Homeopathy Book Reviews

The Homeopathic Treatment of Children: Pediatric Constitutional Types by Paul Herscu N.D. DHANP Reviewed by Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, ND, DHANP

Written by Judyth Ullman

Homeopath Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman reviews Paul Herscu’s The Homeopathic Treatment of Children: Pediatric Constitutional Types.

The Homeopathic Treatment of Children: Pediatric Constitutional Types by Paul Herscu N.D. DHANP

 Reviewed by Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, ND, DHANP

The Homeopathic Treatment of Children Pediatric Constitutional Types april 2016

North Atlantic Books, 1991
Paperback

Forward by George Vithoulkas

This review reprinted courtesy Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman

Children live in worlds of their own. They are unique human beings with unique characteristics and idiosyncracies, sometimes quite unlike their grown-up counter-parts. There has been a new wealth of materia medica information, beginning with the essences of George Vithoulkas and expanded upon by Dr. Roger Morrison and others. However, very little of this often brilliant information applies directly to children.

We have been told that the temperature tendencies of children may be uncharacteristic of the remedy that they need, and that this information should sometimes be ignored in choosing a remedy. We soon come to learn that many of the food cravings of the child end up being pizza, hamburgers, and sugar. Of these food desires, only “sweets” is represented in the repertory, and the rubric probably does not contain all of the remedies which can have a desire for sweets. In addition, those of us who are not pediatricians are often unsure about specific developmental stages. What is normal for a particular child at a particular age and what should be considered pathologic, slow, or precocious?

Paul Herscu had the good fortune of inheriting a busy pediatric practice immediately after graduating from naturopathic medical training. He jumped into the pediatric frying pan, so to speak He quickly developed excellent pediatric homeopathic skills through his intensive on-the-job training, aided by the addition of two children of his own.

Paul took as his mission the goal of sharing his vast experience in treating children and of updating the homeopathic literature of children’s materia medica. Paul is a very keen observer and has a great talent for painting vivid, living images of the children he describes. He also has excellent powers of discrimination which allow him to zero in adeptly on a child’s symptoms to see why the child would benefit from one remedy rather than another similar one.

In this book, the first of a series Paul is working on, he covers the eight most frequently prescribed remedies for children. The organization of the book is consistent and clear. First, Paul discusses, one by one, the most significant mental and emotional characteristics of each remedy as far as children are concerned. Then he presents concise information on the sleep patterns of children for each remedy, as well as physical symptoms, physical generals, and specific notes on infants. Each chapter concludes with an outline of the information presented for each remedy.

The amount of information presented is vast. Where appropriate, Paul differentiates the subtleties between boys and girls within a specific remedy picture. Interspersed throughout the book are myriad vignettes of children seen by Paul and his wife, Amy. These brief glimpses into children as they present in an everyday clinical setting are invaluable and they lighten the sometimes tedious reference orientation of the information. Paul’s work is a tremendous break-through in pediatric materia medica and high-quality scholarly work.

This book is a must for any homeopath whose practice includes pediatrics. You will want it on your shelf as a reference text when mulling over your challenging children’s cases. Paul is now soliciting cases from other practitioners on a number of less common, yet still frequently prescribed, remedies for children. The future sequels in this series are likely to be just as outstanding.

“There is at present a great necessity for information on the homeopathic treatment of children. We do not actually have enough literature on the subject apart from Borland’s booklet which is quite good but not sufficient for the needs of our time. I feel that Paul Herscu’s book goes further than any other homeopathic book in giving detailed information which will be very useful to any practitioner who treats children.”

(This book is available from Homeopathic Educational Services and other booksellers.   https://www.homeopathic.com/cms-global/shoppingcart/ViewProduct.do?productId=297

About the author

Judyth Ullman

Judyth Reichenberg -Ullman is a licensed naturopathic physician, board certified in homeopathy. Dr. Ullman is the author of Whole Woman Homeopathy, and co-author, with Dr. Robert Ullman, of eight books on homeopathy: Ritalin-Free Kids, Homeopathic Self Care, The Savvy Traveler’s Guide to Homeopathy and Natural Medicine, Whole Woman Homeopathy, A Drug-Free Approach to Asperger Syndrome and Autism, The Homeopathic Treatment of Depression, Anxiety, and Bipolar Disorder, and Rage-Free Kids, as well as Mystics, Masters, Saints and Sages—Stories of Enlightenment. She has been a columnist for the Townsend Letter since the early 90s, and has taught internationally. Judyth and Bob live on Whidbey Island Washington, with their Golden Retriever, Rosie Posie, and in Pucón, Chile with a menagerie of farm animals.
Please visit www.healthyhomeopathy.com (where you will find a wealth of articles, blogs, and more) and Facebook at Healthy Homeopathy. Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman can be reached at [email protected] or by calling (360) 322-4996.

Leave a Comment

Subscribe
Homeopathy for Everyone
Learn homeopathy with the world's greatest experts every month - for FREE!
World's No.1 Homeopathy e-Journal - for the community, by the community.
No Thanks!
close-link