Balancing and healing

Ashley Ager Dimech takes the homeopathic perspective to treating stress and anxiety. The ultimate aim of homeopathy is, after all, to offer a natural and gentle aid that does not suppress any side effects, but can also work alongside conventional medicine, being complementary rather than alternative.

In times gone by, perhaps the only things one had to worry about were how to catch/grow food, how to keep warm and how to stay alive. Today, life’s rich tapestry has woven stress and related anxiety into the very fabric of our lives; it is a modern-day epidemic and its physical and emotional manifestations are seen all around us.

Homeopathy is a field of medicine that focuses on the body’s ability to heal itself; in homeopathy, everything is about balance

When we are unable to accept that, it is then that we see deterioration in health. Of course, it would be easy to say that we need to accept that it is there and part of our lives, rather than see it as something we need to heal. But it is not as easy as that and perhaps, sometimes, we just need a little bit of help getting us back on track.

So what does this help entail?

From a homeopathic point of view, clients come into the clinic with a wide range of physical and emotional issues, which they would not necessarily put down to stress.

Homeopathy is a field of medicine that focuses on the body’s ability to heal itself; in homeopathy, everything is about balance. When our bodies show outward signs of disease, it is their way of telling us that all is not well... that something is out of balance. The theory behind the practice sees the body’s immune system as a self-healing tool, or vital force.

Therefore, by introducing a minute and diluted version of the causative agent, the body’s immune system learns how to fight the disease. This model is based on the homeopathic principle of treating like with like.

This is the theory. So how would it work out in practice?

The ‘homeopathic conversation’ with clients is the most important aid to cure/balance. During a consultation with the homeopath, the client is gently encouraged to open up, to vocalise feelings and emotions.

The homeopath would need to know the real person – what makes them tick, how the stress/anxiety affects them emotionally as well as physically.

There are no protocols in homeopathy. The client is not just another patient with stress-related symptoms, who will have the same treatment as anyone else with the same condition; rather, the client is an individual and deserves to be treated as such.

Once the case has been taken, the puzzle is steadily assembled and we seek the remedy that is best suited to the individual. Once found, this will be the specific remedy for the client – the remedy that will stimulate their body back into balance.

Each remedy has a ‘signature’. Let’s imagine you are a dynamic, overworked business person, who lives life to the full, smokes, drinks and does everything to excess. Then suddenly, one day, your stomach is upset, you have palpitations and you just cannot sleep.

One of the first remedies that comes to mind when we see these symptoms is called nux-vomica. When nux is ingested in its raw state, it causes the exact same symptoms in a healthier, less stressed patient as our overworked client.

This is where we see ‘like cures like’ in action. So if we give our business person some nux-v, according to homeopathic principles, our tycoon’s symptoms should be relieved.

Homeopathy is a holistic therapy, so one would hope that during the homeopathic conversation, some negative lifestyle choices would have been identified. These are what we call maintaining causes, and certain patterns of behaviour should be modified in the client’s aid.

The ultimate aim of a homeopath is to offer a natural alternative to aggressive medication, to offer clients a gentle aid, which does not suppress or have any side effects, but that can also work alongside conventional medicine; and that makes it complementary rather than alternative.

■ Ashley Ager Dimech is a classical homeopath, who runs the Tigné Homeopathic Centre in Sliema.