victorian college of classical homoeopathy

8/8/2019 Victorian College of Classical Homoeopathy

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Victorian College of Classical Homoeopathy,

WHAT IS CURE?

By Grant Bentley, March 2007

This second instalment discusses the concept of cure and its relationship to chronicdisease. Early Hom opaths could talk liberally about cure because for the majority of time they were dealing with acute disease. However with chronic disease the term"cure" seems less appropriate because as Hahnemann explained, chronic disease isinfluenced by the miasm which is an inherited fault or groove that shows itself in timesof stress.

For most people chronic disease begins when energy levels drop below a certain point.Miasmatic weakness means we are all born with inherited strengths and weaknesses that

require energy for normal functioning. Areas that are weak require more energy fromthe body to maintain normal levels of functioning than strong areas. Therefore if your liver has normal functioning capability but your kidneys are inherently weak, your kidneys require more vital force to maintain normal levels than your liver. In times of stress when excessive energy is being used there is less vital force available to supplythe kidneys with the extra energy they need and as a consequence energy dysfunctionthrough signs and symptoms begins to manifest.

When examining the biography of patients with chronic disease, they often highlighthow signs and symptoms of the present condition exhibited themselves momentarily inthe past. For example a patient with chronic migraines in a highly stressed position or after the stress of childbirth explains how they were migraine free for years until this

recent period. Many also explain how they had sporadic migraines in their teens or intheir last year of school or in a pressured situation such as exams, a new job, marriageor the end of a relationship.

The fact that migraines or kidney dysfunction is returning shows the patient is onceagain under stress. This is not Hering's Law of cure and is not to be seen as a positivesign. This return of old symptoms is due entirely to the fact that the patient is usingmore vital force or vital energy and diminishing the reserves needed to supply their weak miasmatic areas.

Understanding chronic disease in this manner brings the whole question of "cure" intothe spotlight and throws the concept open for debate. We know our medicines areenergetic and we know they supply a chronically energetically deficient patient with thevital force or energy they require. This is why patients who are run down tired and in

pain, begin to feel symptom free energetic and alive after the administration of theappropriate remedy, but there is a very significant point that needs highlighting. If thistreated patient feeling good and free under the remedy places themselves in a situationwhere they are using more energy through work, stress, anxiety or grief than they can

produce, their signs and symptoms without Hom opathic treatment will return. Whatthis shows is Hahnemann's perception of a miasm as an inherited weakness such as

psora being the "fault" or "groove" is accurate, but whether or not this fault or groove


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never responding to emotion or events is wrong and yet that is the only way we couldremain uninfluenced by life. Hom opathic remedies supply us with the vital force weneed to maintain normal functioning during times of stress. When stressful periods re-occur and more energy is required, signs and symptoms will re-emerge becauseexcessive energy has been expended and from our point of view another remedy isneeded - this is not palliation.

Suppression is when after the administration of a remedy, presenting signs andsymptoms are replaced by stronger more dangerous symptoms than before.

Viewing the treatment of chronic disease as a process of balance has none of thehallmarks of suppression or palliation. Correct treatment improves health and vitality aswell as diminishes symptoms and often removes them altogether. A return of oldchronic symptoms after the previously successful administration of a remedy should not

be viewed as failure or suppression or removal of a layer. It is simply that the balance of outward energy to inward energy has been tipped and needs to be replaced by a remedy.

Grant Bentley Grant has been working and studying in various fields of natural therapies since 1987.Grant's qualifications include Hom opathy, Naturopathy, Clinical Hypnosis and a PostGraduate Diploma in Eriksonian Psychotherapy. Grant is the current Principal andsenior lecturer of the Victorian College of Classical Hom opathy, a position he hasheld since 1995.

His first book, Appearance and Circumstance details the nature of miasms and howfacial analysis can be used to determine the patient's dominant miasm. His second book released in 2006, Hom opathic Facial Analysis continues this work with detaileddescriptions and examples of facial analysis. Further research on how miasms influenceus in our daily lives and define our individuality will be published in his third work in2007. Grant continues to teach, give seminars and see patients through both the collegeand his private clinic.

Grant has lectured in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Europe and the UnitedStates.

F INDING THE "REAL" PATIENT - The value of totality

By Grant Bentley, September 2009

Contemporary clinical thinking is entrenched in the idea that in order to understand thetrue nature of another person, we must move beyond the presenting personality touncover the inner true character, which is separate from the false external veneer. But itis limiting to assume that a person's initial presenting personality is somehow not as realas the personality that unfolds over the course of time. Both aspects are just as real andas honest as each other. The deeper aspects of character that unfold over time anddevelop because of trust are more revered than the more observable exterior


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temperament but that does not mean it is more authentic.

