Systems of Prescribing

Homeopathy is not a new medicinal art. It has been around for more than 200 years. The information that we have available to us today is a compilation of two centuries of dedicated homeopaths sharing their knowledge. This is why homeopathy exists today. Had there not been many successes for the many early pioneers of homeopathy, it surely would have passed away as another fad in medicine. But we have many successes and by sharing them openly have expanded homeopathy thereby ensuring its existence.

Along the way, many doctors of medicine have discovered homeopathy and shared their successes with us. I commend them for this. Others have written books with wonderful systems to prescribe by. It is with great reservation that I accept their recommendations.

Homeopathy is as much art as it is science. We have wonderful information and repertories to organize it. If we are good repertizers, we are able to use the repertory to analyze cases including the most important symptoms. This method will help us find remedies, but if left to only strict repertization, we will be successful only a small percentage of the time.

Some doctors have written wonderful books about many different diseases and the remedies to treat them with. Some have even offered a system of prescribing for these diseases. The protocols tell when to give what medicine and in what potency and order of repetition. I do not agree with this approach as it is allopathic, not homeopathic. Remember, homeopathy is the reason to give the medicine, not the medicine itself.

Any system of prescribing that treats the disease and does not address the individual is an allopathic approach. It falls into the same drug mind of western allopathic medicine that one size fits all. This is the antithesis of homeopathy. Hahnemann made it perfectly clear in the Organanon that we are to treat the individual and not the disease.

The homeopath should never treat with a protocol. By doing so, he/she is ignoring the vital force. The homeopath's greatest challenge is to understand the vital force's expression. It is only this that animates every individual. No two people are the same so no two expressions of disease are the same. When a protocol is offered for the treatment of disease, then the individual is not being considered. We are much more than the expression of our disease.

The success rate of this type of prescribing will be low. Yet I find that many homeopaths, in their desire to systemize homeopathy to make it easier, will gravitate to these systems and use these systems to prescribe. Understand that they are an allopathic approach using “potentized medicines.” I hesitate to call them homeopathic medicines because at this point they are really allopathic.

There are no systems in homeopathy. This is what frustrates most homeopathic students. Every case is a different expression of a vital force; no two are alike, even if many are similar. The remedy selection, the repetition of dosing, and potency selection will be different in every case. There is no system that will standardize this medicine. Be careful of such systems when they are offered. There might be very useful information about remedies or cases that the author has seen that could be useful in helping you with a case you are working on, but be very careful to never lose sight of your patient and what is asking to be healed. In every case I have seen, it has never been a named disease that is asking to be healed. There is always something that is keeping the person from moving forward in their life that is at the root of the physical manifestation of their dis-ease. It is not about the pathology. It is always about the person and their dis-ease.

When you come across a system that promises to cure specific named diseases, be very careful to not slip into the allopathic mindset. It can be easy to do if you focus on the disease. But you will never fall into this trap if you adhere to true homeopathy and prescribe to the person and not to their disease. The only system I recommend is a spiritual one that helps you become more of an unprejudiced observer and learning more Materia Medica.

Keep the conversation going! I would love to hear your questions and thoughts below!