New patients are often surprised that I’ve set aside between one and two hours to listen to their story. When we get seated, I usually ask, "How may I help you?" What typically follows is a description of the condition that motivated the patient to make an appointment. I initially let you determine the direction of our discussion. I’m open to listening and understanding the condition and the state of your health in whatever aspects you feel is important. This openness allows a freedom that is rarely experienced in today’s medical environment.

There is time for your story to unfold. I will actively listen and will pay a keen level of attention to what you are saying. As the visit progresses, your practitioner will begin to interpret what you have said and how you have said it in order to begin the process of choosing the most appropriate remedy.

Homeopaths also write down what you say. In this way, we get your own words to describe your condition and will bring your case alive when we study it. The purpose is to match as closely as possible the patient’s total symptom picture with the provers’ remedy picture. A homeopathic practitioner does not tell you why you do the things you do or counsel you on your behavior. That is left up to mental health professionals who are trained in emotional counseling, just as we have skills in choosing homeopathic remedies. Your own words are the key to understanding.

Modalities are usually the causes or situations in which you generally or your symptoms specifically feel better or worse. For instance, Spigelia, a homeopathic remedy, may be a good match for someone who experiences chest pain that is on the left side of their body and is made worse from motion, or inhaling, while being better from warm drinks. In homeopathy, we take information or sensations that you feel and use that as a guide to help find a remedy.

Surveying Your Symptoms

Symptoms are your body’s best attempt at doing its own self-healing. These are the visible occurrences that we can see or experience. They are an important part of finding the correct homeopathic remedy. It was the formation of symptoms that was recorded by the healthy individuals who did proving experiments on all the remedies. We now match your symptoms with the proving symptoms in choosing the most helpful remedy.

Your homeopathic practitioner will be reviewing the symptoms that motivated you to make the appointment. As we discussed earlier, it will also be equally important to review your health history in regard to any physical or emotional feelings that are concerning or limiting you.

Physical Symptoms

Being a homeopathic practitioner would be such an easy job if you came in complaining of low-back pain, and I said, "Ah yes, the homeopathic back remedy!" Currently I count more than 515 remedies that can help back pain.

What’s next? Now we match the physical complaints with your individual experience. Does your back bother you only in the morning when you get out of bed? Does your low back ache when you move, cough, breathe, or only before your menses? All of these specific answers help to narrow down the choices of a remedy.

The modalities will further help in narrowing down your remedy choice. When does your back get better and what makes it worse?

Clarity and intensity are vital components in using a particular symptom to select a remedy. Your homeopath must be clear that the physical symptoms that are being used are important and strong components to your complaints. After we’ve gotten straight on your physical symptoms, it’s time to look at other aspects of you. After all, you’re not just a back.

The Emotional Symptoms

After a while, most of your friends and family do not want to hear in depth how you feel. We do! Your emotions can be an extremely helpful part of the whole picture of your health. Homeopathy can treat a wide variety of conditions, including many of the mental and emotional complaints that detract from the quality of your life. Just as in the physical symptoms, your homeopath will want to listen to you describe your situation and will determine what is the most limiting symptoms you talk about that may lead us to the best remedy choice.

I remember one patient who came in complaining of a chest cold and had described himself as Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. He said his depression and sadness lay on him like a heavy winter coat. No matter what else he did that day, he felt as if that heavy, bulky coat was wearing him down all day.

As we spoke, it became apparent to me that the frequent coughs motivated the patient to make the appointment, but the constant feeling of heavy sadness was limiting the vital force from helping to heal. This became an important clue for selecting the homeopathic remedy.


- David Sollars