The clich of another person dropping their guard so 'the real you' can come out, is amisunderstanding of the multi-faceted social nature of human character. How a person

behaves is always genuine and true to their nature. If they are light in demeanour at firstmeeting but deep once you get to know them, that totality is their character. If a patient

is easy going most of the time but angry occasionally, both aspects are their true nature.The deep is not truer than the surface nor is single positive trait more the real personthan other behaviours. If we accept the idea that only the deeper more intimate aspectsof character are the ones that are true and genuine, our picture of a person becomes justas distorted as only taking the lighter parts of them.

Everyone has the drive to be accepted and to be understood and we all have fears. But people are more than the sum of their fears. It is true that many people have anunderlying self belief that is negative and often impacting, but to focus on one aspect of temperament is to misunderstand the holistic character of nature.

Nature uses repeating patterns to create individual structures that in turn create thewhole. If Mother Nature is anything at all, she is productive, thrifty and economical.She uses the same building blocks in different numbers, patterns and forms to createliving and non-living matter. For example, differentiated cells take on specific functionsyet primarily each cell is the same. Protons, neutrons and electrons make up all matter regardless of how simple or how complex the end structure. In the human body eachcell is tagged and marked irrespective of function and importance. The cells of our liver,kidneys or lungs are marked with the same identification tag as our skin hair and teeth.

The idea that the hidden and internal is somehow more important and unique is not inkeeping with observations we make every day. In reality our external is just as uniqueand as identifying as our 'deep inner self'. For example finger prints are just as unique asany aspect of our character and are used in many situations to identify an individual.Another identifying part of who we are is our face. Our face is external and on the

periphery yet nothing physically expresses or connects us to other people more than our face. In a crowd we can spot our family and friends from a sea of other people becauseof the unique character of the face.

The hermetic tablet states as above so below and the simple foundations of natureconfirm this truth. In reference to nature's workings and rules, what applies to oneapplies to all. This means the outer is no less a display of our whole and truthful natureas the deeper more hidden aspects of self. If this was not the case holism as a conceptwould be irrelevant and the law of similars wouldn't work.

The law of similars is the bedrock of homeopathy. For the law of similars to be realizedtotality must be the key priority. Only through totality of single elements can the whole picture be discovered. When we repertorise it is important to remember that eachsymptom represents in its own language the whole. Understanding this concept meansacknowledging that no symptom is ever irrelevant.

Sometimes valuable rubrics are ignored in the search for something the practitioner perceives is deeper and more meaningful. However each rubric is an expression of thesame underlying stress. Symptoms show different body systems expressing the same


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pain. This is why totality in remedy selection is so valuable and effective. Remedychoices made on single symptoms may give the impression of being more 'core' andaccurate, but is this true holism? Single rubric selections can sometimes be as effectiveas totality if the core of the case is properly understood - but they are not more effectivethan the whole.

This principle also applies to the mentals of the case. The trend of going beyond what isobvious and presenting can be quite detrimental to the clinical process particularly inreference to time. Going beyond the obvious, mainly in regards to the search for mentalrubrics, can turn what should be an hour long constitutional consultation, into a casetaking marathon of two or three hours. This does not mean all the effort is in vain but dothese long consultations achieve results any better than taking a case properly in anhour? If the same result can be achieved through a shorter and more straightforward

process it is in the best interests of both the patient and the practitioner.

So the question now becomes, how can the energetic crux of a case be uncovered in ashorter space of time? And the answer lies in the patient's biography.

A patient's biography will quickly uncover a pattern of stress. The sum total of eventsthat have occurred in a patient's life has formed who they are. Stress and its impact isnever subtle. Stress is like a workout at the gym; the less the workout - the less theresult, the harder the work out - the greater the result. A ten minute lazy walk has adifferent impact on the body than running for an hour. A daily routine of yoga or weights influences and shapes the body, each in its own unique way, the occasional

push up does not.

When a patient comes into the clinic afflicted with a chronic disease, it is important toremember the natural law of cause and effect. This means pathology will be in direct

proportion to the stress that created it. In cases where the pathology is strong and adominant feature of the case, there is no need to search for the hidden or subtle. Thelaws of nature mean equal and opposite regardless of whether it is in relation to the

physical - like the laws of motion or the metaphysical like karma. In health and illnessthe same rules apply. When a patient presents with a pathology - the cause will be in

proportion to the illness; the more obvious the pathology - the more obvious the stress.

