Case Taking 1n6f21

When Your Favourite   Approach Does Not Work Shilpa Bhouraskar

The Quest For Simillimum® EBook Series 2014

When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work. Copyright © 2014 by Shilpa Bhouraskar . All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Shilpa Bhouraskar, 34 Auld Avenue, Eastwood, NSW 2122, Australia. The Quest For Simillimum™ Shilpa Bhouraskar. THIRD EDITION

Table of Contents Chapter 1 - The Story of the Stages ........................................................5 Chapter 2 - The Evolution of Homeopathy in Stages ...............................9 Stage 1.................................................................................................9 Stage 2.................................................................................................9 Stage 3...............................................................................................10 Stage 4...............................................................................................11 Conclusion..........................................................................................12 Comparison of stages.........................................................................13 Chapter 3 - Prescribing The Simillimum.................................................15 Confirm your prescription through all the four stages........................15 A case example incorporating all stages............................................16 Case analysis.....................................................................................24 Prescription.........................................................................................31 Follow up............................................................................................31 When you have to limit working at just one stage..............................34 Case example of working at one stage..............................................34 Case analysis.....................................................................................35 Prescription.........................................................................................38 Follow up............................................................................................38 Chapter 4 - Road blocks to Simillimum.................................................. 39 The Secret to a Successful Practice in Homoeopathy.......................39 Road Blocks to the Simillimum...........................................................40

Chapter 5- The Stages Template .......................................................... 45 Pre-requisites before using the Stages Template..............................45 The Essential Components of the Stages Template..........................46 Chapter 6-The Blue Print for A Successful Homoeopathic Practice .....51 Stages Template Blue Print – Application in Clinical Practice...........51 Application of the Stages Template - The Difference it Made............54 Chapter 7 – Conclusion and What Next?............................................... 57 How the Stages concept changed my Homoeopathy........................57 Homoeopathy Network.......................................................................58 I would love to keep in touch with you!...............................................58

Dedicated to my Teachers and Students.

CHAPTER 1 - THE STORY OF THE STAGES

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hen I received my homeopathic medical training in India, I was privileged to learn homeopathy from some of the best teachers in our medical school itself.

Our hospital had 20 odd out patient departments running full strength with hundreds of patients on an hourly basis. We had practitioners working on everything from pure therapeutics to uses of Boenninghausen's, Boger's and Kentian style as well as Sankaran with his new concept of disease as a delusion. In the clinics we students and interns took the initial cases, repertorised every case diligently, and came up with the diagnostic totality, the miasmatic totality as well as the homeopathic totality. The supervisor then picked one remedy based on his style and approach. The surprising and confusing fact was all these methods worked pretty well. After graduation, I was influenced by the works of other modern homeopaths such as Jan Scholten, who introduced the mineral kingdom classification and its application in homeopathy. Most homoeopaths chose a style which suited their needs and worked along, however I didn't want to choose. I wanted to understand all these tools and use them as and when required. I wanted a way of individualizing the approach to suit my patient’s needs instead of moulding him or her to my style of practice. My own way suited me fine until I started working as a clinical supervisor for student homeopaths after moving to Sydney.

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work

I wanted to give them an experience similar to that I had as a student in India. I was acutely aware that I don't mould them into my way of practising homeopathy or any one particular way of working a case. I wanted them to be exposed to different ways of approaching a case and eventually find their own niche. However that was a major obstacle. In spite of some excellent theory knowledge provided by experienced teachers here and a good bunch of hardworking and ionate students graduating, very few actually felt they could ever practice in real life because of very little real life exposure to practical homeopathy at various levels. I recalled the infrastructure just after graduation. Like every other graduate, I was both confused and overwhelmed. However in India we had homeopaths with decades of experience and gems of wisdom to tap into. There were choices. I could work at my college hospital or even in any private homeopathic practice. Additionally there were hundreds of seminars and workshops all through the year by different types of homeopaths on various strategies. There were free clinics and charitable trusts where you could work and practice your basic skills under supervision. And personally the most important factor was that after I had started my own clinic and made many mistakes, I always knew where to find the answers. I had the choice to retake the case using solutions from my discussion group or in some cases make a referral to a senior homeopath and observe the case being retaken for one session and follow up again in my own practice. This huge self-sustaining network actually worked to create a prominent place for homeopathy in the healthcare system. That was the vision that I wanted to create here. I wanted to offer students different ways and styles to freely choose from and grow from there. So initially I decided to just prepare a structured format of my understanding of different styles and approaches in homeopathy. I researched all the successful strategies and approaches right from Hahnemanian’s discovery of homeopathy to the present day. I realised that both the classical and non-classical strategies work in different situations and at different times. In light of this, I classified them into four stages based on the time evolution of homeopathy itself. This is what I call the Stages Concept.

Chapter 1 - The Story of the Stages

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Having been already exposed to a variety of homoeopathic methods, strategies and approaches during my student days practicing with consultants at the college hospital, it made things easier. Slowly I made a connection between the homeopathic evolution in stages and the depth of disease, remedy and miasmatic understanding in its entirety. This actually changed the way I looked at homeopathy and the way I approached my cases. I was quickly able to recognise at what stage a practitioner was working at. At what stage were their favourite approaches at. Similarly I could find at what stage, a patient was most comfortable at. And more importantly how to adapt my first approach to their stage. I managed to use this Stages concept as a GPS in my practice. The Stages Concept became an extremely useful template for students and other practitioners to follow during the entire case management process as well. Similar to a GPS, it tells you where to start and where to go right before you take a case. During the case taking process and at every stage of the case, it makes you aware of where you are. If you can't go further, you know where you have stopped and what exact information is available. Now you can just choose the appropriate resources, determine the prescription and still provide good homeopathy to the patient's satisfaction. When I eventually started my mentoring group, this format helped us in multiple ways. The entire spectrum of different ways of practising homeopathy was accessible at the same time. We realised that no case is incomplete or imperfect. A homeopath could take a case at any stage and still be able to confidently and effectively help the patient to a certain extent provided he or she knew what to do with that information. We could meet, discuss and understand the expectations of our clients within the scope of homeopathy and simply choose an approach to match their needs. It also helped diffuse internal turmoil about which approach was better between different schools of thought. We could discuss and emphasise and recognise skills within ourselves and others with respect to a choice of strategy.

