Many practitioners feel homeopathy can seem to be too complicated to take on, but it doesn’t have to be. Dr. Steven King, ND breaks down homeopathy with tips on taking a good case and how he approaches case/patient analysis using Rajan Sankaran’s sensation method.

This episode is the conclusion of the interview that was posted last week in which Dr. King talks about lessons he’s learned from over 30 years of being a Naturopathic Doctor.

Highlights of the interview:

In homeopathy the basic goal is to get to the depth of a person; to find out how they interact with a view the world. There are 2 parts to this process. The first is taking the case and the second is analyzing the information.

When taking a case start with open ended questions. Let the person speak, and listen to what they say. Look for words that are out of place and/or images that are charged or dramatic. Observe when the person moves with their whole body and hands. This is when they are speaking from their depth. When they are done speaking ask “what else”? Eventually when they don’t have anything else to say go back to those “charged” moments and say “tell me more about that”. If there aren’t any charged moments or times when they are moving from their depth, one technique is to say “tell me everything about your chief complaint (ie.. migraines)”. Ask about feelings associated with the chief complaint.

In Sankaran’s sensation method there are 3 basic sensations, each associated with a different kingdom. These kingdoms and associated sensations are: animal, mineral, and plant. The sensation of the animal kingdom is survival. Themes include strength vs. weakness and victim vs. aggressor. An example of language that a patient may use when they need a remedy in this kingdom includes “I’m at his mercy. There is nothing I can do, he has power over me” when describing stress from a bad boss. The mineral kingdom is associated with a person’s own substance/capacity. Language used here includes “I don’t have enough energy to do my job”, or “I don’t have enough money to be content”. Notice how they both refer to a feeling of lack of something. The 3rd kingdom is the plant kingdom which relates to a sensation of a particular interference or interruption that the patient experiences. Language a patient may use includes “I get so indignant, he comes in and interrupts me” or “I’ve got a flow going and he comes in and breaks it.”

In this podcast Dr. King goes into much more depth then I do here and presents a case so you can get an idea of how this would play out in a real patient visit. Press play to hear the interview.