Physical form is shaped in accordance to the pressure exerted on to it. Too much foodand we grow fat in proportion to how much we have eaten. If we do weights our muscles are sculpted, if we stretch we become supple and if we run our aerobic fitnessimproves in proportion to effort. When physical form is altered by disease the outcomewill be in proportion to the cause. If the symptoms of a chronic disease are subtle so toowill be its cause but if the chronic disease is destructive and obvious the cause will be

evident.A simple way to identify the cause of a chronic disease is to get the patient to recounttheir biography. Stress in their life will often repeat and the more it is repeated the moreimpact it will have had. A patient presenting with a severe chronic disease willcommonly have a history of a repeating stress. The early childhood home may have astory of violence or addiction, which is then repeated in adult life. If a patient's life

pattern revolves around alcohol then 'alcoholism' is a meaningful mental rubric, if their life stress is underpinned by violence then the rubric 'violence' is chosen. Whenever a


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repeating pattern occurs, that pattern becomes a rubric in the case because that pattern isthe cause of the stress that in turn is the cause of the chronic disease.

If a repeating stress isn't obvious sometimes a single extreme stress will havecommenced the progress of the patient's illness and still be the maintaining cause - anever been well since situation. But more commonly stress is part of an ongoing pattern.

Stress can come in different forms and may be a mental stress, an emotional stress or a physical stress.

Rubric selection can be straight forward and obvious - in keeping with nature's laws. If we move away from these laws or try to outsmart them, the real person can elude usmaking the clinical process infinitely more difficult.

TOTALITY AND THE REMEDY - the lock and thekey

By Louise Barton, February 2008

Hom opathy is a unique system of treatment because it both distinguishes and relies onthe totality of symptoms. Hahnemann stressed totality in the Organon, and hom opathsfrom that time till now have taken up the challenge of finding totality by using differentways to determine the entirety of a case. Totality is both the strength and weakness of our system; understanding totality means the core of the problem is being observed andthen treated, however discovering this central part is so often a difficult task.

There are two challenging areas that the hom opath must conquer. One is how todetermine the totality of a case and the other is how to match that totality to a remedy. Itis easy to go astray in either of these areas, and until the practitioner is practiced it iscommon to experience difficulty in not only seeing the lock but also in finding the key.

Totality can be understood by looking at our patient in a number of different ways

y Physical totality - their pathology and physical reactions to their environmenty Emotional totality - their feelings, reactions and sensationsy Mental totality - their delusion or sense of reality about their lifey Lifestyle - diet, habits and environment

Each of these is a valid way to look at a patient's totality. Conventional medicineconcentrates on the physical manifestation of the patient, naturopaths on lifestyle andhealth, counselors on emotional presentation combined with lifestyle, and psychologists

on both the emotional and mental aspects of their patients. Hom opaths, knowing thattotality includes everything, take on the task of analysing as many of these areas as possible. Some hom opathic practitioners concentrate on one or two of these areasexcluding the others - many combine all four to find the totality. Our task becomes achallenging one - each of these areas demands a full professional qualification and yearsof study - how can we understand all of them and interpret them correctly?

Objectivity and Subjectivity


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those circumstances. Another example is jealousy. A patient may not be jealousthemselves but tell of two or more episodes where another person was so jealous itaffected them greatly - we use the rubric 'Mind - jealousy'. There are numerous ways wecan use mental rubrics by circumstance rather than by feeling. Using objectivity rather than subjectivity is both surprisingly easy and yields excellent results.

We have covered physical structure and life circumstance. The other area of importanceis the physiology of the body - how does the person interact with their environment andhow is their body functioning? Their presenting pathology is what brings them to thehom opath and if this pathology yields any repeating patterns this information isimportant - worse at night, better for cold, worse before menses - any of these examplesis a pattern linked to the pathology - known as a general. General symptoms areobjective. If we also add the generals of the patient not related directly to the pathology- for example craves meat, aversion fruit, worse cold, perspiration on exertion, rightsided - we have a number of objective symptoms to make up the totality of our case.

Once we understand the difference between objectivity and subjectivity we can learn tofind the lock and the key without years of experience based on feelings andinterpretation.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle deserves a special mention. Hahnemann referred to problems in this area as being 'obstacles to cure' rather than the totality upon which the choice of remedydepends. Often a patient has attempted to improve their lifestyle especially in regard todiet or exercise but still finds it isn't enough to change the core of their disturbance.Often they feel improvement for a short time but symptoms will return or their willpower isn't sufficient to maintain the lifestyle change.

