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Forward
by Dr Brian Kaplan.
No
rational person can doubt the fantastic advances made this
century by medical science. Potentially fatal diseases including
pneumonia, meningitis and tuberculosis are now treated fairly
routinely. The discovery of insulin has brought relief to
the previously debilitating disease of diabetes. Transplant
surgery has given life and mobility to thousands. Demons such
as syphilis and Hodgkin's disease have simply been put to
the sword.
Nevertheless,
many chronic diseases such as eczema, migraine, colitis and
arthritis, to name a few, remain very difficult to treat.
In spite of this, orthodox medicine, greatly aided by the
technological revolution, remains the first choice for most
people in the Western world. And notwithstanding great victories
in its war against disease, a murmur of dissent is being heard
more and more frequently amongst its recipients. Perhaps the
reason for this is that as conventional medicine journeys
further and further down the electron microscope of scientific
discovery, it is losing sight of an ancient healing art. The
art of therapeutic listening has sadly been sidelined as the
science becomes dominated by deterministic thinking. Wonderful
things can be discovered by magnifying diseased tissue, but
we are in danger of examining the cells of the tissue and
neglecting the patient to whom they belong. By all means,
let us look down microscopes at cells, but let us not forget
to step back and look at the whole world that these cells
occupy. The patient as a whole, personal history, relationships,
family, job and position in the community may all have tremendous
influence in the causation and perpetuation of disease.
It
is ironic that most doctors are all too aware of these influences.
No medically trained person would deny that stress and anxiety
can lead to to a stomach ulcer. And yet the mainstay of the
medical treatment of ulcers is by drugs that suppress the
secretion of acid in the stomach. Dentists often note the
deterioration of gums after a severe shock or disappointment
but are trained only to deal with the gums and teeth and therefore
often feel powerless to deal with the emotional environment
that depressed the immune system and allowed the tissue changes
to take place.
For
Peter Chappell the psychophysiological changes that allow
illnesses to develop and prevent the natural healing ability
of the body from curing them, are all important. In this honest
and outspoken book, he has drawn not only on his extensive
experience as a homeopathic practitioner but also on his own
life and personal exploration with psychotherapy.
It
is his view that the susceptibility to disease is usually
created by a severe emotional shock to the system. This shock
may occur in early childhood, as many a Freudian or Kleinian
would concur, or even in utero, since emotional trauma to
the mother can affect her physiology profoundly and may be
transmitted to the foetus. Of course, as physicians, we may
never discover these traumas which are often well hidden and
protected, buried in the unconscious mind, all too painful
for the patient himself to remember. However, we have a better
chance of uncovering these events if we remain silent and
allow our patients to speak into a space of compassion and
understanding. Peter Chappell has clearly made it his business
to make the time for creating such an atmosphere within his
practice. The case studies used make for compelling reading.
The expert classical homeopath is much like a detective as
he vigilantly searches for clues in his patient's life history
that could lead to a successful prescription. These vignettes
will surely be described by the medical profession as 'anecdotal
evidence' and this is true. The author's theory that deep
emotional trauma can produce susceptibility to disease is
not scientific since it can be neither proved nor disproved.
Nevertheless the stories have an unmistakable ring of authenticity,
and most homeopaths would agree that their remedies, prescribed
for the whole person, are capable of producing profound physiological
and psychological changes in their patients.
The
homeopathic approach to the patient varies between two poles.
On the one hand the practitioner prescribes for the presenting
illness while on the other he listens in silence waiting for
the patient to reveal the true centre of his problem.
Peter Chappell leans heavily towards the latter approach and
this book is a useful contribution to the literature on classical,
whole person orientated homeopathy.
Dr
Brian Kaplan MBBCh MFHom
homeopathic Physician
February 1994.
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