An Interview with Lydia Belanger, Homeopath
Fertile Heart Interviews Homeopath, Lydia Belynger:
F.H.: What is a homeopath and what does homeopathy mean to you?
A homeopath is a person who practices a type of medicine called homeopathy. A homeopath can be a medical doctor, a chiropractor, some other type of health care provider like a physician's assistant or acupuncturist, or a lay practitioner.
A lay practitioner of homeopathy is someone who practices homeopathy professionally but is not licensed as a health care provider. In this country that is legal as long as you do not promise a cure, prescribe medicine that requires a prescription, or discourage someone from seeing a medical doctor if the need should arise. The title that I use is holistic Health Consultant which helps people to understand that, although I am advising them on health issues, I am not practicing medicine.
The practice of homeopathy means a great deal to me. I was cured of a serious health problem many years ago by a homeopath. I undertook the independent study of homeopathy soon after that cure and studied until I was confident enough to begin my practice. I was the first lay practitioner openly practicing in my state and although there have been others since, I am the only lay practitioner still in practice here. Being a homeopath is my source of income, my identity, my health insurance for myself and my family, and my life's work. I would continue to practice homeopathy even if I could no longer be paid for it.
F.H.:What are some of the key concepts of homeopathy?
The first is, "Do no harm." This means that it may be acceptable not to be able to alleviate a person's illness but it is never acceptable to cause them harm physically or emotionally.
Another important concept of homeopathy is the avoidance of suppression. Suppression is caused when you use a medicine that does not allow the body to exhibit the symptoms it is trying to use to tell you that it is sick. when you suppress your symptoms it is comparable to cutting the wire to the oil light in your car when you are low on oil. when you cut the wire, you will no longer be bothered by the oil warning light, but that does not mean that you are not out of oil.
I try to help people to heal naturally rather than having then mask or cover up symptoms that indicate that their body is out of balance. My main concern is always the long term well-being of the individual and to secure that, I will support them in homeopathic or allopathic medicine. The person- not the philosophy always comes first in my practice.
F.H.: How does homeopathy work along with mainstream medicine?
I work with people with all types of illness from mild to life-threatening. (like AIDS and late stage cancer). It is important that I can work along with mainstream medicine and advise people when they need to see an allopathic physician. From doing many thousands of cases and because of my intuition, I can often advise a person on what path to take when they are afraid or ill. Yesterday a mother called me asking for a remedy for a child that had a 102.9 degree fever in the morning. The child seemed to be doing fairly well, but I felt that a high fever that early in the morning meant that there was a serious problem. I asked the mother to take the child to the doctor immediately. She did and the child had pneumonia and needed to be on antibiotics.
Personally and for my family, we use homeopathy whenever possible, but we definitely use mainstream medical doctors for any serious illness or injury and for regular check-ups like pap tests.
F.H.: What is a homeopathic appointment like with you? What is the client's role?
The homeopathic procedure is quite time-consuming. The initial appointment
takes about 1-1/2 hour and after that the client has monthly follow-up appointments with me that that take about 1/2 an hour. Often during the month they will call me if they are ill or have questions.
In the appointment, I ask the client a great many questions about their health problems, their physical and emotional history, their habits, and the circumstances of their lives. During that time especially because most of my work is done on the phone - I am typing their case notes into my computer and graphing their different symptoms so that I can pick an appropriate remedy out of the 2,000 remedies currently available. It is an extremely interesting and thought-provoking experience for both the practitioner and the client.
The client's role in healing is to provide me with detailed and often very personal information that can be difficult or upsetting to relate. The client then needs to be compliant which means that they must follow the remedy instructions that I give them carefully and faithfully. Non- compliance is the number one problem in homeopathy as well as in regular medical practice. If a person does not do what is suggested it is difficult - if not impossible - to help them.
F.H. What are some of the most frequent ailments you deal with?
The presenting conditions that I see vary greatly. In the beginning of my practice I tried to limit my practice to emotional and physical problems that were not too serious. As I got better at what I do, the range of illnesses expanded. I do many pediatric cases (children) including minor and severe illnesses and injuries. I wor with all ranges of physical illness and depending on what the case is, I am often working with medical
doctors, alternative practitioners (like acupuncturists, Chinese herbalists, and massage therapists), as well as psychotherapists.
F.H.:What tools does the client need?
