Interviews

Dr. Joe Rozencwajg

Written by Alan V. Schmukler

Dr. Joe Rozencwajg interviewed by Alan Schmukler

Dr. Joseph Rozencwajg MD, was born in Belgium in 1951. After medical school, he studied General, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery n which he became a specialist. He later learned Acupuncture, Homeopathy, TCM, Nutrition, Flower Remedies, Aromatherapy, Naturopathy, Cranio-Sacral Therapy and Reikie. He holds a PhD in Homeopathy, a PhD in Natural Medicine,  and doctorates in Naturopathy  (NMD) and Osteopathy (DO). Dr. Rozencwajg developed the Fibonacci series of homeopathic potencies and is the author of numerous articles and the books: The Potency. Advanced Prescribing in Homeopathy, Homeopathy through the Chinese looking glass: Homeosiniatry Revisited, Dynamic Gemmotherapy and, Drainage, Detoxification and Organotherapy.

AS: Welcome to Hpathy Dr. Roz! Over the years you’ve learned quite a few healing methods. Can you discuss some of them and tell us how they might help homeopaths succeed more often?

Dr. Joe Rozencwajg

JR: The most essential method I have learned to use, is to shut up (quite a miracle for me to accomplish!), listen, observe and grunt….basically what Hahnemann said but in other words. Then and only then, go deeper with each and every complaint, symptom and sign the patient has given, without directing….again nothing new.

Systematically review all organs and functions of the body; quite often the question about headaches for example is going to give clues, whereas the patient did not volunteer any information. The same is true with other systems. It is unbelievable the number of women telling me about their “normal period pains” or their “normal menopausal problems” as if feeling unwell was normal!

Use “provocative” questions and “keywords”, remaining polite and correct of course, observing the body language and especially reading the face, jumping in as soon as there is a reaction with the question “What came up to your mind right now?”. It often takes the patient by surprise; no defenses are ready and the real problems emerge, often to the relief of the patient who is finally allowed to unload his burden.

Give them a break asking about diet and teaching them about correct nutrition. All too often those are the causes of many symptoms and signs that are not to be taken into account as belonging to the patient, but as being an outside toxicity; you want to treat the patient’s symptoms, not the gluten induced symptoms.

Also, physical examination as needed, but at least the TCM pulses and tongue examination that can reveal, when you know what to look for, deeply hidden “secrets”. Asking a question based on the findings while still holding the pulses, will often open the floodgates and you feel the pulse changing….then go back to questioning.

I also use some Ortho-Bionomy and Visceral Manipulation diagnostic techniques when I examine a patient, but you need full training to be fluent in those. I treat as I go, especially small adjustments, but also painful conditions and energetic “liberation” of organs, that once again bring emotional traumas to the surface at times, leading to more questions.

Once I have all that information, I do a simple straight forward repertorisation using the “sausage slicing” method:

1. What has to be treated now, what is the most important concern for the patient?

2. What is the root(s) of the problem(s)?

3. Can they be treated concomitantly, or will we have to go layer after layer?

And of course the most important question is: does this patient need homeopathy or is another method better indicated for the time being?

AS: You’ve just covered a lot of ground, which I’d like to explore. You said that TCM pulses and tongue examination can reveal deeply hidden secrets. Can you give us some examples of that?

JR: In TCM the Liver is the Organ linked to anger and resentment. Palpating a weak, deep liver pulse, as long as there is no hepatic pathology or liver damaging drug taken, often indicates ancient anger deeply hidden….so when I feel this type of pulse, I ask the patient “tell me about that deep anger you had and still feel”. Nine times out of ten, the pulse comes back very strong for a few beats while the patient changes colour, looks at me in amazement and asks “how do you know that?” to which I answer “you just told me, now can you elaborate, please” and so the history comes out. If that same pulse is very strong and wiry, it indicates a more recent event, so I would for example ask “who pissed you off lately?” and go from there.

AS: So you’re communicating directly with the body. What other signs tell you that an organ is dysfunctional? What are the options then? How do you feel about diagnosis by EAV devices, like the Voll machine.

JR: This is where you have to understand “physiology” and “pathology” according to different visions of the human body/mind, by getting at least some basic education in ALL branches of medicine (yes, I know, it is a tall order) instead of simply relying on the mechanistical collection of complaints and their translation into rubrics, without understanding the “why” underlying the situation.

1. In conventional western medicine (as much as I dislike its nihilistic therapeutic approach and the suppressive way of dealing with people), the basic knowledge of body function and malfunction is enormous and progressing. But even simple logic in basic physiology is necessary; here is an example based on myself and a recent patient of mine: For some reason we did a fasting blood sugar test; the results were slightly elevated. My own GP, whom I use only for paperwork, sent me for HbA1C and a glucose tolerance test (same with my patient). Out of curiosity I complied and of course they were normal, so both GPs were at a loss, not understanding why the fasting glucose was elevated. Here is the explanation: to do the test, we have to travel to the lab, after, in my case, waking up, 30 minutes of Tai Chi, driving my daughter to school, then driving to the lab (my patient lives far away); therefore we need fuel to have our bodies function, the liver kicks in, dissociates glycogen into glucose and pours it into the bloodstream, where it got measured: that is physiology, not pathology…..all other findings must be understood that way.

