The concept of disease in homoeopathy is much broader than in orthodox medicine, which tends to restrict itself to the body�s physical functioning.

Homoeopaths believe a disease process can begin when a person is subjected to a stressor so overwhelming that the vital force causes the person to adopt a certain posture. For example, a wife who is abused may develop habits to keep out of her husband�s radar: she may become very quiet and fastidious so as not to trigger his anger. This posture may indeed help her to survive, but if her marriage ends, the posture continues, a needless restriction to her behavior. It has become a disease state.

All of us have certain conditions for feeling comfortable. Some people are sensitive to temperature, others to how well we are relating to people at home or at work. Some of us are very concerned about our physical appearance, others less so. Most of us have foods we dislike or positions we can�t fall to sleep in. These individual differences are of utmost interest to homoeopaths because they are the boundaries of our own particular remedy pictures.

The healthiest person, therefore, is generally the one who feels comfortable in the most situations, without placing restrictions on their behavior.

How do we know we are getting better?

Homoeopathy utilises a special concept called direction of cure, based on the notion that our vital force, when confronted by a stressor, sacrifices its least essential organs or systems first. The woman in the example above could develop skin pathology when the abuse begins, but as the psychological stress mounts, the pathology could begin to affect her digestive system, and she may find she develops an ulcer or diarrhea. Homoeopaths also believe that when pathology is suppressed, it can move to a deeper level. We see this often in children with eczema, which is suppressed with topical steroids; these children often go on to develop asthma.
If the child in our example above undergoes homoeopathic treatment, a good direction of cure would be indicated by the asthma improving first. Then the child might experience a bout of eczema as the disease state is cleared from his system. Homoeopaths have observed that skin pathology often clears up from the top down, so it would be a good sign if the last of the eczema was on the feet or legs.
Sometimes patients respond to a remedy with a healing aggravation: a temporary worsening of their symptoms. This can be seen as the disease state�s last stand against the newly strengthened vital force.
Other signs of progress include a good energy level, renewed interest in hobbies and a new perspective on one�s situation.

Textbooks in our College curriculum which discuss these and other philosophical questions include The Science of Homeopathy by George Vithoulkas and The Spirit of Homoeopathy by Rajan Sankaran.

Homeopathy, a branch of medical science in the same way that many other systems of healing, such as pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery, are classed as medical sciences, homeopathy treats the whole person, rather than merely the presenting symptom or complaint of a patient. It achieves this by using very small doses of natural substances to stimulate the body�s ability to cure itself. In this way, homeopathy heals and strengthens the whole person and helps prevent future illness by finding and treating the root cause of disease, rather than suppressing its symptoms.

Increasing numbers of people are looking for a treatment that heals the whole body, not just the physical; that treats the root of the problem, not just the symptoms; and that is natural and chemical-free. Homeopathy is such a therapy, and it is currently estimated that approx 500 million people around the world use homeopathy as their main form of medicinal treatment, with New Zealand currently experiencing a major groundswell of interest in this healing art. There has seldom been a better time to study homeopathy, with the opportunities that are becoming available in New Zealand and internationally for practitioners.