The answers that follow are
not complete. It is not possible to write a whole thesis on each
one as it requires everything that has been said before, but I will
express the basic ideas.
On the other hand these short answers can
inspire serious students to ask more questions such as whether,
in a chronic case, the appearance of an acute condition that may
arise after the remedy, is a good or a bad sign, or when should
such condition be treated and when not, or when will a case need
a series of remedies in a particular order and when will such a
practice confuse the case to such an extent that the patient has
no hope of recovery.
On another level the questions that may arise
from intelligent students can continue the discussion to a deeper
understanding of the problems that we are facing when we practice
serious and not superficial homeopathy.
George Vithoulkas
———————————————————–
One of the most widely accepted repertories, is the Complete repertory.
Aside from the fact that Roger van Zandfoort has turned away from
the Repertorium Universale, because users seem not to have accepted
the Boenninghausen rubrics and his approach, the further development
of the CR, I mean the book, not the software, has shifted to another
appearance:
The book now (I have the latest German 2007 edition in front of
me) is very handy and easily portable as compared to before. What
has been in 3 large books in the beginning, now is compressed into
one volume. This only could be achieved by discarding the references
to sources of informations (authors, provings and references). Now
we do not see where an entry is taken from, unless we have a software
program.
On the other hand, we now have rubrics which are overfull and crowded.
For example, ‘pain, headache‘ now has more than 900
remedies! What sense do such rubrics make? Do we need such
over bloated rubrics? Do they really COMPLETE our repertories?
What about discarding them from the modern repertories as they
are of no use for individualising a case, and restoring the information
on sources from which the remedies in the rubrics are derived instead,
in order to be able to estimate the reliability of the rubric-entry?
Sigi
Dear Sigi,
I consider this repertory not only useless
but also misleading as it will give false results to the practitioners.
There is no repertory that has passed the usefulness of the Kent’s
repertory so far, though still this one is also far from perfect.
The almost perfect reliability of a repertory is still pending .
The homeopathic community urgently needs an institution that works
on the improvement of the repertory independent of commercial goals.
Years ago (in 1997 I think) in an international meeting in the Academy
in Alonissos, I gave instructions for such a project and called
it the ‘Confirmed Repertory’. Lately a project has been
started that wants to take up this job. Their website is www.archiveforhomeopathy.com.
George Vithoulkas
———————————————-
Do you ever use Boenninghausen’s method to solve a case? If so,
what sort of cases are best served by this method?
Janice Fielding
Dear Janice,
I use many different approaches and you
can read about it in my article “Techniques for a
Successful Repertorisation” on my website at
It is difficult to tell which approach is needed in which case,
as homeopathic cases are so diverse.
George Vithoulkas
———————————————-
The proper way to find a remedy is by matching symptoms, but there
are also some remedies that seem to be almost specific for certain
conditions. Could you share some of your special specifics or near
specifics?
William Delaney
Dear William,
A good materia medica to study specific
remedies, meaning remedies that fit certain pathological conditions
or a combination of them, is Boericke’s. You can also use
the introduction of Clarke’s dictionary. In my Materia Medica
Viva, I also include this information and you can, for instance,
read there about a remedy like Adrenalin etc.
George Vithoulkas
———————————————-
When taking a case, how can you tell if the patient is being truthful?
What part does your intuition play?
Bennet Lloyd
Dear Bennet,
To find out whether a patient is being truthful
takes a lot of knowledge of human nature, which grows by experience.
Some have this ability to understand human nature more than others,
but earnest work can make these kind of qualities grow. In chapter
12 of my book the Science of Homeopathy you can read about
the conditions for doing a consultation.
In the evaluation of a case all information
can be useful, including intuition. However when it comes to prescribing
remedies, we always have to rely on tangible information so that
we can base our prescription on facts. This means that if you, for
instance, intuitively feel that a person needs Niccolum metalicum,
you better check if the symptoms of this remedy fit with those of
the patient. Otherwise you will start to prescribe remedies randomly
and your patients will not benefit from this.
George Vithoulkas
———————————————-
How important is your understanding essences of remedies (based
on your own writings) during the time of case taking and analysis
of characteristics? Do you look for essences in patients, or do
you rely on classical materia medica characteristics to point towards
the similium first?
Thank you,
Dr. Leela
Dear Dr. Leela,
Your question is difficult to answer in
a few words as the process of case taking and case analysis is a
combination of the whole experience of a homeopath, all the information
he gets from the patient, of the relatives of the patient and from
his own observations. Of course I use the understanding of the essences
but I also use all the other possible approaches to solve a case.
You can read about this on my website
George Vithoulkas
———————————————-
Is it ever possible to wholly understand a patient? And what about
the remedies?
Edward De Beukelaer
Dear Edward,
There is an indefinite depth in the study
of remedies as well as in human characters. Apart from this, a homeopath
needs the kind of understanding of the patient and the functioning
of his organism that enables him to prescribe the correct remedy,
which is not the same as understanding wholly the personality and
psychology of the patient, if that is what you mean. This means
that we have to separate the character of the patient from the psycho-pathological
symptoms. In this way you will find out that there are cases where
you do not need any information from the mental or emotional level
to prescribe the correct remedy.
George Vithoulkas
———————————————-
Do you use miasms in evaluating your cases? What is your view on
this concept developed by Hahnemann?
Raj Verma
Dear Raj,
Yes, I use the idea of miasms in certain
cases, but I do not evaluate every symptom of every case in this
context. It is a complex subject that I cannot answer briefly. My
ideas about miasms can be read in chapter 9 and 16 of my book the
Science of Homeopathy. I also have spoken about it in the
video course that is presented worldwide. If you still have questions
after reading these chapters then you can always ask them.
George Vithoulkas
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