Our Holistic Services

Holistic Services

Beyond the ordinary treatments

Homeopathy

For over two hundred years health practitioners have been treating ill patients homeopathically. In many cases during the last worldwide flu epidemic, homeopathic patients were the only people to survive. In the animal world, homeopathy has truly come into its own in the last thirty years, spearheaded in the United States by Dr Richard Pitcairn. (His Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats is one of our favorite recommended reads.) Homeopathy is a system of medicine in which a substance is refined and diluted to the point that the "essence" of the substance is all that remains. In the late 1700's Dr Samuel Hahnemann discovered that a very dilute substance will actually cure the same symptoms that a more concentrated amount would cause (as in the case of coffee, which in a regular high dose will cause jitters, hand tremors, agitation, sleeplessness etc, but in a homeopathic dose will alleviate those same symptoms). Homeopathy addresses the entire individual and not just the symptom that is most obvious. This is a major difference between homeopathy and what is known as allopathy (standard Western medical treatment). Thus in allopathy one might treat any abscess with one antibiotic, yet in homeopathy one would treat each patient, considering a range of remedies based not only on the fact of the abscess but also on the color and consistency of the discharge, the condition of the tissue around the abscess, the temperature preference of the patient, the mental attitude of the patient and possibly even the cause of the abscess. A patient's ability to respond to a homeopathic remedy is directly related to the available life force of the patient—that intangible something that differentiates a live patient from a dead patient.

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We are all aware on some level that there are times that we are more vital than others, and that there are some individuals, regardless of age, who seem more vital than others. This vitality is due to numerous things—freedom from chronic illness and mental anguish, good diet, good genes, the absence of toxic chemicals etc. All of these factors must be taken into consideration if we are to have success treating a patient homeopathically. While many patients will respond to an acute remedy (something to help with an acute problem such as an abscess, bruising and trauma, a burn or puncture wound) for a patient with a deep chronic illness (chronic bladder problems, allergies, epilepsy etc.) to respond well, all the cards must be stacked in that patient's favor. Little progress can be made in the case of an allergic patient if the diet is a poor quality processed food. The same holds true if there are unresolved emotional "toxins" in a household, or if the patient is being given vaccinations or suppressive drugs (something to suppress the symptoms, such as steroids or antibiotics, rather than things to support the body's healing...nutritional supplements etc.).

For more information, you can read Dr. Pitcairn's informative article "A Brief Explanation of Homeopathy" by clicking here

Doctor's note: I have found homeopathy to be an exciting healing modality when clients are ready and able to shift gears mentally. It takes a leap of faith for some people to walk away from the sort of medicine we have all been taught to rely upon, i.e. vaccinations, antibiotics, steroids, antihistamines, etc. It also takes a brave soul to take a new look at the way we feed our animal companions, the side effects of processed foods, and the potential value of raw foods and real bones. The exciting thing about animal companions is that as we embrace these new concepts, the value spills over into our lives as well, and we begin to eat better ourselves, and to treat our own bodies in a kinder, more holistic way.