Scientific Research

Bringing Homeopathy to New Depths

Judyann McNamara, Founder of the Montreal Institute of Classical Homeopathy (MICH), discusses some of the advanced perspectives taught at MICH. Bringing Homeopathy to New Depths

Introduction

Homeopathy is a growing concern; it is producing results in many areas of health and agriculture worldwide. Clinical experience demonstrates that a homeopathic session and remedy are not only able to relieve symptoms and to provoke a curative process, but that homeopathy actually assists in creating healthy relationships, feelings of usefulness, meaningfulness, and many other conventionally-proven key factors in healing, health and quality of life. Homeopathy opens the door to the spiritual dimension of the human being, now recognized as an essential part of the human experience, and the healing process (footnote).

In this article, I would like to share some of MICH’s most revolutionary insights and tools with you, the readers of Hpathy. Where we have had the most insight and where we feel MICH can make the greatest contribution to advance the science and art of Homeopathy is in the treatment of chronic disease in industrialized countries.

We have found innovative ways to understand and make full use of Homeopathy’s deep curative power when understood as an instrument of Quantum Biology, Holism, evolution, and the expansion of consciousness. Our explorations have brought us to include transpersonal dimensions, and what Carl Jung and Depth Psychology call the “noumenal experience” into what has developed and emerged as the MICH “Noumedynamic” Method. The root “noume” refers to an immaterial, non-physical dimension of underlying wholeness or soul, what Samuel Hahnemann termed the vital force, as it orchestrates, moves and maintains the life of the organism dynamically.

Moving beyond Prejudice

Perhaps the most challenging but also the most rewarding part of having operated a school of homeopathy for the last 10 years is learning how to create homeopaths. In that endeavour, we found that teaching others to adhere to Hahnemann’s requirement of being unprejudiced in case taking required much more facilitation and guidance than what we had estimated.

We all have prejudices. We all come from our point of view, we all interpret the world in a specific way. We came to realize that all we can do as human beings is to become aware of our own prejudices, opinions, and unseen assumptions, so that we can subtract ourselves from the equation when we attempt to understand another human being in wholeness. We have had to develop new methods, and to research and collaborate with a number of specialists in order to develop both a method of self observation and a method of case taking and group dialogue that would reveal these hidden areas of ourselves and our consciousness.

However, the rewards of this challenge have been life-changing and deeply meaningful both personally and professionally to everyone on the team, and everyone who attends MICH. It has added an essential element to our methodology.

The Full Spectrum of Human Conditions requires the Full Spectrum of Homeopathy

At MICH, we have the opportunity of experiencing the full spectrum of human conditions through our work at the HTSF[1] Homeopathic Mission in Honduras, our work with the homeless in Montreal[2] and the patients who pay to come to our Montreal clinic. Our goal is always the same: to understand the cause of disease in each individual case. The type of adaptation and stress, and resulting susceptibility in areas and situations where there is no hygiene, poor nutrition, and recurrent epidemics are very different than that which we encounter in our offices in North America or Europe.

Stretching ourselves over such a broad spectrum of situations has forced us to look at all the different ways, methods and approaches of practicing Homeopathy that reported successful cures, and to discern which methods provided the greatest benefits in each individual case and scenario. We have brought each of these ways into our curriculum. Our students learn Homeopathy from a very broad perspective enabling them to understand how to appropriately apply each method according to the situation at hand. As a community, rather than argue which way is “best”, we need to collaborate and discern which method is optimal for a given situation.

What MICH is able to offer is an unprejudiced, broad and deep container of understanding of how Homeopathy works (Download the article Homeopathy: THE Medicine of the Third Millennium). Within this greater context of understanding and application, we are able to teach our students how to appropriately apply each and every method that has proven itself to be successful, according to the situation at hand. Such as, we have found that expertise in applying the classical tools, such as the repertory and the traditional materia medica, is extremely effective in Honduras.

This was not what we experienced with our cases in the Montreal clinic. After 20 years of collaborative work reviewing our most successful cases, we concluded that they were the ones that were the most individualized and had gone to the greatest depth of understanding of the patient as a whole.

