As traditionally developed, homeopathy is a holistic art that looks at the symptom picture of a person, including psychological, emotional, physical, and hereditary information for the individual. When practiced in this form, it is often called constitutional homeopathy, because it attempts to address the constitution (underlying health) of a person rather than surface symptoms. Other terms for this form include constitutional and traditional homeopathy.

To understand how classical homeopathy works, consider the following imaginary scenario: Sam has felt tense and nervous for months. His workload has increased dramatically since he started a new job last year. He has not been sleeping well, and he’s lost weight. His conventional physician recommends a stress reduction program consisting of gentle exercise and regular relaxation, but he decides to try classical homeopathy instead.




Sam’s homeopath chooses the remedy Phosphorus , because its symptom picture matches him closely. He is told to take the remedy for 1 month and then call for a follow-up visit, at which point he may be given a new remedy to treat “deeper” problems that may emerge.

During the period of treatment, he is advised to avoid the use of any pharmaceutical drugs, medicinal herbs (such as St. John’s wort), or foods with drug-like properties (e.g., coffee), because they have properties that might “antidote” (counteract) the effect of treatment.

Thus the traditional or classical homeopath searches for a constitutional or all-encompassing remedy to treat the whole person—body and soul. This process may take time, as deeper and deeper “diseases” are brought out and cured, but practitioners of classical homeopathy believe that such treatment can lead to lifelong improved overall health.

However, there is as yet little scientific evidence that the traditional homeopathic approach is actually effective.

Revision Information