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Thus the mentoring group provided an excellent ive network to grow together as homeopaths. Although this started as a project to help beginner homeopaths, I realised that it helped me grow as a person and a practitioner. So I think no matter how new or experienced you are, it will provide you with some insight into what homeopathy is all about. For me personally, I learned a lot, it widened my horizons and I am able see why and how homeopathy can be so different but still be the same at the same time, why nothing is right or wrong but what works or doesn’t for each of us and our patients. Frustrations can emerge when the homeopath is too enthusiastic and tries to take a case for two hours but the patient is not so sure and becomes overwhelmed and leaves therapy. It is realising how you can only help them as much as they want to be helped and, most importantly, I learned to respect my clients for the choices they made. It is also about understanding our own limitations as practitioners and being able to refer our patients to homeopaths better skilled in a particular strategy suited for the patient. This is the best way we could give our clients the best potential homeopathy has to offer. The whole idea is to provide some food for thought and possibly encourage homeopaths to tap into the entire potential of homeopathy rather than being fixed on one particular approach or strategy while still maintaining their own individual style at most times. This book will provide an insight into this format and the way you can adopt the Stages Concept in your practice with case examples.

CHAPTER 2 - THE EVOLUTION OF HOMEOPATHY IN STAGES

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Stage 1

his was initially how Hahnemann discovered homoeopathy.He had learned first hand that Cinchona had been used to treat intermittent fevers. He then observed that Cinchona bark produced fever with chills. This was similar to the symptom of intermittent fevers. This was the Law of Similars at work. This model is similar to the allopathic way of using homoeopathic remedies where medicines are chosen on the basis of the name of a disease or a disease diagnosis.

Stage 2 Very soon he realised the name isn't important and any fever with symptoms similar to those produced by Cinchona irrespective of the diagnosis can be treated with Cinchona bark. Understanding the specific Cinchona fever led to this breakthrough. And this is where the evolution began. This is a model similar to using homoeopathic remedies for local particular symptoms very closely related to patho-physiology, eg using medicines based on common and peculiar disease symptoms.

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Stage 3 Eventually, practitioners realised that differentiating the different types of fevers in patients was necessary to determine which would benefit from Cinchona. It was then seen that differentiation of two similar diseases in different people was possible based on symptoms that belonged to the person and not disease. This was the dawn of person specific treatment, the striking advantage of homoeopathy over conventional medicine. The model of using physical and mental generals and PQRS symptoms related to the man and not just related to the disease itself developed. This has been and is the most popular and widely used model in homeopathy. Even though Hahnemann was the first homeopath to discover this stage in homeopathy, the two major influences that revolutionised this stage were Boenninghausen and Kent. Both of them spoke about the same fundamental concept - the individual comes before the disease - but expressed that in a variety of different ways. It is largely a matter of understanding the symptoms of the man (his physical, mental, general and constitutional symptoms) beyond just his disease symptoms that helps in individualising two individuals suffering from a similar disease. Boenninghausen identified the concomitants as an expression of individuality in a case, while Kent proposed a pyramid or hierarchy of symptoms with mental symptoms being the most important at the apex and the physical symptoms at the bottom. Patients were being understood as personalities with different constitutional traits, which gave rise to understanding of remedies as drug pictures and essences. Now it was not enough to know the local symptoms of Cinchona, an understanding of the individual personality and constitution of Cinchona was required. It was Kentian homeopathy that remained popular throughout history and strongly influenced the way homeopathy is practised even today in most parts of the world. It was also known as classical homeopathy or constitutional homeopathy. Some later Kentian homeopaths have fine tuned the understanding of man and his constitution in light of current new discoveries and concepts, eg Fransisco Eizayaga uses the knowledge of genetics in his Treatise to Homeopathic Medicine when explaining the characterological symptoms. Dr Praful Vijaykar

Chapter 2 - The Evolution of Homeopathy in Stages

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applies the genetic makeup of a patient while understanding the genetic constitutional simillimum. Dr Sankaran uses the concepts of psychology in understanding the constitution in his book Spirit of Homoeopathy.

Stage 4 Stage 4 is where the latest developments of homeopathy have evolved today beyond the so-called Hahnemannian homeopathy methods. Homeopathy believes disease to be a disturbance in the vital force, but it requires this to be expressed initially as constitutional traits and then disease signs and symptoms in order to treat them traditionally. Stage 4 is trying to finding the disturbance of vital force itself at its core, before it is expressed as symptoms. This case taking process has been revolutionised by Dr. Rajan Sankaran and he calls it the understanding of the Vital Sensation. Here it is no longer about mind or body symptoms but core expressions, sensations and energetic patterns equally expressed at both levels – somewhere where the body and mind meet. Here the attempt is to get at the root of the patient's vitality and existence. It is the closest expression of the disturbed vital force or the energy. This is disease expression never assessed before in Hahnemannian homoeopathy, a level beyond the man and his constitution. So it is about understanding the vital sensation and energetic disturbance of China as a remedy. The experience beyond the mental and physical symptoms of China. Again this is something that has never been assessed before in a proving. Sankaran stumbled across this while trying to find the common themes of plant remedies in the same family. The kingdom analysis is not new in Homoeopathy. It is one of the newer ways of understanding the common mental and physical symptoms of remedies in a particular kingdoms or subkingdoms and then prescribing based on those common themes. It has been developed by homeopaths such as Jan Scholten, Massimo Mangialavori and Sankaran.

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However it was Sankaran who actually took the understanding of kingdom analysis further to reach a common deeper level of eliciting the sensations beyond symptoms. Another homeopath, Irene Schlingensiepen – Brysch in her book 'The Source of Homeopathy' fine tunes this stage further. She goes beyond the understanding of the sensation during the case taking process until she dives into the very source structure of an individual itself. It is an attempt to understand not just the sensation but the very source of 'China the substance ' within a patient. Thus Stage 4 homeopathy is this fascinating process of eliciting and connecting the source within an individual to the source of the remedy itself.

Conclusion Throughout history since Hahnemann discovered homeopathy, every new idea brought along with it endless scepticism from the medical world as well as from homeopaths themselves. However what is fascinating about homeopathy is that through its evolution at every stage, you have different methods or strategies being developed sequentially. At every stage, you are one step nearer to understanding the core disturbance of an individual. You can trace the entire dis-ease in its totality. It is taking a journey towards the inner core of man himself and his disturbed vitality.

Comparison of stages Using the remedy China Officinalis as an example. Disease in Individual Stage 1

Stage 2

Individual in Disease Stage 3

Stage 4

Disease diagnosis

Disease particular symptoms General symptoms and (common and PQRS) constitutional traits (common and PQRS)

Vital sensation, source and energy

Malaria fever

China fever

China constitution

China Sensation

Malaria is characterised clinically by fever (usually periodic), varying degrees of anaemia and splenic enlargement, and a range of syndromes resulting from the physiological and pathological involvement of certain organs, including the brain, liver and kidneys.

Symptoms include periodic fever well marked paroxysms, shuddering chills from every drink, cold hands and feet, hot face, profuse sweat, etc.

People who were once stout, healthy, remarkably active and industrious become broken down by exhausting discharges and suffer pale face, sunken eyes, over sensitivity to touch, pain, draft of air. Suffer show physically great prostration and become mentally apathetic,dull, indifferent, etc.

Over stimulation which aggravates mentally and physically, eg desires stimulants, ideas, plans, etc. but is stuck in a position where he can't fulfil any of these desires and faces attacks from time to time.

