In my office I hear the most amazing stories. I am often humbled, amazed, inspired, and awed by my clients’ lives. Everyone has a story and some are much easier to hear than others. It is hard for me when I hear stories of trauma or abuse on any level, but I am often amazed by our human ability to overcome and be incredibly strong and independent citizens even after horrific tales in our past. A good majority of clients end up in my office after having tried many other modalities of both eastern and western medicine and I am consistently impressed by the amount of mental and emotional healing I see with Homeopathy even when more standard practices (medications or therapy) have failed.
An old wound of mine has recently been reopened by a case that is currently unfolding in my community. It has been challenging, but I am aware that I am continuing to learn and grow because of it. I have my own children now and perhaps that is why this is hitting home in a new way, but it has also caused me to re-visit many of the stories of the traumas that I have heard in my office. Since this re-opening of my wound, I have felt not only mentally but physically unwell. Old injuries have been talking to me, I have been tired, congested, and just generally not feeling myself. It seems to me that my body is remembering the physical pain and symptomatology that I had when the emotional wounds occurred.
One of the many questions I ask in my initial interview with a client is “Do you have any significant traumas in your past?”. Those who have been to years of counseling or therapy can often list them in a bullet format. There are a few who don’t know of what I am speaking and I have to say something to the effect of “maybe a bad car accident or a rape”. With further questioning I often find that a lot of the reasons that they have for seeing me may have started not long after the trauma occurred (assuming they have one or more) and it is sometimes the first time they have associated the physical, mental, or emotional symptoms with that certain event.
If it is a clear one time trauma such as a car accident, it can often be easy to see what anxieties or physical ailments stemmed from the trauma, how long they lasted, and what he or she needed to heal. If it is more complex such as a verbally or physically abusive parent, or an incestuous relationship that was not necessarily “forced” it may be much harder to clearly delineate what came from where. There are patterns of guilt and shame as well as anger or even hatred mixed in with love that can lead toward depression, anxiety, and a multitude of other symptoms. All these emotions intermingling can be very confusing and hard to express verbally to a partner or friend even years after the trauma has ceased.
Homeopathy heals at a deep level. The clinical diagnosis or specific symptom doesn’t matter, what matters is the way the person is experiencing their symptoms and how well I can grasp their story and apply my knowledge. More often than not, I see people’s wounds fill in, their anxiety and depression decrease, and an overall sense of well being overcome them when the right homeopathic remedy is given. It is a wonderful feeling to help someone on that level and I continue to be thankful that I have found my way to this profession.
When compared to therapy, homeopathy takes much less time and is financially less committing (though not covered by INS), but it cannot be a replacement when abuse or significant trauma is involved. In my interview I don’t spend time working through how the trauma made the client feel or what shifts in their thinking need to take place in order to heal. Sometimes these things will happen on their own with the stimulation from a remedy, but I highly encourage my clients to work with a therapist in addition to homeopathy. I have found that body work such as massage is also very helpful when dealing with sexual or physical abuse. It’s amazing the trauma that the physical body can hold onto.
Sometimes I am the first person to ever hear the story of the trauma(s) that occurred. While I am honored that they trust me enough to answer honestly (and most of the time this is the first time we have met), it is so sad to me that even in this day and age many do not speak out and address the wrongs happening in our society quickly and with the authorities. The statistics on rape in this country are appalling to me. What really hurts is the fact that almost half the victims are under 18. We need to support the victims and empower our children to speak up if and when anything inappropriate happens to them. We need to be hyper-aware of our children’s whereabouts and the adults with whom we leave them.
Healing is a wonderful thing and I am glad to have found myself in a profession where I can facilitate it, but wouldn’t it be better if we could prevent the wounds from happening in the first place?