The MICH Noumedynamic Method

The development of the Noumedynamic method involved years of in-depth study of the wonderful contributions made by such masters of homeopathy as Dr. Rajan Sankaran and the Sensation Method in particular, as well as Dr. Divya Chhabra, Jan Scholten, Frans Vermeulen, the Joshis, Nancy Herrick, Jonathan Shore, Anne Vervarcke, and Roger Morrison just to name a few. A number of years were spent understanding the approach developed by the followers of Dr. Alfonso Masi Elizalde, such as Per Neesgarde and the members of the AFADH[3]. In particular, the brilliant proving interpretations by Dr. Marie-Luc Fayeton that have been succinctly captured by Dr. Guy Loutan in his Repertoire de Thèmes et de Matière Médicale Dynamique, which was translated into Spanish by Norbita Medina, a MICH graduate, have been inspiring and helpful in solving difficult chronic cases, and in developing a deeper understanding of the higher dimensions of human consciousness and the role of that dimension in pathogenesis and stress. The AFADH began with the provings of Hahnemann, Hering, Allan and the masters and has been diligently distilling the totality of the symptoms into a holistic, symbolic dynamic experienced through the provers.

In the spirit of upholding both the art and science of homeopathy, MICH is also always keeping close watch on the leading edge of scientific research, and comparing our observations to those reported by researchers.

Through a thorough study of our most successful cases, we have developed an exhaustive understanding of the relationship between stress and susceptibility and their combined role in the creation of chronic disease. The research that supports the importance of this relationship in the treatment of chronic disease is outlined in the article: Homeopathy: The Medicine of the Third Millennium.

That article describes how susceptibility is highly individualized, different in every case, and involves different combinations of internal and external factors, perceptions and physical conditions, as well as material and nonmaterial dimensions. Exaggerated susceptibility provides the best indication for the totality of symptoms.

We see excellent examples of material factors and external causes at the HTSF homeopathic clinic in Honduras. There, MICH homeopaths treat susceptibility that has been destabilized by physical factors such as exposure to the elements, poor living conditions, lack of sufficient food, epidemics and invasive parasites.

This is rarely the situation back home, however, where internal stress and immaterial causes are more prominent in the appearance of chronic disease. It has been determined that 95% of North American cases of chronic disease are stress-related[4].

Researchers have determined the importance of stress through the presence of stress biomarkers as precursors to chronic disease[5]. The mechanisms by which these biomarkers produce all the symptoms in chronic disease have been mapped out in detail. What is perhaps most important for homeopaths to glean from current research is that stress caused by an actual physical situation produces the same physiological response as perceived stress or imagined situations – initially. The difference is that after an actual physical stressor, the organism returns to a relaxed state and biomarkers return to normal. Whereas, in an imagined situation, the biomarkers stay high and the individual’s stress levels gradually continue to increase. Thus perceived stress has a greater tendency to lead to chronic disease.

Chronic Disease and Perceived Stress

The ultimate cause of disease is not the stressors per se, but the individual’s exaggerated susceptibility to specific internal and external stressors[6]. In the article: Homeopathy: The Medicine of the Third Millennium, internally generated stress is shown to be a key factor in creating exaggerated susceptibility and chronic disease. Thus, it is perceived stress that is the cause of most chronic disease.

Over the last ten years, the MICH community of homeopaths, (now numbering close to 100) has been addressing exaggerated susceptibility through the individual’s perceptions, subjective experience, and interpretations in relationship to stress.

Perceived Stress and Sense of Self

What we have found is that the most prevalent source of stress is related to the sense of self. We all have a self-image consisting of various personality traits and attributes that constitute our sense of self, a pattern of “me”. A pattern formed by neuronal synapses that span the entire brain. This pattern involves both the frontal lobe of the neo-cortex and the mid and limbic brain. An exhaustive exploration of the numerous areas of research contributing to this understanding can be found in the book by Bruce Hood: The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity.[7]

Of course, this knowledge is not new, it is central to Buddhist philosophy and dates back many millennia. Our over-identification with, and over-attachment to a sense of self, through an over-identification to religion, country of origin, and culture has wrought havoc throughout history. Modern science has now brought to light the precise survival mechanisms linked sub-consciously to this process, and their effect on our health.

What homeopathy provides is an effective tool that aids in releasing attachment to the “hard-wired” sense of self. This reduction of the rigid sense of self allows greater freedom of response and improved adaptation resulting in less stress, the restoration of healthy susceptibility, and the elimination of symptoms and chronic disease.