CHAPTER 3 - PRESCRIBING THE SIMILLIMUM Confirm your prescription through all the four stages

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esearch and experience both show the accuracy of prescription and possibility of finding the Simillimum increases as you elicit the disease expression at all stages. However the most amazing cures result when you match the case through its evolution to the remedy understanding and its corresponding evolution. Most successful homeopaths acknowledge this fact from experience. Kent mentions this in his articles on treating pathological diseases with homeopathy and discusses how the constitutional remedy (Stage 3) needs to cover the pathology (Stage 1). Eizayaga talks about this in explaining his triangle and incorporating the Lesional layer ( Stage 1 and 2), Fundamental layer (Stage 3) and Constitutional layer (Stage 3) when prescribing the simillimum. Sankaran in the Sensation Method talks about the knowledge of levels and disease understanding. He explains how he has had the most success when he enters a case from Chief complaint (Stage 1) to reach the level of Sensation, Energy (Stage 4) and beyond.

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Thus incorporating all stages in your understanding helps multiple confirmations of your remedy and cures are more consistent, rather than sporadic miracle cures.

A case example incorporating all stages Case taking Female 62 years. Came to the student clinic.

Information collected by the student This intake basically provided information at Stage 1 and 2, with some Stage 3 information as well. The patient presented with psoriasis she had for the last six years on the left side of her scalp, spreading to forehead and left arm. She experienced extreme itching and tightness, constant shedding of dandruff-like particles. Her symptoms were aggravated by stress, and were worse during winter and very hot summer days. She avoids dark clothes. Past History

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Consistently painful menses since puberty.

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Endometriosis and back ache.

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PMS -Irritable but didn't express it, contained it within.

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Extremely anaemic in pre-teen and early teen years.

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Fungal infection of toes in her 30s.

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At 40, hormonal treatment for endometriosis.

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Sinusitis.

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Psoriasis of scalp, treated with tar shampoo. But took pulsatilla, which cleared it as well as the sinusitis.

Chapter 3 - Prescribing The Simillimum •

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Since menopause – hypertension and hyperlipedemia. Allopathic treatment.

Current situation

Extremely responsible at work. Duty conscious, moral and very particular about being tidy. Dreams of being persecuted, which she related to her strict Catholic upbringing. She was prescribed a few remedies such as Kali brom 200 and then Carcinocin 200, which didn't do much and the psoriasis continued to spread.

Information from questionnaire This completed the information at Stage 3. Physical generals

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Flatulence when I eat a lot of yogurt

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Craving salt, cheese, yogurt

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Aversion – fatty rich food, sweets

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Aversion to drafts.

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Loves open air

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Perspiration – feet, stains clothing

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Menses heavy painful, with bloating and headache.

Upsetting moments/situations in patient's own words:

“I had a good relationship with my sister, especially long distance, she lives on her own and can't tolerate people around her for a long period of time. When she comes to Sydney, she likes to go off on her own, but loves to be part of us as well. Sometimes she goes ballistic and you just want to run away. It doesn't happen often anymore, as she lives in Europe.

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work Shocked when my sister in law said not to want to see me, as she didn't like family. I felt hurt at the time, but since then have become very indifferent. I still do the right thing by her, but if I don't see her ever again, that's fine by me. She lives in Sydney and since her husband died, she does want to see us. I was shocked, numbed with disbelief of the way my daughter treated me as past my use by date seven years ago; I cried often when at home, but just kept quiet within myself, I did talk to my husband a lot, he tried to help, but though he had a good relationship with our daughter, he had not connected with her like I did. I was depressed, but did not take medication. Nine years ago I worked for a boss that didn't like me. I sometimes felt she would like to stick a knife in me and I did try to get another job at the time, but without success. It was stressful and I talked a lot about my woes at home. I changed and kept telling myself I really liked her and she was a great person. When I finally left this employer for a part time job, we parted as friends. As a migrant, I have always had to rely on myself, having no relatives as a , this has been stressful in the past when decisions had to be made, hoping that the right one were taken. All my family lives overseas.”

Dreams

“As a child/teenager, I used to dream I was persecuted, which was very frightening, they did subside when I married and became a quieter sleeper, my sleepwalking disappeared as well, thanks to my husband. I still having to run and keep running from I still do not know whom, till I woke up. I dream of work and wake up in panic about things or jobs I had forgotten to do at work. In reality I am extremely diligent. The fear is very real, like if I get caught, my life will be over! It has had no association with my real life.”

Chapter 3 - Prescribing The Simillimum

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Fantasies

“I wish I had plenty of money to travel first class or business class to Europe and USA so I can visit my family regularly, I miss them a lot.” Although I could have prescribed based on this information, I asked her if she wanted to go a bit further to confirm the prescription and increase the accuracy of understanding her case. She agreed, and I took the interview to Stage 4 - the sensation method.

Interview at Stage 4 This is in a question and answer format in the patient's her own words. My comments and thought process are in italics. How are you doing?

“I have decided to stop paid work because it’s too much. I dream a lot about work, keep everything going. The sessions in the clinic have made me focus on myself, I have never allowed myself to focus on myself. Always been hurried through life. It’s a crazy life I am leading. Lots of dreams of work. I wake up in the middle of night and I dreamt of things that did not happen at work.” In what way?

“Panic and chaotic. No assistance to help me. Mind was spinning. I was doing things I normally don't have to do as a part of my work. They are giving me more and more responsibilities thinking she is easy and can do it. They make you run.”

She is talking at the emotional level. Her state is quite compensated. This suggests what potency I have to give her, i.e. 200. To enter her case, I decide to start with the chief complaint, which is Level 1. When did the psoriasis flare up?

“It was six years back when daughter packed and left for US. I don't have network.

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work I said don't marry, you will be stuck but she married within two months.”

What did you feel?

(emotional level) “I felt betrayed. We were good friends. We had a harmonious family. Husband is more easy going, I may be more radical. He evens and balances out. We said all right it’s her life. Then she asked me to arrange her wedding in Sydney for her friends. I did organise it, but she totally ignored me. Used us as her parents. We didn't leave on a very nice footing. It felt as if punched in the stomach by someone I loved and cherished. The gloom lasted for two and a half years. I cried a lot. I am not the one who normally cries. I don't have family around.” Talk about that?

“When children grow up, they need guidance from someone who has been through that, its easier to make a decision, easier if you share responsibility in decision making, e.g. if your kids are sick, they might say its ok its just chicken pox. Or in my case my son is hyperactive. I would want to discuss with people who have that experience. It’s a big responsibility to bring up that child, educate and help him live in this world. He is now a very responsible and balanced person. He is the one who is easy and daughter was difficult. Responsibility is important and instilled in me since childhood. Must do this must do that. So now even though I wanted to continue working till end of the year, I let go. I am happy I made that decision. Even with daughter I wanted people to help me find a path. You do bring up kids to eventually lose them, but I was opposed to the way we were in no uncertain . As if we were past due date. No longer necessary, unimportant, don't exist for her. Don't need you. No communication possible.

