The Consultation
The first consultation lasts from one to one and half hours. Follow-up consultations typically take from thirty to forty five minutes.
During the first consultation, the homeopath aims to get as complete a picture as possible of the patient. Patients are asked not only about their presenting symptoms, but also about the onset of the condition and anything that aggravates or improves it.
As the homeopath needs to prescribe a remedy that treats the whole person, patients will be asked questions that may appear unrelated, but are nonetheless important. These include questions about energy levels, sleep patterns, food likes and dislikes, mood changes, fears and anxieties, how patients react to stress, their general disposition and the effect of environmental factors such as weather and temperature.
In addition, patients will be asked about their medical history, as well as family medical history.
Naturally, all information given by the patient is treated with the strictest professional confidence.
Having built a complete picture, the homeopath will prescribe a suitable remedy. Several remedies may appear possible, and it may take a few days after the consultation to identify which one is best for the patient.
The remedy is sometimes taken daily, but frequently just once. Remedies stimulate the body to do its own healing, and are usually left to work for between four and six weeks before the second consultation.
Homeopathic treatment is a process which is as individual as the remedies prescribed. Patients with the same condition are most likely to be prescribed different remedies. Some conditions will clear quickly, while some will take longer. Thus the number of follow-up consultations required will vary from person to person, and will depend on how the treatment is progressing.