Be aware that there are about 25 courses in homeopathy but that they are all completely different and have very different standards. You should be careful to compare like with like e.g. degree course with other degree courses. If you find you are torn between a Vocational course and an academic course then you are probably using the wrong criteria for choosing a course.

It is important to get it right as starting a course that does not suit you is both disheartening and very expensive.

One key difference is the size of courses with some course providers running fairly compact course for a small number of participants. These tend to have very small classes and are run by one or two key tutors. Medium size colleges tend to have better resources and class sizes of between 15 -25. A few have large class sizes (up to seventy) and are mainly lecture based. It is important to choose one that meets your requirements and aspirations. Also be aware that some colleges tend to have a very big dropout rate – from 70 entering the first year to 20 graduating is a warning sign to look for.

Be aware that almost all homeopaths are self-employed. There are very few who work within the NHS. You do not (and will not) need a degree to practice – it is more important to be competent and confident.

Getting on - It is possible to set up a practice almost anywhere. Success will depend on you, your confidence, competence and ability to attract patients so if you want to be a practitioner it is important to choose a course that will support you in developing these. Advancement is mainly through building up a practice. With experience, homeopaths may move into running seminars and tutorials, teaching at colleges or supervising students and other practitioners and writing articles, books and health journalism.

They may get involved in homeopathic research, or advise manufacturers on the production of homeopathic remedies.

Many homeopaths combine homeopathy with other alternative and complementary approaches to health.

For more information:

Click below to obtain or download our free guide on choosing the right course.

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Some of the major causes of developmental and behaviour disorders such as obsessive –compulsive gambling are:

1. Diet – the wrong kind of food such as a refined carbohydrate, tea, coffee, or other stimulant, excessive amounts of additives in foods, junk food like fizzy drinks, chocolate, sweets, any form of sugar, other stimulant like hard cheeses, fats causes the body to produce the adrenal hormone Cortisol. It also requires the body to use vital nutrients in order to break down and eliminate the toxic residue leaving the person mal nourished. All of this will have an impact on the mind in some way, varying from depression to behavioural problems.
2. Drugs/alcohol – Recreational & prescribed drugs can have an impact on a person’s development and behaviour especially if these have been consumed before, or during gestation. Vaccinations are also a major consideration when dealing with developmental and behavioural problems.
3. Shocks - are a major cause of mental illness, especially physical or emotional shock of grief or fear. Prolonged mental/emotional and physical abuse, especially sexual abuse) can be the precursor to behavioural disorders.
4. Behavioural Problems of Children due to Parenting Problems - Poor relationships may slow the child’s development of mental and social skills and cause failure to thrive. A vicious circle pattern is a cycle of negative (naughty) behaviour by the child that causes a negative (angry) response from the parent or caregiver, followed by more negative behaviour by the child, leading to a further negative response from the parent.

So are there alternatives?

There are a variety of complementary and alternative approaches that can help – this article addresses whether homeopathy can make a difference.

Homoeopathy addresses the person as a whole, as a totality (including all aspects of their life); and affects the mind, body, emotions and spirit. From this we can infer that homoeopathy has an important role to play in dealing with psychological “dis-ease” as well as today’s behavioural and psychosocial problems (of which there has been a huge increase in the West).

From a homeopathic perspective it is difficult to separate the psychological from the physical aspect of the person. The homeopath needs to understand underlying causes of developmental and behaviour disorders and put symptoms in the right context to make maximum use of the individuals own self healing mechanisms.

The homeopathic point of view is that 80% of dis-eases come from the mind. The other 20% comes from the food we eat, environmental toxicity, physical injuries, drug toxicity and hereditary factors. When dealing with behavioural problems we must establish the context of the symptoms.

Homeopaths have always treated the mental emotional symptoms of the client as part of the whole body approach, strengthening it to support the mind and visa versa. Homeopaths understand that to be healthy, we need to not only take care of physical health by proper diet and life style, but also take responsibility for mental and emotional well being as well.

Homeopathy has a concept called ‘Miasms’ that can help explain this type of obsessive –compulsive behaviour and an individual’s predisposition for such behaviour.

The main miasm to govern the mind tends to be the syphilitic miasm. The energy is destructive and there is a pre disposition to mental illness, insanity depression, eating disorders, phobias; drug and alcohol abuse. There are four main Miasmatic remedy to consider when looking at psychological disorders but it is very important to establish the root causes of behaviour disorders.

Unfortunately allopathic medicine has, in general, reduced developmental and behaviour disorders to biochemical imbalances and assumes that an appropriate chemical therapy will fix the problem. In fact, there are many underlying causes that need to be taken into consideration when treating people with gambling and other behavioural disorders.

The concept of an ‘addictive personality’ has been added to our vocabulary where people are predisposed to taking habit forming substances or behaving in ways that are obsessive - compulsive. The rewards for the behaviour can be physical, mental or emotional. With this sort of personality one healing approach is to swap a bad habit for another hopefully less damaging one, e.g. changing an alcoholic into a compulsive exerciser. However the real challenge is to remove the emotional need that produces the compulsive behaviour!