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As we moved a lot after my birth in South America- to Holland, South Africa, I became quite self reliant. You don't winge and get things moving, Sort everything yourself. Become independent personally and financially.”

We see that family is important and that she needs people around. If she loses them, it upsets her, but she has compensated by becoming sefl-reliant and independent. This is still her emotional level. However she mentions responsibility often and I need to understand what it means to her. Talk about responsibility?

“I have dreams of responsibility. Panic fear as if not done my duty, ashamed. I was responsible for running the place (at her work place). People expect me to do it. Always been like that. They control, and I try to give my best and give 100% because I think I can but at my health's detriment. I could not get out because I had to get that centre going. It’s not my home. I tried to do it at home. When I was caring for people, realised life is valuable and you do the best for them. Heightened my responsibility towards work. They shouldn't die during what you ister them so I changed my job from that situation. It would be terrible if they die. You have to do the right thing.”

This connects with the dreams she had as a child. Catholic upbringing of doing the right thing. “I have been given a set of rules or life planned for me, and you try and do the best of your abilities. Doing everything correctly and not making mistakes.” Thus responsibility is needing to care for people at home or work or else she feels extremely guilty as if she has done wrong. This is again the emotional level. So now I use another point of entry to get to a deeper level.

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What are your hobbies and interests?

“I love perfumes. I did aromatherapy and Swedish massage at college. In hobbies I like embroidery, creating something from nothing, e.g. needle work, something really nice. I love gardening, plants, herbs. I cook with fresh herbs. I love to see things grow. Plant and nurture them. Fertilize them right, mulching. I may have been a farmer in former life. I love to work with nature. So healing to work with nature, smells, colours. Because animals and plants are unconditional. They give back so much. You don't have to give something to receive something. With people I find you need to give more. They expect a lot out of you. I listen to people complain, and if you want to complain they don't listen. And the ones that are true friends always seem to be leaving. It’s disappointing but I pack and leave so often you get used to saying goodbye.”

This was the turning point of the case for me; it was a deeper connection between all situations in her life - the daughter's incident and moving and leaving family as a child, work, etc. all together from a completely unrelated situation and this is the connection of the case. When you reach this point, everything just flows beautifully and you don't need to ask a lot of questions. “I love to cook and go out of my way when I have friends coming over. But I would love to be able to do it with my family, mum and dad.

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I should have been brought up in an Italian family. The unit of an extended family. Togetherness and exuberance. It gives me great pleasure, nice food, happy company, which I have to create with strangers. I had a huge extended family. I talk to my sister, what do you think, take other's point of view. I want to create that family with my grandchildren and its just not there. I don't hate her but I am removed.' I don't care attitude' in order to not get hurt anymore.”

She is talking about her daughter. “She is not going to affect me anymore. You don't get involved because you don't want to go through that feeling of darkness. No emotion is there. Initially anger, now I don't care.” This denotes the miasm – because it is the reaction to a situation – i.e. acceptance and avoidance - could be sycosis. “Once with my son's condition during one of the bleak times, there was an aura of vibration all around me. Enveloped me in love. I felt he will be alright and nothing will happen to him anymore. I tried to get it back through Reiki and meditation, but it never came back.”

This is the energy of her case Talk about that?

“Exceptional love. Change in my life. I don't become frightened of death anymore because there is something wonderful outside this world.

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work Extremely happy. As if all the care in the world taken away It was just letting everything go, about my son. (He was 20 then.) Letting go of the responsibility. I was in a cocoon. The experience left very slowly. It was caring warmth floating light like an angel that can help.”

What is the opposite feeling?

This will explain the polarity of the sensation. “Aloneness. Responsibility you have to shoulder alone. Thinking of answers to a problem all on your own, duties to make him a well balanced individual. In a greater extended family you can rely on others; family takes part in your growing up. Thanks to homeopathy I have been able to make a clear decision. We were away from all that.”

Case analysis At Stage 4 - Sankaran's Sensation Method Sensation The problem has to do with structure. She needs relationships, a unit of friends, family. Any stress is related to losing this structure. This is the Mineral kingdom. What relationships provide her is love, care, nourishment and a sense of identity. These are themes of Row 3. Other themes in Row 3 are a strong sense of right and wrong, morality, issues of trust, being conscious of appearance and extreme sense of being forsaken, etc. What is the other part of the sensation? There is a sense of being let down or betrayed and having no relationship or structure whatsoever. These are Column 1 and 17 themes within Row 3.

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So the remedy is Natrum Mur. The Natrum Mur Sensation

Disappointed by relations, friends, family whom they trust, love and depend on completely. No one to care for and love unconditionally.

Illustration 1: Sankaran Analysis using the HomeoQuest Software

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Sankaran's miasmatic analysis This is a situation where she is acutely disappointed and betrayed periodically, but she has just accepted it. 'I don't care’ attitude. Malarial miasm – between Sycosis and Acute. Being stuck in a situation of dependence and suffering acute periodic attacks (disappointments, recurrences, etc).

At Stage 3 - Kentian analysis Totality of her case •

Disappointment and unhappy love.

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Silent grief

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Extreme responsibility

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Anxiety conscience of, guilty

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Fastidious

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Fear persecution.

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Aversion fatty rich food

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Aversion sweets

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Perspiration feet, staining.

Illustration 2: Kentian Analysis using the HomeoQuest Software

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The first two remedies were Nat Mur and Puls. If I had not taken the case at Stage 4, it would have been referring to Materia Medica and confirming my prescription. Interestingly Puls had helped her quite well during the last episode of psoriasis. However having taken the case at the Sensation level, I am certain it’s a Mineral as it’s a problem related to structure and everything falls in place.

Kentian Miasmatic analysis Miasm in constitutional traits - Sycosis Disappointment, Silent grief, Responsibility, Fastidious, Moral, Guilt, fear persecution, fear failure.

Miasm in physical symptoms - Sycosis Chief complaint

Psoriasis – chronic, recurring itchy, excessive flaking, accumulation, raised patches, etc- sycosis. Other past complaints

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PMS – Sycosis

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Endometriosis – Sycosis

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Hyperlipidemia – Sycosis.

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Fungal infection – Sycosis

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Sinusitis – Sycosis.

So the miasm of the case is Sycosis, which is again covered by nat mur, it being a multimiasmatic remedy with a predominance of Psora and Sycosis according to Kentian analysis. Now let’s confirm the remedy at Stage 1 and 2 for the disease psoriasis.