The Three S’s of Susceptibility related to Stress: Striving, Sense of Self and Sensation

The Noumedynamic method involves exploring three dimensions of susceptibility related to stress: striving, sense of self and sensation.

We all strive for some sort of ideal. The higher dimensions of human consciousness have access to spiritual absolutes such as Beauty, Truth, Wisdom, Power, Love, Providence, etc. The spiritual dimension is a wonderful source of inspiration for art, music, architecture and many human endeavours. It also provides the human being with the ability to be in a state of deep appreciation, in awe of the wonder of the universe, and moved by the majesty of creation.

The ability of the rational dimension of the human mind to identify and create patterns, gives the mind the capacity to create a “pattern of self”: a self concept composed of ideas, ideology, images and perceptions. This pattern takes on a life of its own: the organism defends it in the same way it defends the physical body. A mere comment can be perceived and reacted to with a full fight or flight response, as if it meant life or death. We have all seen and experienced this. The moment something becomes “who I am”, or what I identify with, defence mechanisms involving physiological processes come into play.

Perception, which occurs in the sensory level of consciousness, is altered to filter out and over focus on anything that might pose a threat to this idea of self. This leads to limited perception of the environment and the filtering incoming information. This limited perception leads to limited consciousness of the true environment and a skewed view with limited choices.

People who over-identify with their job begin to perceive everything in terms of work, efficiency and performance to the exclusion of other aspects of their lives such as the emotional richness of their relationships. This imbalance and over focus maintains a constant state of stress in the organism.

The following case illustrates how these three dimensions of consciousness: the spiritual, rational and sensory are used to prescribe and effectively treat susceptibility.

A CASE OF SEVERE ALLERGIES AND HAY FEVER

A client with hay fever explained that the season in which his symptoms are worst represent the time of year when the family farm and manual labour were most intense. He abhorred manual work and strove to avoid it completely by getting an education. The aetiology of his hay fever corresponded to the time when he lost his white-collar job. The stress he felt was concurrent with an increase in his susceptibility to external, physical factors (the pollen he is allergic to). He became susceptible to pollen through what it represented to him: hard, physical work.

The spiritual dimension corresponds to the highest functions of the human mind. This “archetypal” level of thought is representative, symbolic. The ability to create and react to a symbolic representation, as in this example, is a dimension of consciousness not present in our animal predecessors. It permits creativity, imagination, the ability to envision and appreciate perfection, and the ability to project into the future. It is this “Archetypal” dimension linked to spirituality that is both our greatest gift and biggest challenge as humans. It is predominantly associated with the forebrain, which is able to create false perceptions based on imagined future projections: “what if’s”.   These “what if’s” trigger the limbic system into reacting with a stress response to situations that do not exist, and may never come to be. However, once this loop is set in motion, it is difficult to stop its escalation. As the level of anxiety rises due to the limbic reactions, the forebrain is triggered into imagining more terrible scenarios. This process can easily escalate to frenetic anxiety and panic attacks.

Sense of Self and Striving

This example shows how the person had a specific idea of who he is, and what he should be doing with his life. The person rejected manual labor, and considered having a managerial position not only as economically important, but as a condition essential to his identity. His sense of self was of one who “uses his brain, not his hands”. He strove to prove his intelligence and mental acuity. He insisted strongly that he wants to use his intelligence, not his body.

He associated intelligence with his soul, with purity. This idealization of intelligence represents his striving for something greater more “pure” than ordinary existence. This is the archetypal dimension of susceptibility we call “striving” because it involves some ideal, an idea of perfection, or a utopia. It usually involves the rejection of a human element. In this case, the client felt his body “does not reflect who he really is”: a rejection of his body seemingly linked to his religious beliefs. His physical body is “lower” than who he really is, pollen represent the physical world he rejects.

Sensation

Although he did find work after his initial layoff, he continued to be susceptible to every criticism at work, every remark by his boss. When his boss made a comment, it was “as if” he was falling into a hole, “as if” he needed to “hold on” to his job. This sensation is the third “S” related to susceptibility. It is like the sensation of being “pushed out” of his first job.

