Homeopathy & local community
why engage ?
In Kiwi fashion, I am typically reticent in writing of my life experiences here on Substack, however the incredible soon-to-be-published story of community based homeopathy in New Zealand is so important that it has inspired me to write a bit about my contributions so here goes…
My Mum, Anne, is the reason I am a trained homeopath.
A beautiful oil painting of Mum as a teenager hangs on my office wall right next to my BSc(hons) homeopathy award and homeopathy diploma’s - some have Hahnemann, I have Anne!
Mum attended a basic beginner’s homeopathy in the mid 1990’s hosted by the local homeopath, and learned about chamomilla - which described, almost exactly, her teenage daughter (me).
I suffered chronic ear infections post ‘overcoming’ infantile colic, for sixteen years.
Sixteen years of annoying and disrupting the whole family, agony, and almost routine antibiotics became a thing of the past post a dose or two of chamomilla obtained from that community homeopathy teacher, without fanfare or even awareness of the fact that life had changed forever.
In fact, it was three years later, during a chamomilla lecture at naturopathic college, when it actually occurred to me I had not had an ear infection since, not one, to this day in fact…
Needless to say, this realization quickly rendered my naturopathy studies obsolete!
Two years after obtaining homeopathy diploma (number one) and in the process of establishing the first homeopathic practice in north west Australia I realized, just like the homeopath who taught my Mum, that I too had a duty to teach my community.
Since 2012, I estimate I have taught fifty Australian’s how to succeed by correctly applying the basics and fundamentals of homeopathy for use at home during my intensive weekend / four part home-use course.
As I am still in regular contact with most participants, I know them to be proficient and practical home prescribers of homeopathy because, importantly (unlike the many ‘give this for that’ courses being sold today) I teach the use of a basic repertory in conjunction with materia medica always in promotion of the ultimate goal in respecting the individual.
FYI, without doubt, the best home use homeopathy resource (pictured above) is The Complete Handbook of Homeopathy by Miranda Castro.
There are also the hundreds of (now Australasian) community members who attended basic homeopathy lectures, symposiums, and short courses etc., I have organized or have been invited to (not as many as I would like by the way) - typically at no cost - over the past decade or so.
Far from meaning this to come across as some kind of self-aggrandizement, and just like in my many attempts to engage the community with homeopathy, I write here with the hopes it may encourage others (not already doing so) to educate their communities too (I am just so excited to soon be publishing a story of community based homeopathy).
Laurel Chiten’s 2017 documentary Just One Drop states that the only reason homeopathy survived in America (post the Flexner destruction) is because of the Mothers who were using homeopathy at home!
Nerves aside, think about this for a moment - your efforts may change the course of a person’s entire life just like that homeopath teaching my Mum did for my family and I.
I would also remind the professional homeopaths here that just as a well constructed case report is our bare minimum duty to contribute to homoeopathy resources, I feel that community engagement is the least service trained homeopaths can provide to mankind.1
By the way, I have always been strongly opposed the ‘practice of selling remedies’ as being the domain of big pharma - however good the intention - mainly for the following three reasons;
Our vital local and national expert homeopathic pharmacies and laboratories typically provide the community with reliable (active) homeopathic medicines and are totally reliant upon continued sales and support - there is no quality assurance from a ‘home seller of remedies.’
Selling ‘remedies’ aligns with the allopathic model of giving off-the-shelf ‘this for that’ which is anathema to the first principle of homeopathy similia similibus curentur.
The monetization of ‘remedies by homeopath’ has confused some members of the general public that its indiscriminate use is normal, while giving rise to a host of ‘ambassadors’, ‘experts’ and ‘instapaths’ (my word!) who are busy theorizing, writing books and (god forbid, please) ‘teaching’ while proclaiming it is homeopathy.
(I’ll stop here lest I say too much more)
Fast forward to my life in 2024, after years and years of hard work (often solo and mostly self funded) attempting to engage (now both) Australian and New Zealand local communities, I have been given the wonderful opportunity to teach my (comprehensive) beginner’s homeopathy course under auspice of the Adult Continuing Education program through the Eastern Institute of Technology polytechnic.
The interest from local community has been substantial, so much so that a second course is running during term 4! (Which I understand already has a waitlist).
If you are considering engaging your community with homeopathy an easy and great place to start is by emulating the efforts of Australian homeopath Jessica Lacorte
Homeopathy & Practice building
The following is a fantastic and inspiring contribution to homeopathy from the one and only Jessica Lacorte who is based in South Australia.
And, finally, if you are keen to engage but need a bit of a encouragement, suggestions, and support please always feel free to reach out to me too as (far from being an expert or even a good example) I continue to attempt to be of service to the art & science of homeopathy in any way that I can.
Also, have I said that I am super excited for the incredible soon-to-be-published story of community based homeopathy in New Zealand? Coming soon!
Also, also, if, like Jess, you have community engagement you wish to share do drop a comment below (NB shameless self-promotion is not recommended) or, even better, reach out to me personally as it would be good to be able to feature your efforts here too.
After all, we’re all in this together, right?!
‘In contrast to frequent claims, the available MAs of homoeopathy in placebo-controlled randomised trials for any indication show significant positive effects beyond placebo. Compared to other medical interventions, the quality of evidence for efficacy of homoeopathy was similar or higher than for 90% of interventions across medicine.2 Accordingly, the efficacy evidence from placebo-controlled randomised trials provides no justification for regulatory or political actions against homoeopathy in health-care systems.’3
Kaushik S. 2022. Pointers to reporting a case. Indian J Res Homoeopathy;16(2):1-78. Available from: https://www.ijrh.org/journal/vol16/iss2/1/
Howick et al., 2022. Most healthcare interventions tested in Cochrane Reviews are not effective according to high quality evidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Epidemiol. Aug;148:160-169. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35447356/
Hamre et al., 2023. Efficacy of homoeopathic treatment: Systematic review of meta-analyses of randomised placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials for any indication. Systematic Rev. Oct 7;12(1):191. https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-023-02313-2#Abs1
You are certainly an inspiration for me Sara! Well done in promoting homeopathy into the homes of so many families. I know how much effort is involved each time but it’s always worthy. Keep it up!