We frequently see patients take up a new lifestyle after a successful remedy is given.The remedy allows their willpower to surface and if they feel inclined and know what todo they will improve the outcome even more by changing their lifestyle. As

practitioners we know the remedy chosen triggered the positive outcome but without theappropriate matching lifestyle change the full effect of the remedy will not be realised.

The remedy

The easiest way to successfully find a remedy that matches the totality of our patient'scase is through repertorising. Every profession has its tools and to practice hom opathyeffectively we need certain tools too. The following are vital to successful clinical

practice

y Computer y Repertorisation softwarey Digital cameray Materia medica

Once we have the totality of the case we take this totality and choose rubrics thatrealistically convey the specific parts of that totality. If we choose the rubrics based onobservation then the remedy will be present in our final repertorisation. Six to eight


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direct proportion to the energy of the patient. The less energy the patient has, the worsetheir symptoms will be. Rarely does a chronic disease develop without some sort of stress or tension before hand. This is Newton's third law of motion - to every actionthere is a reaction.

In his chapter titled 'Why is cancer incurable', Kent concludes that because we focus on

the disease, rather than on the person, cancer as well as other chronic diseases continueto remain difficult or impossible to cure. To know the patient from childhood toadulthood is the only way we can treat chronic disease, because it is a balancing act. Bygetting to know the patient and all their stresses, we are finding out what has drainedtheir energy, so we can replace it with the appropriate remedy.

Chronic disease is chronic exhaustion. We are all born with strengths and weaknessesdefined by the dominant miasm we inherit. These areas of weakness show themselvesduring times of stress because they require more energy to maintain normal functioning.Organic functioning must remain within certain parameters and when the energy of anorgan is substandard, the vital force will supplement that organ or area with theadditional energy it needs. During times of stress however, the additional energy itnormally supplies is no longer available.

If this interruption of vital energy is transient, there is no long-term damage, but if thedisruption of vital force continues, these areas of miasmatic weakness becomeobservable pathology. This is why chronic complaints are always worse when tired or stressed. The longer the tension or exhaustion continues the more entrenched and deepthe pathology becomes. Therefore, our repertorisation must include the circumstancessurrounding the patient, that is, what is draining their energy, as well as the generals of the case.

Kent was a master of constitutional prescribing and stressed the importance of the patient's life story. I have found this information invaluable in my own clinic andemploy this technique in every case of chronic disease. Each case is a two-fold process,first is the physical complaint, complete with modalities and sensations. A head to toecheck up is then conducted in the form of extensive and detailed questioning. Next, I getthe person's life story. This biography includes, the patient's home life, their relationshipwith their parents and other siblings, their school life, what they did after school, their relationship with their wife or husband, as well as a comprehensive examination of themajor stresses they have endured. From these events and circumstances, I look for trends because biographical trends make far better mental rubrics than emotionalresponses.

For example, a woman is suffering from chronic inflammatory arthritis, worse in the

evening. She has gastric reflux also worse at night, and her menses are painful andexhausting. In her childhood, her mother and father always argued so too did her sisters.Her relationship with her husband is tense and they are always arguing. They fight

because he reminds her of her father as they both have quick tempers and are critical.Two years ago, just before her arthritis began, she was forced to leave her job by her

boss, who tormented her and insulted her in front of her fellow workers.

The repertorisation for this woman would include rubrics such as


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1. Inflammation in the joints2. Heartburn3. < Night4. Painful menses5. Censorious6. Quarrelsome

In Australia, there is a current tendency to analyise the personal experience. This meansemphasizing the emotions experienced by an event rather than capturing the event itself.While this technique is common practice, I personally find it unstable in its clarity andchoose not to use it. Turning biographical trends into rubrics gives far greater securityand prescribing accuracy.

Grant Bentley Grant has been working and studying in various fields of natural therapies since 1987.Grant's qualifications include Hom opathy, Naturopathy, Clinical Hypnosis and a PostGraduate Diploma in Eriksonian Psychotherapy. Grant is the current Principal andsenior lecturer of the Victorian College of Classical Hom opathy, a position he hasheld since 1995.

His first book, Appearance and Circumstance details the nature of miasms and howfacial analysis can be used to determine the patient's dominant miasm. His second book released in 2006, Hom opathic Facial Analysis continues this work with detaileddescriptions and examples of facial analysis. Further research on how miasms influenceus in our daily lives and define our individuality will be published in his third work in2007. Grant continues to teach, give seminars and see patients through both the collegeand his private clinic.

Grant has lectured in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Europe and the UnitedStates.

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