2. TCM gives us a very good understanding of the energetics of our organs and systems, as described in my book. The great advantage here is that it signals dynamic changes and points towards possible causes long before any anatomical changes have appeared. Just by realising, as pointed out in the previous answer, that for example the liver is suffering and treating the emotional cause if there is one, and giving remedies to help it recuperate, will prevent further degeneration and that at times without the patient having to say anything.

3. Ortho-Bionomy, Cranio-Sacral Therapy and Visceral Manipulation are osteopathic techniques that start with a manual, palpatory and energetic diagnosis. Again, the patient can remain silent and treatment or at least relief can be given immediately, while examining. I have yet to meet one patient who does not start talking when rising from the couch in less pain, than when he laid down. Scientific explanations on how that works are given in my book “DSSI: Dynamic Somato-Structural Integration”, but the practical aspect has to be learned in class hands-on.

You realise I do not use machines, like Voll, EAV and other gadgets; some colleagues have fabulous results with them, for a while, then I end up seeing quite a lot of them. Why? Because what will be perceived, hence treated, will generally be the actual status (yes, a real totality) without discerning what causes what, when should something be treated, causes and consequences.

An example: at a naturopathic conference, someone was presenting a “new” machine with lots of dials, and bling-blings; so I volunteered to be tested; it came out that my Liver (why am I obsessed with that organ?) was “weak” and I would need to take this and that remedy, that by sheer coincidence the presenter was also selling. I told him his diagnosis was completely wrong! “Why?” “Because it is 2PM” was my answer: at 2PM the Liver energy in TCM is at its lowest, so it is absolutely normal that it would test “weak”; taking anything to change that would totally unbalance the whole physiology….he did not sell any machines!

Knowledge is the key and understanding is the tool that manipulates the key. Questioning is what will refine the key.

AS : So clearly, the key is knowing how to interpret the signs. Once you assess the signs from pulse or tongue diagnosis etc,does that narrow down the choice of remedy?Is there a way to correlate that information with specific homeopathic remedies? In what situations might you decide that homeopathy is not the first choice?

JR: In short, the tongue and pulse orient towards more questioning, but if that does not work because the patient still is not cooperative for some reason, using whatever you have as information and selecting a remedy that would have this or that Organ/Function in its sphere of action, makes prescribing easier by narrowing the choice.

For example if the imbalance seems to be in the Lung and in your repertorisation Grindelia or Sambucus appear, you will first look at those remedies rather than others….then of course you need to know the preferred sphere of action of the remedies.

When is homeopathy not the first choice? Setting aside “politico-philosophical” arguments, the answer is as usual “it depends”…….

An example: I had a few patients come in with their main complaint being a frozen shoulder. First differentiation is cause: trauma, overuse or no apparent cause. Then local status and especially what are the limitations for spontaneous motions and passive motions done by the practitioner. If you can move the joint with little limitations but the patient cannot, the problem is not in the joint; it is often linked to the liver organ and the Liver function, so pulses and ortho-bionomic examination will be helpful. If they are positive, I proceed with a test of liver visceral manipulation, then a full manipulation if it appears useful; it frees the shoulder; only then do I go back to questioning about what has caused the Liver malfunction with the secondary symptom of frozen shoulder.

If the shoulder cannot be moved passively, that is what has to be treated first and preferably fast: ortho-bionomy and acupuncture have always given me better immediate results; then remedies used in treating scars and tendons, ligaments, fascia, with trauma remedies if there is a trauma in the history, organotherapy to regenerate the tissues.

Homeopathy works through the patient’s system, not instead of. Therefore it is essential to optimize it in order to allow the homeopathic treatment to be effective. If the patient is in a state of adrenal exhaustion, for example, forget about homeopathy, it will not work or so slowly that the patient is going to abandon the treatment.Better use other methods to repair the pituitary – adrenal axis, then retake the case and give the proper remedy. Of course explaining the method to the patient is essential.

AS: Adrenal exhaustion seems to afflict many people these days. Can you share some of your experience and wisdom in treating that?

JR: Stress, poor food, stimulants like coffee and energy drinks, not enough sleep, worries, etc. Almost everyone can be presenting with some stage of adrenal exhaustion. The deeper the patient is in exhaustion, clearly the less reactivity he has to any form of therapy (except for massive doses that in turn exacerbate the exhaustion), therefore it is important to treat it first, and the patient feeling better will be grateful and more committed to the full treatment.

1. Proper nutrition, eliminating all gluten, dairy, sugars and artificial additives, basically the caveman’s diet with emphasis on greens and especially juicing them (for their mineral contents), adding a good mineral supplement. Loads of water.

2. Vitamin C to bowel tolerance: the adrenals are the organs storing and using the most vitamin C, with the leukocytes; without a high provision of vitamin C no repair will work. Vitamin D3 too as well as a B Complex, this one before 4PM as it sometimes causes sleeping difficulties.

3. Organotherapy Adrenals 3C+5C+8C+13C+21C 3 drops 3 x/day; add to that Pituitary and Thyroid Gland in the same potencies as they are often all depressed together.