Illustration 3: Clinical Rubrics

Chapter 3 - Prescribing The Simillimum

Prescription Natrum Muriaticum 200

Follow up Three months later “I have been remarkably well after the remedy you gave. Not painful, itchiness or thick scales. It feels only like dandruff.” Dreams- “All my dreams have been about work and failure, but now I have been able to let go. I don't wake up in panic. It wasn't vivid either. I am taking care of myself now. I am still a person who likes to hold people, but I have put my boundaries out. My whole life had been one big race against time and now I can take my time. A real wonderful feeling. Two weeks ago I sneezed a lot, but that went away in a day. No discharge or anything. All I can say that the psoriasis doesn't rule my life anymore.”

Six months later “Things are improving. Hair growing on a bald spot on my head!! I had that spot for eight years. Psoriasis not getting worse. I am sleeping really well. No more dreams about work. Pleasant ones taking my dog for a walk. It used to be very red inflamed now it’s pink. It’s not as aggressive anymore or as unpleasant. No new spots or lesions. Its not as thick anymore, everything would build up before. There is an improvement.

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work I have been really good emotionally. I have started to relax. I don't think of work anymore. I am cleaning up cupboards, but doing it in my own time. We were apprehensive going to New York, but it was good. I am happy with my life, come to with my life and situation. Being away from work helps as well Previously I had to clean windows. Now there is less pressure on me. I sleep really well. I sleep non stop from 8-5am. Very much more relaxed about life in general. New hair growing on my bald patches. That's good.”

Nine months later After Nat Mur 1M - 1 dose. “Daughter was stand offish. I took the dose on a Saturday and on Sunday, i send her an email saying that if you don't want to keep this relationship, then so be it, and she has been much obliging and I am surprised, that I have been always someone always pleasing people and now I take a strong stand and say that's it. I don't bother too much about me. It’s been a relief to me. It’s like a burden has come off me. If you are pleasing somebody all the time because you are worried you will not have a lasting relation. Now I have evolved and grown and the people that really appreciate me will stay anyway. And the people that won't are not real friends anyway. I am not really scared anymore in relationship area. I know who I am and take it or leave it. People around also involve my husband, and like my daughter even he said it’s time to take stance with my daughter. So I wrote we love her and if she can't be bother communicating parent to child

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neither do we. And she said no I do want to keep in touch and she phoned the next day. I have decided to take maters in my hand and not leave it to others to take things in their hands. It is now what my husband and I want. This is something which is growing. It’s reached its peak after the last dose. It’s no use getting upset abut things. If people don't make you happy, so be it. It was never really good anyway.”

Ten months later “I am really good. It’s not a big patch any more. Just three small patches. My blood pressure is really low. It’s not as itchy. Husband very surprised. It’s not like it used to be. It was one big white mess.” Dreams – “A happy one. I am with a group of people. I have never met them in real life but they are friends in my dream. I slept like a baby. I totally slept through the last night's thunderstorm. So I might need to monitor it more.”

Two years later She continues to remain well and hadn't required any more medicines. Thus this case could have been solved using any method or strategy. Nat Mur was strongly indicated at Stage 3 analysis, even before we took the interview at Stage 4. However the multiple approaches just confirmed the accuracy of my prescription of matching a case at all four stages of disease expression and boost the chances of prescribing a so called Simillimum. We have all these tools today

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work

that were never available before. This is just one way of using the best homeopathy has to offer today.

When you have to limit working at just one stage Most homeopaths chose to restrict themselves to working at just one particular stage and do so quite successfully. Throughout history there have been successful homeopaths pioneering every stage in homeopathy. My experience as both a homeopath as well as a lecturer and supervisor is that there are practical difficulties in applying just one particular stage/method in real life homeopathy in all cases due to various circumstances. Here you need to be flexible enough to adapt your case taking to fit the circumstances and get the best results possible. Thus having the knowledge, skills and understanding of working at every stage can tremendously benefit our practice and expand our scope as homeopaths. This process is about finding solutions to problems and helping patients in the quickest and most practical way rather than struggling to work with a so-called ideal method. Although some of my most amazing cures have occurred by confirming the prescription right up to the fourth stage, it is not a process that suits all patients, especially in their first interview. There are cases where you simply have to limit yourself to understanding just one stage itself.

Case example of working at one stage Case taking This was one of the first few cases in my clinic in Mumbai.

Chief complaint A father came to my clinic with his 7-year-old child. Both the father and son had severe stammering and wondered whether homeopathy could help them. He was particularly concerned about his young son as he did not want him to feel any humiliation in school when other kids bullied him.

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When I spoke with the child, the father seemed more desperate and coaxed the child to answer my questions and greet me. This made the kid stammer even more, so I offered him some toys to play with and spoke with just the father. I managed to get the following information with some difficulty. The son

The stammering was aggravated when he first started school, and was worse when he was very tense or angry. He hit other kids when they bullied him, and his voice and the whole body actually trembled when he got very angry. It was difficult to understand him, more so when he spoke in excitement. The father

He has a similar temper but he had gradually managed to control his temper. He mentioned it was no use getting to their level and retaliating back. However at times he still found it very difficult to control his anger. He suffered for days afterwards if he lost his temper with poor appetite and sleep.

Case analysis The case taking was very short due to the intense stammering. I decided to take the peculiarities in the presenting state. Interestingly I found a striking similarity in the state of both the father and his son. I prescribed a remedy based on my knowledge of PQRS keynotes in the materia medica.

Stage 2 - Hahnemann's PQRS The symptoms were: •

Stammering when talking to strangers.

•

Anger aggravates

•

Trembling when angry

•

Voice weak when angry

•

Excitement aggravates

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work

The remedy was Staphysagria. The father’s state was Staphysagria too, where he felt the humiliation of his son and had ailments from suppressed anger. Hering writes – was insulted, being too dignified to fight subdued his wrath and went home sick, trembling and exhausted.

Illustration 4: Hahnemann's PQRS using the HomeoQuest Software

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work

Prescription Both of them got Staphysagria 200, a dose to be taken once a week for a month.

Follow up They followed up regularly for about a year. Staphysagria was repeated in gradually increasing potencies as and when required. The progress was gradual but very encouraging. The son responded very well. His violent anger came down gradually. His speech got more fluent and distinct. The teacher at school noticed a marked improvement in his behaviour and speech. The father has relaxed mentally and his speech was not as hurried and so he stammered less often. This is a remedy that I call an accidental simillimum. Because even though it matched the case expressions at Stage 2, the follow up showed improvement in the disease state even at Stage 3 and possibly beyond. So in a way it matched at more than one stage by accident

CHAPTER 4 - ROAD BLOCKS TO SIMILLIMUM The Secret to a Successful Practice in Homoeopathy. In the last chapter, we have seen two case examples using the Stages Template where a single remedy resolved the entire disease state. These one remedy prescriptions seem magical for our patients. And for homoeopaths, they reinforce the whole concept of the Simillimum. However let me share with you an interesting fact. I have successfully treated over a thousand of cases since I graduated in 1997. And today I enjoy a success rate of around 80% in my practice. However such single remedy cures form a very small part of my success. A major part of my successful cases have required a series of remedies that gradually resolved disease state in my patients. You will be surprised to learn that most successful homoeopathic practitioners who enjoy a success rate of over 75 to 80% in their clinical practice have used more than one remedy to get the patient towards cure. I can say this from firsthand experience, having assisted some of the most successful homoeopaths in their clinics and hospital OPD's during my medical training. So the real secret to success is matching the disease expressions at ALL STAGES to complete the process whether it is one or more remedies. So the question is why do ONE remedy cures form such a small percent of successful practices.

