Have you ever wondered, “What is this remedy for”?

This is a common question, a reasonable question. Why is it so hard to answer? Let’s find out.

I think the question arises from the conventional medicine paradigm that medicines are “for” something specific, like ibuprofen is “for pain” and penicillin is “for infection”. Homeopathic medicines don’t share this attributional quality of being for one specific ailment. Rather, they are chosen for a person in their totality.

Consider a constellation. It is a grouping of stars that represents an image, a delineation that differentiates it from the surrounding stars, constellations, and galaxy.

People are like constellations, and the symptoms are their stars. Each person is a unique grouping of symptoms that differentiates them from all other people. In the case taking process, the homeopath searches for as many stars as possible, so the image can be balanced and complete. The final image resembles a remedy state. The matching remedy will relieve the symptoms of the client at the deepest level.

By following this train of thought it becomes clear that the remedy, since it is chosen for all the symptoms, is for the person, not a single symptom or disease. In short, this remedy was chosen for you, taking into account all aspects of your mental, emotional and physical state.

Sometimes you might be in an acute state, which means that one of your symptoms, or perhaps a new symptom, is the focus of your attention. In that case, we might choose a remedy based on a portion of your constellation, with the emphasis on that star and its surrounding symptoms. In that case, it may seem like we are giving a remedy “for the flu” or “for a fever” but we are in fact still looking at a constellation of symptoms, we have simply zoomed in a bit on the acute picture.

This is a new and different way of thinking about medicines that is truly about treating the whole person, not treating each part individually.

Have more questions about homeopathy? Let me know!

Wishing you optimal health,

Alexis