The provings of Sabadilla, of the Liliflorae family, has exactly these sensations as well as delusions about the body. When the client took his first dose of Sabadilla, he experienced a sense of relief on all levels: mentally, emotionally and physically. Not only did his hay fever never return, he reported a major shift in his relationships and his perceptions of life. He felt “freer” and more aware and in touch with the world: as if “everything is brighter, more alive”. With homeopathy we are able to use the opportunity of disease to provide the gift of a better life.

The Three Dimensions of Susceptibility

Striving, the sensation(s) and the sense of self come together in one movement which describes all dimensions of the client’s susceptibility: we refer to them as the three Ss.

This multi-dimensional understanding provides a complete picture of the person and his disease and allows us to prescribe very deeply and accurately. It accurately reflects the beauty and the complexity of the human being.

Such prescriptions not only address the physical ailments, they change the client’s fixed idea of themselves, their perceptions, their interpretations and their defensiveness, inspiring much healthier and richer relationships. These prescriptions provoke greater freedom and optimism in the clients, and increase vital energy and awareness of life.

When prescriptions result in such profound global changes in the individual’s life, we refer to them as “Noumedynamic”[8] prescriptions. Noume- is related to the word “noumenon”, derived from the Latin “numen” which means deity, divine will or divine presence. A “noumenal” force such as the soul, or vital force is the fundamental organizing principle of the organism, maintaining its integrity and wholeness in a dynamic adaptive and evolutionary process.

We have published a number of cases that illustrate how sensation indications become clear within the Noumedynamic understanding of the individual which can be downloaded here: Multiple Sclerosis and Trigeminal Neuralgia, Epilepsy, Cognitive Disability and Hypertension which you can download here.

We stand in a place of immense potential with the immaterial medicine that is homeopathy, and its power to address the immaterial cause of disease and the many dimensions of consciousness and existence that underlie the material manifestations of disease.

Special resources for HPathy readers:

For the month of February 2016, we are offering a special discount on our Online continuing education credit courses on the MICH Noumedynamic Method: Discover Holism and Noumedynamic Health.   These online courses include audio-visual presentations and live webinar facilitation as well as access to a virtual classroom where you can connect with Judyann McNamara directly, and collaborate with colleagues.

We are also offering a Free Subscription to our online ongoing e-training series. It is great source of helpful tools to use with patients, family and yourself.

[1] HTSF, or Homéopathes Terre sans Frontières is a non profit charitable organisation similar to Homeopaths without Borders. Carla Marcelis of MICH organizes missions to the homeopathic clinic in Honduras, offering continuing education clinic credits for homeopaths.

[2] An organisation knows as Herstreet for homeless women: http://laruedesfemmes.org/en

[3] Association Française pour l’Approfondissement de la Doctrine Homéopathique

[4] McEwen, Bruce S. et al. Stress and the Individual Mechanisms Leading to, Arch Intern Medorrhinum 1993;153(18):2093-2101. doi:10.1001/archinte.1993.00410180039004.

[5] Cai, Chang, …, Kendler, Flint. Molecular Signatures of Major Depression, Current Biology 25, 1146–1156 May 4, 2015 a2015

[6] Bierhaus, Angelika. A Mechanism converting Psychosocial stress into mononuclear cell activation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, vol. 100 no. 4, 1920–1925, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0438019100

[7] Hood, Bruce. The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity, ISBN-13: 978-0199988785

[8] McNamara, Judyann. The Noumedynamic Human and other articles, free webinars on mitochondria, stress and susceptibility are available for free on our website www.michmontreal.com under the tabs: “Resources”. Such results are possible with the multi-dimensional “Noumedynamic Method” developed by MICH. Please refer to the Free Resources section on the MICH Method on our website. www.michmontreal.com.

About the author

Judyann McNamara

Judyann McNamara - MICH Founder - Quantum and Biophysics research were Judyann’s springboard to recognizing the importance of the energetic dimension of life, and prompted her to get her degree in homeopathy and begin her own practice in 1994. In 2005, she founded The Montreal Institute of Classical Homeopathy (MICH) is a 4000 hour experiential program that provides a complete system of understanding based on a bio-energetic model of life. MICH's extensive and integrated system enables MICH trained homeopaths to understand, access and apply a broad spectrum of remedies that ensure truly individualized treatment, and optimizes the innate healing response. Patient response is evaluated by using PSRH: Patient Self Rated Health to determine if the remedy prescription is optimal, through a questionnaire developed at MICH.

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