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work

For centuries homoeopaths are fascinated by the perfect remedy – the Simillimum, that one remedy that cures the entire case and takes a patient through the whole process magically. While it is fascinating to strive for a perfect Simillimum, we do not live in a perfect world. The reason is that most of the time, in spite of the best intention from the patient and practitioner, it is simply not possible to get information at ALL the four stages of disease evolution and then confirm ONE remedy to cover the ENTIRE disease evolution. There are just too many variables and clinical road blocks that can stop you from getting information at all four stages at one go. Here are some of the road blocks and obstacles that can prevent a patient's from receiving the Simillimum.

Road Blocks to the Simillimum. Intrinsic Obstacles - Related to Patient's internal state, susceptibility and disease condition. Extrinsic Obstacles -Related to the Patient's external environment and the homoeopathic practitioner himself.

Intrinsic Obstacles One major intrinsic block that can stop a patient from expressing his disease, all the four stages is the Disease state itself. We find that most patients with gross pathological conditions such as large tumours, growths, extensive organic and systemic damage to vital organs can experience a major block during case consultation. You see many of the patients with these rapidly deteriorating states have extremely low susceptibility. They find it really hard to express themselves beyond their local problems. The entire focus and awareness is only to survive and make through the disease. The condition overwhelms the person and in this case the totality for a homoeopathic practitioner is but the local organ damage. So although in an ideal situation as Kent mentions, the constitutional remedy at Stage 3 should cover the organ damage at Stage 1, it is really impractical in these patients. Here the best approach is to use approaches at Stage 1 or 2 and focus on repairing local organ damage before going to the core issues at higher stages.

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The second intrinsic obstacle is to do with the stage of the patient himself. You see every person is innately comfortable expressing at a specific stage beyond which you will find some resistance in receiving further information. It synchronises with their level of awareness, blocks at family systems, limiting belief about themselves and the world, their habits and personality traits etc. So the best approach is releasing these obstacles and slowly receive information at all four stages. From experience of colleagues and students in countries where homeopathy is not well known or when people are still unsure of the therapy is that in the first interview most patients do not wish to go further than their symptom picture. Stage 3 involves talking about their mental state in great detail and at Stage 4 some questions that lead them to the sensation can be frustrating or uncomfortable for someone who did not expect this during the consult. However during the follow ups they are generally more receptive. Trust, practice and education are the keys when you need to take them to the deeper stages. Until that happens, what is needed is relief of some symptoms by other methods at earlier stages where they are comfortable. The third intrinsic factor that is related to the patient but has more to do with the process of homoeopathy itself. As homoeopathic practitioners we strongly depend on verbal communication to get information of our patient's disease expression. So we are quite limited when it comes to gathering information in patients who are in comatose condition, or patients who cannot verbally communicate due to mental or physical disabilities. Same is the case with new born infants, children or animals. In these situations it is an uphill task to get the information at all stages and find that single remedy.

Extrinsic factors The extrinsic factors that can block a patient from going to all four stages relate to the environment in which he or she dwells. In my experience that patients who are experiencing intense physical hardship, extreme emotional stress or abuse at home or work. Patients who go through intense socio-economic or political situations on a day to day basis simply cannot focus on anything other than immediate survival. On the other hand our patients with severe dietary deficiencies, chemical heavy metal toxicity, on suppressive drugs, exposure to radiation have an impaired susceptibility that block any deeper remedies. Again in an ideal situation the core remedy at Stage 3 or 4 can break through the extrinsic obstacles, however if the patient's vitality is depleted and their susceptibility is destroyed then it is

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work

extremely hard for any deep remedy or therapy to work under severe maintaining factors. And even after removal of these factors, some patients do end up with organic and systemic damage and that makes it sensible to focus at repairing the system at Stage 1 or 2. The second extrinsic factor that can block a case taking is related to the homoeopathic practitioner himself. You see just as every patient expresses innately at a certain stage due to his or her own state, every practitioner has his or her own internal resistance and it can be related to our own internal beliefs, prejudice, fixed ideas, awareness level and susceptibility. The beauty is when we give ourselves the permission to let go, evolve, grow and heal as an individual and practitioner, we give our patients the permission to go through their heal journey in many ways. The third extrinsic factor that can limit finding that one remedy has to do with homoeopathic Materia Medica itself. Again this is partly related to the process of creating our database. We depend on verbal communication to record the experiences, symptoms and signs from our healthy provers. The end result is that we have partial Materia Medica information at just one or two stages for majority of our medicines. So we are operating with an extremely incomplete Materia Medica where only a handful of polycrests have adequate information to match a case at all four stages. So even if you do end up with a case information at all four stages of disease expression the chances of having a well proved remedy at the other end to match the case is statistically extremely low. Hence this is why your success rate is completely dependent on learning the process of how to use the existing medicines in sequence -where each remedy matches different parts of the whole. And together the cumulative effect can resolve the whole process. This is exactly where the Stages Template has been such a huge advantage. Because it is focused on resolving the whole disease process whether you use one or multiple remedies. So in the two next chapters I will discuss how the Stages Template can be used to create a highly successful practice. It will provide you a blue print on the case management process. You can use it as a GPS to guide you through the step by step process of the entire process of taking your patient through the four stages of his or her disease expression using the best available homoeopathic tools and resources. Not just that the Stages Template will show you how to make the remedy choices in the right sequence so your progress in the direction of cure is in the

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quickest and most efficient way no matter irrespective of how far your patient chooses to go.

CHAPTER 5- THE STAGES TEMPLATE Pre-requisites before using the Stages Template. There are a few pre-requisites before using the Stages template so you have an optimal setting for a long term clinical success: Respect and honour the exact needs and wants of your patients. 'Be present ' to their evolving state during every step of the treatment process. Acknowledge, accept and appreciate the resistance within you at every step. The more you are able to let go of your own issues, the more the patient will let go of their own as the journey continues. This includes letting go of your fixed ideas of what is right or wrong about a specific modality, therapy, approach or remedy. Recognize your own unique gifts and skills as a homoeopathic practitioner and find ways to collaborate with practitioners in the conventional and alternative world who complement your skills at other stages. Be open to educating yourself on the tools and resources available along the entire spectrum of approaches within homoeopathy.

