AAP

Association for the
Advancement of Psychosynthesis

HOMEOPATHY: A Natural Complement to Spiritual Psychologies

Amidst the recent popularity of St. John's Wort and supplements such as DHEA and 5-HTP for the treatment of depression, there is one form of "alternative" treatment that has yet to be fully discovered by the mental health field: homeopathy. Those who know something about homeopathy most likely associate it with medical and not psychological problems. However, homeopathy actually offers enormous potential for healing in the psychospiritual realm.

Although I have used quotations in referring to homeopathy as an "alternative", I personally do not view homeopathy as an alternative treatment. Alternative implies there is something else available that could do the same thing. And to the best of my knowledge, there is nothing that can do what homeopathy does. It is a truly unique form of treatment that has something to offer all of the health care disciplines. And even though its principles resonate deeply with Eastern thought, surprisingly its origins are in the West.

Homeopathy is very close to my heart. After 25 years of exploring various spiritual psychologies to offset the limitations of my medical and psychiatric training, I have finally come home to homeopathy. I found my "calling" in this obscure and mysterious form of treatment discovered by Samuel Hahnemann some 200 years ago. From the start of my passionate pursuit of this healing art, I was struck by how homeopathy is a perfect "natural" complement to the spiritual psychologies.

To begin, let me say that homeopathy is an energetic form of treatment based on the Law of Similars, or "like cures like." Homeopathic remedies are made from natural substances (plants, animals, minerals) and are prepared in a specific way that captures the energetic properties of the substance while leaving behind any material substance. When a particular remedy is administered to a group of healthy people (called a "proving"), it will generate a unique array of symptoms - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual - all of which have been catalogued into volumes of Materia Medica. When this remedy is administered to an unhealthy person suffering from some combination of that unique array of symptoms, the energetic resonance between the remedy and the person's life force will bring about a cure. Like cures like. Paradoxical and mysterious as it sounds, we have over 200 years of cured cases to support that it works.

The first and foremost aspect of homeopathic treatment is that it is holistic. A classical homeopathic evaluation will explore the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of a person's life in an effort to see the whole picture. And a homeopathic remedy is selected to treat the "totality of symptoms." In this regard, a homeopath treats the whole person rather than any given symptom or disease. For example, a person's childhood asthma, parent's divorce at age 12, alcohol abuse in late 20's and spiritual awakening at age 36 are all reflections of the same essence. In homeopathy, the emphasis is on seeing the essence and promoting wholeness.

A second aspect of homeopathic treatment is that a remedy which resonates with the whole person will initiate a curative process. This is in marked contrast to the majority of allopathic (i.e., conventional) treatments which are palliative or suppressive. A successful homeopathic treatment will support and activate the organism's innate healing powers to bring about the needed healing. Instead of viewing a disease as an enemy to be conquered, a homeopath will view it as an indication that the body is trying to heal itself. And a correctly chosen remedy will work with the disease to bring about the desired healing. Thus it is that homeopathy has been referred to as "medical akido" or "medical t'ai chi."

A third aspect of homeopathic treatment is that it heals from within outward. Unlike allopathic medicine which comes at the organism from the outside to excise, remove or suppress the problem, homeopathic medicines work by activating the innate healing powers at the core of the organism such that healing can take place from within. And the subjective experience of such a healing can be quite profound. It subtly - or not so subtly - can bring a person into relationship with his/her essence, often providing an experience of what I refer to as "soul mirroring".

Finally, homeopathic treatment works to awaken and strengthen our connection to the Universe. Besides the Law of Similars, underpinning all of homeopathic treatment, is the Law of Correspondence. We know this Law in astrology through the phrase "As above, so below." It postulates a connection or relationship between the world outside and our inner world. And through a correctly chosen homeopathic remedy made from a substance from the mineral, plant or animal kingdom, a person can directly experience that correspondence with the larger whole.

Overall, I view homeopathy as a healing art that promotes the natural unfoldment of the soul. It has a complementarity with psychosynthesis and several other spiritual psychologies. It is my hope that as we move into the next millennium, this deep complementarity between homeopathy and the spiritual psychologies will be better recognized such that a synthetic form of treatment may emerge to maximally facilitate the healing of our deepest wounds and the emergence of our divine heritage.

Robert Turner, MD is a psychiatrist and homeopath in private practice in San Francisco. He was co-author of the new DSM IV category "Religious or Spiritual Problem" and has worked to promote spiritual awareness within psychiatry. He is currently Co-Chair of the AAP Steering Committee, and can be reached at 415-292-4404 or RptSoulMD@aol.com