When a client is really involved in homeopathy or plans to be very involved, they will have their own homeopathic kit at home. The kit I prefer comes from a company called Boiron and contains 33 remedies, 2 salves, 2 tinctures, and a box of flu remedy. The kit costs about $75 with shipping and is ordered from a homeopathic pharmacy. It is good to have because in homeopathy you want to treat illnesses as early as possible and it can be difficult in some areas of the country to get a homeopathic remedy quickly. I also encourage my clients to take notes about what I tell them so that they can do basic self-treatment (like Arnica for a bruise) without calling me.
F.H.:How would you treat someone who had menstrual cramps, dizziness, and a headache?
To know what type of remedy a person would need for menstrual cramps, dizziness, and a headache, I would need more information about their symptoms (when they occur, what makes them better or worse, what treatments have previously been used, etc.). The remedy Colocynthis is one that is used widely for cramping or contraction of smooth muscle, but the problem could be caused by an ovarian cyst, endometriosis, poor diet, or a number of other things. More information would give me more clues and also alert me to whether the person should see a medical doctor for a pap test, sonogram, whether they should have a dietary consultation or some other diagnostic work.
If I have the information I need and the client starts taking a remedy, s/he could experience any number of body responses which I monitor. S/he could feel better instantly, or might feel worse for a short while and then improve, or could have no effect from the remedy.
F.H.: What about the idea that one has to get worse before one gets better?
It is true that homeopathic aggravation is possible when you are taking homeopathic remedies. Aggravation means that your symptoms may increase temporarily before they improve. This can be adjusted easily by a good practitioner by changing the frequency or the strength of the remedy.Therefore, it is not necessary for the pain or symptoms to get worse, but it is true that this could occur. It is not necessarily a bad thing as long as it is not too uncomfortable for the client and as long as they are informed about the process.
Aggravation occurs because healing is a bell curve and to get to the far side or healthy side of a bell curve you may need to pass through the high point of the bell curve briefly before wellness can occur. Even little children that are familiar with homeopathy can recognize and appreciate an aggravation as part of the healing process. If they have an earache and the correct remedy is given they may say, "Mommy, I know my earache is getting better because it started hurting worse after the remedy." Remember that an aggravation lasts a short time and is totally different than the progression of an illness or disease state where things get worse and stay worse.
F.H.: How long does homeopathic treatment take?
The usual course of treatment with homeopathy varies greatly. One of the great homeopaths said that healing occurs roughly at the rate of one month for every year that you were ill with that disease. This is a guideline, but I feel that healing often takes place much more quickly when appropriate remedies are given. It is not uncommon for me to see a person's main complaint gone or markedly better by their first follow-up at one month.
F.H.: What takes place in the homeopathic interview?
The homeopathic interview is very extensive and very personal. It requires that I ask questions about the person's emotional and physical state. The rapport and trust between homeopath and the client is critical as is the client's knowledge that all the information they are giving is completely confidential even from other family members (as with any medical practice.) Often people will cry in an interview.I have heard many interesting stories. Some of them make me very sad and I myself have shed tears during interviews especially when I work with adults who experienced physical or sexual abuse as children. I have heard some things in interviews that disgust me, but very little shocks me. My role is to be a problem solver not a judge as that is not my right. I try to treat all my clients with respect and compassion and they seem to know this and respond in kind. I love my work.
F.H.: How did you first come into contact with homeopathy?
I first experienced homeopathic medicine seventeen years ago when I babysat for a naturopathic doctor's daughter. He would bring me little vials of remedies to give her if she had a stomachache or was stung by a bee. Although I knew almost nothing about homeopathy, I saw that the remedies were effective.
F.H.:What is your favorite homeopathic experience?
I have had so many wonderful experiences with homeopathy over the years that it would be hard to pick a favorite. I feel like I see miracles every day. In 1990, my husband fell while building our house and got a horrible injury to his arm that required 80 stitches. It was a twenty minute ride to the nearest hospital even with a friend driving at the top speed possible on country roads. I had major difficulty stopping the bleeding from such a huge wound, and I truly believe that the only thing that got the bleeding stopped was the remedies we had grabbed from my husband's truck before we left.
F.H.: How has practicing homeopathy changed you?
Practicing homeopathy has changed me tremendously over the years. I have learned a great deal about disease and how it progresses. I have also learned a lot about human nature. I have learned how to use the remedies effectively and how to step back when it is clear that I can do nothing else but give someone emotional support. I have learned to be incredibly grateful for my health, my family, my intelligence, and my ability to make a good living doing something that I love so much.
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