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The Essential Components of the Stages Template The Clinical disease expression of the patient at each Stage. The Tools and Approaches at each Stage. The Outcome for the Patient at each Stage.

The Clinical disease expression of the patient at each Stage. The Four Types of Clinical Disease Expression that best express and strongly correspond to each Stage.

Clinical Disease Type at Stage 4 Patient is seemingly healthy by conventional definition. The diagnostic tests do not reveal anything abnormal. The client is coping well in the area of health but may express as inability to cope well in certain other areas of life e.g. self-worth, relationship, work, money and live life to the fullest. They express this as some form of discomfort or disease that prevents them from getting what they really want. They can easily connect to their deeper purpose and mission, at the same time struggle with an internal conflict that stops them from getting there. Many show a susceptibility to attract similar situations or experiences. They fall into the pattern of not coping at different times in their lives. That can be traced to an innate predisposition that is either inherited or acquired.

Clinical Disease Type at Stage 3 Patient may seem extremely vulnerable, overwhelmed and sensitive to certain exciting factors related to individual idiocyncracies. They express generalised mental and physical expressions of disturbances along the PNEI axis – PsychoNeuro-Endocrino and immunological axis. There is a plethora of mind body interconnected symptoms such as lack of energy, disturbed sleep patterns, aches and pains, lack of motivation, low

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moods, decreased appetite, lack of concentration, unable to cope with day to day regular demands, etc. Some patients will clinically manifest as susceptibility to recurrent physical symptoms such as infections, nervous sensitivities and hormonal disturbances connected to emotional causes. They can easily connect certain mental and physical states. None of the symptoms can be easily diagnosed as a specific disease. Laboratory tests and check-ups are generally within the normal range but may reveal certain issues e.g. fluctuations in hormonal levels, glucose intolerance.

Clinical Disease Type at Stage 2 The mental and physical symptoms of the patient can now be associated to a specific diagnosis. The patient's is more focussed on the clinical details, reports and investigations about one or more specific systems related to the chief or associated complaint, many of which will be common symptoms. The patient expresses very little connection between mental and physical complaints. Most common examples are asthma, bronchitis, angina, ischemia, hypertension, menorrhagia, dysmenorrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, psoriasis, depression, panic and anxiety disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc. Laboratory tests and Pathological tests will now present with abnormal results and may show structural changes at the tissue level.

Clinical Disease Type at Stage 1 The patient's disease has progressed from functional and cellular changes to show gross pathological changes in the organ or system in the body. The whole focus of the patient is on the signs and symptoms of specific organ damage and secondary changes to related vital organs and systems. There is a separateness between different complaints and parts of the body. Examples are congestive cardiac failure, cirrhosis of liver, glomerular nephritis, peptic ulcers, fibroids in uterus, ovarian cysts ulcerative colitis etc.

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The Tools and approaches at each Stage and the Outcome for the Patient at each Stage. Now let's look at the Homoeopathic Tools and Approaches that I have used in my own practice. I have grouped them into a Stage of their predominant focus. I have also provided the “predominant specialized outcome” they provide a patient.

Stage 1 Approaches Compton Burnett's Organotherapy, Leon Vannier's Drainage, Schuessler's Biochemic System, Detoxification, Isopathy etc.

Outcome at Stage 1 Repairs damage organs and tissues. Improve functionality of organs and systems. Replenishing deficiency. Eliminate toxins in organs and systems.

Stage 2 Approaches Hahnemann's PQRS approach, Therapeutic keynote approach, Herring's three legged stool approach, Boenninghausen's approach of the complete symptom, Boger's pathological generals etc.

Outcome at Stage 2 Management of acute exacerbations of the chronic condition.

Stage 3 Approaches Hahnemann's Chronic disease miasmatic approach, Boenninghausen's Grand Generalisation, Kent's approach with emphasis on Mental symptoms, Modified Kentian approaches such as Jan Scholten's Periodic table Approach, Sankaran's Delusional approach, Eizayaga's triangle, Vijaykar's Genetic Constitutional approach, Divya's Free Association approach, Alize Timmerman's Family factors etc.

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Outcome at Stage 3 3a

Stops further progression of the chronic disease. Reverses the progression of the chronic disease. Reduces the frequency and intensity of acute exacerbations. 3b

Improve physical and emotional state by balancing the PNEI axis. Improving energy and vitality. Reduces tendency to certain predisposing chronic conditions.

Stage 4 Approaches Sankaran's Sensation Approach and Source Approach with emphasis on connecting the patient to the source of their remedy.

Outcome at Stage 4 Generalised wellbeing and Improve ability to cope well in various areas of life such as health, self-worth, relationship, work, money etc. Resolves internal conflict, limiting beliefs and deepest core fears. Ability to breakthrough obstacles and live life to the fullest, resisting stress and illness and performing at their peak potential.

CHAPTER 6-THE BLUE PRINT FOR A SUCCESSFUL HOMOEOPATHIC PRACTICE Stages Template Blue Print – Application in Clinical Practice. Clinical Scenarios Now let me give you some possible clinical scenarios and how I use the Stages Template in my practice.

Linear Protocol Here are four typical presentations in the clinic I have experienced during the first consult. I have provided the most common corresponding desired outcome that the patient wants and the approaches that can be used to provide that outcome. Patient's Clinical Type

Patient's Desired Outcome

Approaches Used At

Type 4

Outcome 4

Stage 4

Type 3

Outcome 3b

Stage 3( Modified Kentian) and Stage 4

Type 2

Outcome 3a and 2

Stage 3 (Traditional) and Stage 2

Type 1

Outcome 1

Stage 1

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The focus here is about not what you want but what the patient wants. Having said that it is not a one dimensional phenomenon. The beauty of this process is that as the patient continues to benefit at every step, their disease expression changes and so does their desired outcome, wants and needs. The best part is there is progressively increasing rapport and trust between the patient and the practitioner at each consult and hence patients are much more open to go further along at the next level. The key is to be in the moment with them at every follow up and be open to make the use of the best available tools and resources at that stage to help them complete their journey.

Crossed Protocol Now let’s look at one common atypical presentation.There are some Patients with clinical type 1 or 2 who may want an Outcome at 3b or 4. In such situations many of us would want to use approaches at Stage 3 or 4. Most remedies that cover the core state and miasm will also resolve the pathology at Stage 1 and 2 to complete the entire process. However in my own experience and the experiences of many successful homoeopaths this process is not just impractical but clinically ineffective. The reason being, although not impossible, there are many intrinsic and extrinsic road blocks related to the homoeopathic case taking process and Materia Medica itself that make it extremely difficult to find a remedy that can match all stages of disease expression in all dimensions in such case. And so the common pitfall is that in spite of the best intention, most homoeopaths end up with a partial remedy that matches just a part of clinical expression at Stage 3 or 4. This remedy may not cover its corresponding evolution of the clinical expression at Stage 1 and 2. So the main pathology shows no response to the remedy. Many hope that having improved the general susceptibility and vitality at the baseline, that will eventually resolve the pathology. However in such cases the pathology is progressing too fast for the wait and watch approach and hence the failure rate can be quite high.

