advance either to mail the remedy to you or for you to collect it on an agreed-upon date. Instructions on how to take the remedy will be included with the remedy.

4. The Follow-Up

A usual time frame for a follow-up visit with your Homeopath is 4 to 6 weeks. Each case is unique, however, and your Homeopath will let you know when he or she would like to meet with you again. The follow-up visit usually lasts around 1 hour, during which time your Homeopath will review with you the main symptoms of your case and note any changes that may have occurred since your remedy. At this point, he or she may decide either to study your case further, to repeat the remedy already given, or not to give further remedy doses on this occasion. Another follow-up visit will then be booked for a future date.

* Homeopathy holds that there is a life-giving, life-preserving, life-directing and integrating force in every individual, and it is this which is referred to as ‘the vital force.’