4. Adrenal herbs: I found that the association Rhodiola, Eleutherococcus and Whithania is very effective while not stressing the adrenals like Ginseng could do. Glycirrhiza is also a good one, not to be used in cases with hypertension

5. Physical activity: I recommend Tai Chi and Qigong; yoga if strong enough. Then when stamina returns, anything else on top of this as long as it is enjoyable and not seen as a chore.

6. Although this is borderline not ethical, I do not hesitate to discuss professional changes. I tend to spend a lot of time talking to the patient and addressing their personal problems, but if it is not within your range of comfort, referring to a good counselor is very useful.

AS: Most classical homeopaths don’t use drainage or detox. What might they gain by this? Where can our readers learn more about it?

JR: When you take your car for a long trip, you go for a full service first, you check and change the oil, you verify the tyre pressures, then you go on the road.

Why wouldn’t you do the same when you prepare to cure somebody? I am not talking about acute cases, emergencies, short lived flu’s and colds, but deep treatments.

But it has to be done in a logical, scientific way. There are lots of “detox” programmes on the shelves of health shops and pharmacies, advertised with generalities, like “isn’t your liver clogged with all the bad food you eat? Feel better for the summer!” and other useless nonsense.

First of all, after changing the nutritional pattern to human food, you need to repair the organs, either those you know are poorly functioning, or at least the major ones: that is the role of Organotherapy: liver and kidneys are obvious targets, but you need good blood flow too, so add the heart and the vessels; you need proper oxygenation so add the lungs, and if your skin works as a third kidney, treat it too, and whatever else seems to be a problem (thyroid, adrenals, etc,…) There are many ways to do that, from nutrition to herbs, to potentised remedies.

Once the repair is under way, you have to optimize the organs’ functions: that is what we call Drainage: make them work to the best of their capacity. Specific foods, herbs and potentised remedies are used. Drainage can start just a few days after Organotherapy has begun, and many times the same remedies will be useful, so it will just be a little adjustment of the treatment. Only then can the cleansing start: either a specific one, if you know which toxins are involved, or a more general “wide spectrum” one: this is Detoxification.

Depending upon the status of the patient, you will need between 1 to 3 months to accomplish this. The changes in health are often astonishing; the symptoms and signs change completely and you are then presented with the true picture of your patient with his real symptoms you want to repertorize… with the real, deep, inner imbalance for which you start a homeopathic treatment, to which the reaction will be fast, deep and lasting as you have removed the obstacles to cure and often the causes of pathology.

I suggest each practitioner experiment on himself and on the family: seeing is believing. All the practical details (as well as the theoretical ones) are in my book “Organotherapy, Drainage and Detoxification” (pub. Emryss).

AS: In 2009 you reported on the special potency system you developed called the Fibonacci series. Readers who missed it can read about it here :

https://hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/the-fibonacci-potencies-series-update-discussion-and-conclusions/

Can you tell us why we should use this potency system? What are the advantages?

JR: The origin of the Fibonacci series was my desire to stop fiddling with the choice of potencies, as the first paper described; it was titled “Removing the guesswork from potency selection”. That is already a big bonus! It also makes a lot of sense as its potencies are based on a law of nature, not on some arbitrary choice. Used in sequence, as it is designed to be, each potency prepares the way for the next one and boosts its action.

Over the 6+ years I have been using this almost exclusively, I found these advantages on top of simplicity:

– faster action, also no wasted time if the remedy is incorrect

– deeper action

– permanent removal of problems when the remedy is correct

– no problems when the remedy is either incorrect (nothing happens) or partial (some symptoms are removed, exposing more clearly the real remedy)

– active involvement of the patient who learns to take charge of his health

This has been clearly described in my book “The Potency” and will be refined with updates in the Chapter “Fibonacci Evolution” of my latest book “Third Millennium Homeopathy” (soon to be published).

AS: Thank you for chatting with us today. You’ve given us a lot of food for thought!

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Dr. Rozencwajg’s books :

Dynamic Gemmotherapy, self-published at Lulu.com (new edition in the works)

Organotherapy, Drainage and Detoxification, Emryss Publishers

Homeopathy through the Chinese Looking Glass: Homeosiniatry revisited, Emryss Publishers

The Potency, Emryss Publishers (the book about the Fibonacci Potencies)

Dynamic Somato-Structural Integration DSSI: a neurophysiological and biological approach to manual medicine, Narayana Publishers

Coming soon :“Third Millennium Homeopathy” addressing constitutions, miasms, the evolution in the Fibonacci system, Homeopathic physiology, succussions and potencies problems.

About the author

Alan V. Schmukler

Alan V. Schmukler is a homeopath, Chief Editor of Homeopathy for Everyone and author of ”Homeopathy An A to Z Home Handbook”, (also in French, German, Greek, Polish and Portuguese). He is Hpathy’s resident cartoonist and also produces Hpathy’s Tips & Secrets column and homeopathy Crossword puzzles each month. Alan is a recipient of the National Center for Homeopathy Martha Oelman Community Service Award. Visit Alan at his website: Here.

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