What makes a 'good' patient from the perspective of the practitioner?Being a homeopathic patient is very different to being a patient of conventional medicine and this article explores why.
When we visit our medical practitioner (or GP) we present our problem to him/her by outlining our symptoms and we expect our conventional doctor to solve it.
This happens in two ways.
Put simply, either you are prescribed a drug to mask the symptoms such as a pain killer for a headache, or you are given a drug that alters the symptoms such as an antacid for heartburn.
Although these outcomes appear to be good results as your symptom has 'gone', the original underlying reason why you had a headache or heartburn often remains unchanged and untreated.
You can see from this example that to be a patient of a conventional doctor is 'easy'.
You show up, present your problem, are questioned and maybe examined, and then you receive a prescription or a referral.
This is an easy and passive relationship.
With Homeopathy however, it is a different story.
Firstly, Homeopathy is a medicine that treats you as a whole person and sees all symptoms however trivial as part of your whole being.
This means you have to be responsible for all of you (good and not so good parts)! Secondly, because the homeopath wants to treat the whole of you you have to come prepared to talk about yourself.
This may take up to an hour the first time you visit your homeopath.
The more you can tell your homeopath about yourself the better.
Thirdly, your homeopath needs to know a lot of details to reach a picture of the whole person, so it helps if you can be explicit about medical history and major life events.
Fourthly, the homeopath will piece together all the information you have provided like a jigsaw puzzle, and will then understand how the imbalance that is causing your symptoms is expressing itself.
This may take the homeopath some time following the consultation, to arrive at the most appropriate medicine for you.
Fifthly, the homeopath identifies a homeopathic medicine that will stimulate your body to heal.
At this point it is very important to understand something crucial..
..
the homeopathic medicine does not heal your body, it stimulates your body to heal itself! YOU DO YOUR OWN HEALING! :) So, in contrast to being the patient of a conventional medical practitioner, you are involved in an active, sharing and self healing process over which you have control.
You are not a passive recipient of someone else's wisdom because whatever you choose to tell your homeopath informs their prescription and therefore, influences the direction of your healing.
So, to get the most out of your partnership with your homeopath:
When we visit our medical practitioner (or GP) we present our problem to him/her by outlining our symptoms and we expect our conventional doctor to solve it.
This happens in two ways.
Put simply, either you are prescribed a drug to mask the symptoms such as a pain killer for a headache, or you are given a drug that alters the symptoms such as an antacid for heartburn.
Although these outcomes appear to be good results as your symptom has 'gone', the original underlying reason why you had a headache or heartburn often remains unchanged and untreated.
You can see from this example that to be a patient of a conventional doctor is 'easy'.
You show up, present your problem, are questioned and maybe examined, and then you receive a prescription or a referral.
This is an easy and passive relationship.
With Homeopathy however, it is a different story.
Firstly, Homeopathy is a medicine that treats you as a whole person and sees all symptoms however trivial as part of your whole being.
This means you have to be responsible for all of you (good and not so good parts)! Secondly, because the homeopath wants to treat the whole of you you have to come prepared to talk about yourself.
This may take up to an hour the first time you visit your homeopath.
The more you can tell your homeopath about yourself the better.
Thirdly, your homeopath needs to know a lot of details to reach a picture of the whole person, so it helps if you can be explicit about medical history and major life events.
Fourthly, the homeopath will piece together all the information you have provided like a jigsaw puzzle, and will then understand how the imbalance that is causing your symptoms is expressing itself.
This may take the homeopath some time following the consultation, to arrive at the most appropriate medicine for you.
Fifthly, the homeopath identifies a homeopathic medicine that will stimulate your body to heal.
At this point it is very important to understand something crucial..
..
the homeopathic medicine does not heal your body, it stimulates your body to heal itself! YOU DO YOUR OWN HEALING! :) So, in contrast to being the patient of a conventional medical practitioner, you are involved in an active, sharing and self healing process over which you have control.
You are not a passive recipient of someone else's wisdom because whatever you choose to tell your homeopath informs their prescription and therefore, influences the direction of your healing.
So, to get the most out of your partnership with your homeopath:
- Be yourself in the consulting room
- Share all important aspects of yourself (not just the good parts!)
- Be actively involved in your own healing by asking questions
- Be empowered by your own healing process
- Give explicit feedback about what transpired after you took a homeopathic medicine