We now know that every atom and molecule has its own identifying energy pattern, and that the human body is a complex web of energy fields.

While conventional medicine has begun to incorporate energy into its framework for diagnostic purposes such as MRIs and ultrasounds, its understanding of the body is still mainly focused at the molecular level, which limits its view of disease and its choices in research and treatment.

As an energy-based, natural healing modality, Homeopathy offers a different treatment approach that can complement conventional medicine to provide a wider range of therapeutic options. Practiced for almost 200 years, Homeopathy has proven safe and effective with many conditions where conventional medicine has been unsuccessful. It is currently used by millions of people all around the world!

• Holistic, looks at the whole person
• Focus on cause of illness, not just symptoms
• Really listen to you, spend 2-3 hours on first visit
• Works with the body to heal, no “anti” medicines
• Goal is to cure you of illness, not just suppress the symptoms
• Individualized to your unique needs
• Treatment makes you stronger, improves overall health

Samuel Hahnemann, founder of Homeopathy (1755-1853)

Hahnemann became curious about the healing effects of Peruvian bark, a treatment for malaria, and tested it on himself by taking repeated doses. He developed symptoms like those of malaria and hypothesized that the bark’s ability to cure was related to its ability to produce symptoms similar to the disease (known as the principle of similars). This was the beginning of Hahnemann’s quest to find an alternative to the dangerous and ineffective treatment methods of the late eighteenth century.

Dr. Hahnemann left traditional medicine and began to experiment with the principle of similars. Over the next 20 years, he tested mineral, vegetable, and animal substances on himself and other healthy subjects and meticulously recorded the effects he observed. These drug provings became the foundation for his encyclopedia on drug effects, the Materia Medica, still used by homeopaths today to match remedies with physical and psychological symptoms in patients.

The Hahnemann Monument in Washington, D.C. was built in 1930 to honor the founder of Homeopathy

In 1810, Hahnemann published the first text on homeopathy, The Organon, which he updated throughout his life with what he and his colleagues learned from decades of experience.

Homeopathy became very popular and spread quickly because it proved so effective compared to the conventional treatments in use in the mid-1800′s. It was especially superior in treating infectious epidemics. For example, during the London cholera epidemic in 1854, the mortality rate was 50 percent for patients treated in conventional hospitals, compared with 16 percent for those treated in the homeopathic hospital.

Homeopathy in America

Some of Hahnemann’s followers translated his Organon into English and moved to the United States. Homeopathy’s popularity, as well as the criticisms by homeopaths of traditional allopathic philosophy and practices, particularly suppressive drugs, posed a threat to “orthodox” medicine. When the American Medical Association was founded in 1846, it was able to forbid the study or use of homeopathy in all its schools and by all its members. This contributed greatly to homeopathy’s decline in the U.S.

By 1890, there were 60 homeopathic medical colleges in the U.S. and the President of the United States had his own homeopathic doctor on staff.

Over the past few decades, the use of homeopathy has steadily grown around the world as the limitations of conventional medicine have become apparent and people have become more trusting of alternative approaches. Britain, France, Germany, India and Israel all have very strong homeopathic colleges, hospitals and clinics. Homeopathy is used by some 30 million people in Europe alone! In many countries, insurance coverage is routine and many physicians practice both homeopathy and conventional medicine.

Homeopathy is experiencing a revival in the U.S. as people have become dissatisfied with conventional medicine’s lack of individualized treatment and less confident in its safety and effectiveness in treating common illnesses.

Principle of Similars

The principle of similars is the cornerstone of homeopathy. It says that a substance that produces characteristic symptoms in healthy people will heal a sick person with similar symptoms.

It is an old idea known to Hippocrates and rediscovered by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1853), a German physician, chemist, and researcher.

The Samuel Hahnemann Monument in Washington, D.C.

Hahnemann became curious about the healing effects of Peruvian bark, a treatment for malaria, and tested it on himself by taking repeated doses. He developed symptoms like those of malaria and hypothesized that the bark’s ability to cure was related to its ability to produce symptoms similar to the disease. This was the beginning of Hahnemann’s quest to find an alternative to the dangerous and ineffective treatment methods of the late eighteenth century.

Provings

Dr. Hahnemann left traditional medicine and began to experiment with the principle of similars. Over the next 20 years, he tested mineral, vegetable, and animal substances on himself and other healthy subjects and meticulously recorded the effects he observed. These drug provings became the foundation for his encyclopedia on drug effects, the Materia Medica, still used by homeopaths today to match remedies with physical and psychological symptoms in patients.

Susceptibility

Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t just exposure to the infectious agent that makes us sick, but there must also exist some weakness or disruption in our healing system. We all can tell of the time when everyone around us came down with the flu and we escaped it! Some factors that can influence susceptibility include:

• Inherited predispositions to disease
• Poor self-care
• A history of using suppressive drugs
• Mental or emotional stress
• Exposure to environmental toxins

Constitutional homeopathic treatment aims to strengthen a person’s vitality and reduce their susceptibility to illness.

Direction of Cure

After a lifetime of witnessing what happened as sick people became well, Constantine Hering, the father of American Homeopathy, observed that the curative process tends to progress in three directions. The most recent symptoms disappear first, followed chronologically by symptoms that occurred earlier in life.

For example, if a person with eczema was treated with suppressive creams after which they developed allergies, in the process of healing, once the allergies are cleared, the eczema will return briefly.
Symptoms move from within to without, from the most vital to the least vital functions. So someone with disease in a vital organ may later experience skin eruptions as the healing process continues. Symptoms also disappear from above to below, starting with the head and continuing down to the hands and feet. This can be observed very clearly with skin disorders.