Learning Homeopathy vs. Becoming a Homeopath

I get many questions about homeopathic study and find that there are distinct differences in learning homeopathy and becoming a homeopath. They are really two different things entirely. Let me explain.

Most schools of homeopathy offer courses on homeopathic history, philosophy, repertization, and materia medica. These courses will give the homeopathic student much information; mostly from books. The course usually is designed to give you as much information as possible about the more common remedies and the philosophy of Hahnemann and Kent. This is usually reinforced by taking exams that grade on multiple-choice questions and essays to determine if you have a correct understanding of the subject at hand.

This method of learning and evaluation is very lineal. It relies on memorization and deductive reason to pass the test. A good student may be able to excel in such an environment and get perfect grades. After successfully passing the first several years of the course, they may be ready to see a case in a supervised capacity. This is the most common method for training homeopaths.

The other way to learn is by example and experience. At Resonance School of Homeopathy, we are training homeopaths and not teaching about homeopathy. There is a big difference.

Learning from a book in a didactic way is flat and leaves much up to the imagination when learning about remedies. But primary to remedies is understanding what is asking to be healed in any case. This is not something that comes very easy for most people. It is one thing to understand the symptoms and be able to translate them into our repertory. It is another task entirely to see the core of a person and determine what is asking to be healed. Most people will give their case testimony in a very verbose and convoluted way. It takes great practice to stay clear and find the patterns of their suffering. This can not be learned from a book.

The richness of any case is held in the words and descriptions as well as how a person gesticulates. The stories that they tell will always be where the true understanding of the case will be. Getting to this understanding requires great clarity of the homeopath. In the beginning of learning case-receiving, most students become very overwhelmed. The most common mistake is to project their own experiences or descriptions of remedies on the client thereby prejudicing the case.

We must always understand what is asking to be healed before we can find any remedy for the person. This process of learning to listen and find the thread of the case can only be learned in front of a live person or through video. It is a process that the student/homeopath needs much practice at. It cannot be learned from a paper case.

Paper cases are flat and two dimensional. They do not have the feeling that a live case will bring even if the case has been delivered verbatim. Sitting in front of the client is the only way to really become established as a homeopath. In my opinion, a student homeopath should not be encouraged to practice without supervision until they have sat before at least 200 people.

Learning from live cases and follow-ups also brings the practical aspects of philosophy to life. The Organon is best understood when it is supported by real cases and real people. I find that my students learn what to do best by following an example. At Resonance School of Homeopathy, all students are student practitioners and are encouraged to bring clients to class that they will be the primary contact for. This gives them the opportunity to help manage the client's case with the full support of our staff backing them up. They learn by doing.

Being a homeopath requires confidence. Every client who sits before a homeopath knows innately whether the homeopath has confidence or not. In order to really get confidence, they need to have sat before clients many times. They learn how to control their own emotions during the case and how to handle themselves when the case does not flow or is very emotional. They can then be very present for the client and not caught in sympathy.

Sympathy will ruin a very good case. There is no way a homeopath in sympathy can see clearly. They are too involved in their own experience of the case to see their client clearly. Empathy is a better emotion to feel. It is more detached and still with much caring the homeopath will not go to suffering themselves to understand the person. When a homeopath is in sympathy they might as well give themselves the remedy they want to give the client. It is the subtlest form of prejudice. No two people ever suffer exactly the same. To project our own feelings on the client will bring disastrous results.

These are just a few of the many ways that becoming a homeopath can only be learned by doing it. Each homeopathic student will eventually come to these and many other challenges when they finally start seeing clients. Those that have seen many clients and done so with good supervision will be very far ahead of the learning curve. They have confidence and can sit before any client.

At Resonance School of Homeopathy, we teach using live cases. All instruction, cases, and follow-ups are videotaped and edited for easy viewing. Each student has access to each monthly session as the year progresses. Each year, the student will see approximately 50 new cases and hundreds of follow-ups, learning the fine art of case receiving, prescribing and case management. If they are fortunate to come to the live class in Reno, Nevada, and study from the videos as well, they will see more than 100 new cases in one year. From this, they get real experience.

No other program I know brings as much opportunity to learn homeopathy by doing it. From great experience comes great confidence. Resonance School of Homeopathy offers the program to help them achieve just that.