Homeopathy (my first week)
Were there any topics in this session’s material that you found interesting, challenging, or surprising, or that stimulated you to want to know more about them? • What would you like to learn more about during this subject? – Endeavour College.
This week I read Chapter One, Amy L. Lansky, PhD, ‘Impossible Cure’, ‘The Promise of Homeopathy’, Ranch Press. I also researched the recommended reading but haven’t read the books -Gray, A (2011). Method: Exploring the breadth, context, and application of different clinical approaches in the practice of homeopathy.B. Jain Archibel; Gray, B. (2000). Homeopathy: Science or Myth. North Atlantic Books; Rowe, T. (2004). Homeopathic methodology: Repertory, case taking, and case analysis: An Introductory Homeopathic Workbook. B Jain Publishers.
Amy Lansky’s, The Impossible Cure, Chapter 1 Homeopathy Revealed, opened with a quote “Aude Sapere” (“Dare to Know”) – Samuel Hahnemann MD – From the ‘Title page epigraph, the Organon of Medical Art’, 1810 (Hahnemann).
This prompted me to reflect on my own mind, body, and spirit journey of well-being. The first impression that came to mind for me is – In a world full of speculation, where can I ‘know thyself’? The answer for me is in learning, reading, reflecting, exploring and experiencing.
Reading the first chapter, about others who have been brave enough to learn and ‘dare to know’ their own well-being needs is inspiring! The Author shared her own story of the shift in her goals and passions when she learned about homeopathy to treat her son’s autism. Remarkably she saw the symptoms of autism go away because of the treatments she learned about and applied.
She experienced a shift, from working as research computer scientist for NASA, with an interest in medicine and reading – the Merck Manual was a bedtime reading hobby; so that when she decided to enrol to study homeopathy, by four years later she had applied it to her family lifestyle to create change. She shared her experiences of improving health in her family. Her career trajectory changed from Research Scientist to Homeopath. To her family, after this change, conventional medicine was only needed for critical or life threatening situations.
Further in the first chapter, she talks about Homeopathy in 19th century America. There were research medical schools at the time that received funding for more conventional medical practices focusing on the efficacy of the Biomedical model. Funding was not given to Homeopathic Colleges and many of them declined in numbers.
While Allopathic doctors actually saw many colleagues abandon the practice in favour of Homeopathy a social and professional divide was taking place between the two practices. There is a discussion of the influences from associations such as the American Medical Society (AMA) along with Pharmaceutical manufacturers who advertised their products as being better than homeopathic remedies.
The book also discusses how in the 19th Century medicines like penicillin and insulin, along with medical x-rays, surgeries, and the small-pox vaccine made allopathy popular. Homeopathy however still exists with all prior knowledge maintained and is still a popular option as a treatment approach to healing in the present day. I would like to learn how to prescribe remedies for myself and my family from this course.