Marika Tabone speaks to Lilian Van Eyken, a Dutch homeopath with over 30 years of experience, to gain more insight into this branch of medicine.
[attach id=309710 size="medium"]Only a well-chosen and matching remedy will work, because it resonates with the person.[/attach]
Homeopathy was discovered by physician Dr Samuel Hahnemann in Germany in the late 18th century, when he noticed that by preparing medicines through potentisation and giving very small doses, he achieved better results than when he administered the usual larger doses.
A key premise in homeopathy is that every person has energy called a vital force, or self-healing response. Homeopathic remedies restore health by providing a stimulus to the natural healing mechanisms within us all.
Lilian Van Eyken describes homeopathy as a beautiful, simple therapy. She says she was drawn to study natural medicine from a young age, and specialised in homeopathy, after a single dose of one medicine cured her of headaches she had suffered from all her life.
This alternative therapy works on the principle that ‘Like cures like’. This implies that a remedy that produces symptoms in a healthy person will cure those same symptoms when manifested by a sick person. There are no side effects and it can be used by everyone, young and old.
During the years Van Eyken has been practising this profession she has witnessed many people, especially mothers and babies, benefitting from homeopathy.
When a person goes for a homeopathic consultation, the homeopath will ask the person many questions in order to know as many as possible of the symptoms the person is experiencing. This will enable the homeopath to identify the right remedy. Only a well-chosen and matching remedy will work, because it resonates with the person.
There is no such thing as a standard remedy
Van Eyken stresses that there is no such thing as a standard remedy. For example, you do not always give the same remedy for a sore throat, or a headache, because the individual and the way he or she experiences the symptom is unique. It can be used both in acute (short-lasting) and chronic (long-lasting) conditions, but the treatment time and the frequency of the doses of the remedy will differ.
In her practice, Van Eyken has worked very closely with women. She has helped many who were trying to conceive and has also treated them during pregnancy and labour.
Homeopathy can even be used to prevent, for example, contagious childhood illnesses. It may not guarantee that a child will not get the disease, but often it will be milder and more manageable.
Van Eyken says that many of her clients visit her a few times a year to get a remedy that will boost their whole system, physically as well as emotionally, and not because they are sick. Homeopathy can be used in this sense as well; to keep you balanced and healthy.
Another reason to visit a homeopath may be because one is experiencing lack of energy. “Often I will ask my clients about their energy levels at the very start of the consultation and ask if they can give it a number on a scale from 1 to 10,” she says.
Van Eyken loves empowering and teaching people about homeopathic remedies they can use at home for non-serious ailments such as coughs, teething, flu and colic.
She regularly visits Malta for private consultations and to organise workshops, with the next one planned for the end of this month. This beginners course is suitable for everyone and is particularly useful for parents. No previous knowledge of homeopathy is needed.
For further information, e-mail Van Eyken at lilianvaneyken@ yahoo.com.