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So this is where the Stages Template offers two solutions that ensure a much better success rate – by simplifying the complex dimension of the case and overcoming obstacles. 1. Use specific approaches at Stage 1 and/or 2 and prescribe remedies that provide Outcome 1 and 2. Eventually the patient's clinical expression changes and he or she is ready for approaches at Stage 3 or 4. This is the key to success of many homoeopaths such as Dr Compton Burnett, Dr Ramkrishnan's Cancer Approach etc. 2. This is used in situations when you are able to use specific approaches at Stage 4 or 3 and find that deeper core remedy but unable to confirm if this remedy matches your case expressions at Stage 1 and 2. Here you use the deeper core remedy along with the organ remedies. This is an extremely useful protocol in certain situations when the pathology isn't progressing very rapidly. I have witness many beautiful cases in my hospital OPD that responded well to this protocol The key is to make sure that the remedies in both groups are used at separate times, in different potencies to ensure they act specifically at different planes and organs of affinity.

Application of the Stages Template - The Difference it Made Today the Stages Template has helped me over the years to build a successful and fulfilling practice. It has helped me connect with my patients as never before and witness so many healing journeys no matter what stage my patients chose to go. The best part is that it ensures I respect my patient's needs and wants at every step of the way and remain ok with it. You see patients will choose to start and end their journey at different points in the process. Some will continue only until their acute exacerbation is resolved or surgery is averted. This was the aspect of homoeopathy that I have witnessed in the surgical wards and rural clinics in India. Some go further until their entire chronic disease is resolved so they can taper their medications.

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Interestingly today an increasing number of my patients are choosing to continue their journey even after the real disease is gone. This is the realm of coaching where I have found a fascinating potential of homoeopathic remedies as tools to create a deeper transformation. It is a privilege to these patients lead a fuller, happier life resisting stress and illness. To be able to overcome their problems and meet their goals to the best of their innate potential and abilities. This is the untapped aspect of homoeopathy that definitely needs further research. So as a homoeopathic practitioner we have choices today as never before in the history of this modality. We can find our own gifts and purpose and provide our own way of homeopathy for our clients. And doing this we can build not just a successful but a highly fulfilling practice. Where your patients appreciate you for providing them the best of what you are, no matter how far they go with you.

CHAPTER 7 – CONCLUSION AND WHAT NEXT? How the Stages concept changed my Homoeopathy This whole concept actually widened my horizons and made me a better person before it made me a better homeopath. It was no longer a case taking but case receiving by creating a relaxed space for patients to just be. Rather than struggling to look for different ways to get to the core based on a strategy I wanted to go with, I generally let them take me as deep as they want to go and work with what they offer. In fact, this process actually helped me reach the core of my client much more easily than ever before as the atmosphere and the energy eases in the room immediately. Thus going back into the basics of evolution of homeopathic concepts can also help us widen our definition of homeopathy and use the full potential of homeopathy. It helps us work at a stage where our patient is willing to go rather than restricting the application of homeopathy for him due to our lack of flexibility. Homeopathy is a process and there is not just one way of looking at a case or fixing yourself to one strategy. So, in a way, no case can be called incomplete as long as the homeopath has made a conscious effort to evolve through the stages with his patient.

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Once you have the data, you can decide the approach, understanding the pros and cons of your case and flexibly adapt into the corresponding resources to provide the best homeopathy can offer for your case. This can be effectively communicated to the patient and mutual expectations are clarified and updated.

Homoeopathy Network It has been a privilege to connect with you along with thousands of homoeopathic practitioners all over the world through this book. And thank you for being a part of my Homoeopathy Network. My vision is to empower every homoeopathic practitioner bridge the gap in their knowledge and provide the best for their clients. It’s exciting when as a community we can connect, grow, share and change lives in different corners of the world. Today the Stages template has helped hundreds of my students in my courses and mentoring program create simple effective protocols for their clients that boosts their baseline success both in the short and long term. And the best part is it enables practitioner to create a long term relationship with their patients so that more and more patients are committed to complete the healing. At the same time it brings the best out of every practitioner by empowering them, and tapping into their unique strengths and gifts. The resources in the Homeopathic Network are created to help you use the Stages template so you create the similar success in your own practice. Through this book I've given you the roap and the blue print to do this. All you need is plug in your own brilliance and follow the steps to adapt it into your brand of integrative homoeopathy. I wish you an extremely successful and fulfilling practice.

I would love to keep in touch with you! Hope you have enjoyed reading this book as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I always wanted to be a part of a community where homoeopaths at all stages share and learn from each other.

Chapter 7 – Conclusion and What Next?

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Eventually in September 2012, I started a community of like minded Homoeopaths within my Homoeopathic Network called QuestConnect. Thanks to incredible , I have seen it grow exactly into what I had envisioned... Quest Connect is a part of my vision to create a safe environment for a close knit community, •

Where every type of homoeopathic practitioner is welcome no matter what approach they use in homoeopathy.

•

Where you feel safe to connect, network and share ideas.

•

Where you can share your ups and downs that only another homoeopath can truly understand.

•

Where you can seek and encouragement from other practitioners when you feel the need to.

•

Where you can share your commitment, dreams, wants and experiences in anything homeopathic under the Sun

•

And where you can always find that little extra something to help you not lose momentum.

Having said that QuestConnect is only for those practitioners and students of homeopathy who are ionate, dedicated and really keen to share, learn and grow, who believe in mutual respect for fellow homeopaths, and are open to accept and express views on anything homeopathic without judgement in any form whatsoever. Today I sincerely wish to send you as my privileged reader an exclusive invitation to become a member of this exciting community. The hip of QuestConnect is completely free. Simply by clicking here But there are a few unique things about Quest Connect * The subscription is exclusively "by invitation" only. What this means is that no one can Quest Connect unless send their close homeopathic

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When Your Favourite Approach Does Not Work

friends and colleagues a personal invitation. So this makes it an exclusive only club for Homoeopathic Practitioners. * It is only open to ed Practitioners and students studying homoeopathy. * The Forums are private and not visible to general public. Hence it is my honour and privilege to send you my personal invitation to become a part of Quest Connect Family. Simply by clicking here Thanks and Warmest Regards,

Shilpa Bhouraskar Sydney, Australia PS: Don't forget to read my personal experience on QuestConnect in the articles section. That's where I share that one critical step in my journey as a homeopath which helped me create a successful practice even after I had changed my base 5-6 times in a span of seven years in my early practice. And believe me it had nothing to do with my knowledge and skillset. Read about my story on Quest Connect now in the articles - Do what it takes to keep the momentum. Simply by clicking here