Louise Hay says that addictions are about running from the self, fear and not knowing how to love the self.

A well trained practical homeopath will investigate the underlying causes of the problem and using the time line will help a client explore this – it may establish what emotional, physical abuses or substances the client has been exposed to and prescribe remedies that will support the body to heal itself.

In the West, behavioural disorders are extremely common and it is an important part of case management to take into consideration the cause of the symptoms – whether mental/emotional or physical. A homeopathic case taking should be a thorough investigation into the cause of the problem in order to remove the symptoms. You will never get a cure to any thing if you do not address the cause of the problem and this true not only for homeopathy but all other systems of medicine. These disorders require help and support from a range of complementary and alternative treatments. Counselling and psychotherapy can be of great benefit in helping people resolve psychological issues and will act as an important adjunct to homeopathic treatment or vice versa.

Homeopathy, especially if applied in a practical way, can provide treatment strategies that are tailored to the individual needs of the person and which are non toxic, non addictive and cost effective system. This can relieve the untold misery of obsessive compulsive behaviour and prevent individual spiralling downwards in to a world of chemical coshes, ill health and fear based medical interventions.

For more information:

Visit the College of Practical Homeopathy’s ”Homeopathic Directory” to find a Cph Qualified Homeopaths, Practitioners, and Clinics in your area.

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It is now generally recognised that people who have psychological disorders are suffering from physical imbalances of the brain; as well as disturbances in thinking, emotion, and behaviour. These disorders are often caused by the complex interactions between physical, psychological, social, cultural, and hereditary influences. An ‘addiction’ to gambling could be seen as one of these disorders and therefore would fall under the remit of the NHS as it stands today. The current treatment of mental health disorders are categorized as either:

• drug therapy and electroconvulsive therapy
• psychotherapeutic treatments include individual, group, or family and marital psychotherapy; behaviour therapy techniques (such as relaxation training or exposure therapy); and hypnotherapy

If you are lucky, live in the right area and are persistent you may get a combined treatment approach involving drugs, psychotherapy and counselling but the resources are extremely limited particularly in the more costly approaches which involve trained counsellors rather than cheap medical coshes or happy pills.

Bear in mind that responses to the side effects of allopathic drugs are also unpredictable and affect a person mentally and emotionally. Many patients who are treated with drugs experience chronic illness including depression which further aggravates their condition and may lead to further pathological behaviour.

Children acquire many skills as they grow. Some skills, such as controlling urine and stool, depend mainly on the level of maturity of the child’s nerves and brain. Others, such as behaving appropriately at home and in school, are the result of a complicated interaction between the child’s cognitive development, health, temperament, and relationship with parents, teachers, and caregivers.

Behavioural and developmental problems can interfere with and threaten normal relationships between the child and others. Gambling can be a mild behavioural problem – a time of experimentation and rebellion that is grown out of as we mature into adulthood. For an increasing number however this growth process is arrested and they continue to create problems. So what are the alternative or complementary approaches that could be used – either within the NHS – or privately?

Benefit from affordable homeopathic treatment for both you and your family at the College of Practical Homeopathy’s Teaching Clinic.

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The NHS has become a tool of the pharmaceuticals - creating a market is what modern drug research is all about. What better way to increase profits than to corner a market where no individual has to pay but The Government (i.e the taxpayer) has to keep digging deeper to support a National Sickness Service.

Many people still believe that medicine (and hence the NHS) is a noble pursuit, dedicated to curing humankind’s ills. But the reality is that ‘cure’ is passé. According to expert ‘We sometimes joke that when you’re doing a clinical trial, there are two possible disasters. The first disaster is if you kill people. The second disaster is if you cure them. The truly good drugs are the ones you can use chronically for a long, long time.’

Over the past decade we’ve seen the pharmacologizing of everyday life sometimes slyly, sometimes overtly, reshaping the normal ups and downs of everyday life and turning them into market opportunities.

The safer, less costly and more healthy ways of treating ordinary ailments are ignored or marginalized when pharmaceutical manufacturers start to colonize an area of human health. In order to build demand for their products and services they will sponsor awareness-raising campaigns to make common conditions look as severe and widespread as possible.

No longer do we seek to understand whole persons in their social contexts – rather we are there to realign our patients’ neurotransmitters.’

When the World Health Organization hold meetings Big Pharma makes sure their interests are well represented. The results are recommendations not based on the best evidence, but based on the best support for pharmaceutical treatments.

Patient groups or medical foundations – so-called ‘third-party’ organizations – are funded to participate in these campaigns, silently orchestrated by drug company marketing departments and their PR houses e.g the Herceptin pressure groups (see The Guardian articles) or the dodgy ‘Sense about Science’ run by Taverne and co.

Are we now seeing the pre-launch marketing strategy for the disease of ‘gambling’ which will include company-funded education of doctors and consumers long before a drug is launched? The job of the PR company, is to ‘beat the drum’, to use newspapers, conferences and journals to get doctors and consumers buzzing about a new ‘problem’ e.g gambling coming down the pipe and the need for more funding (sic ‘profits’) to be pumped into the social purse to meet this demand. (As Big Pharma also probably controls the assets of most of the gambling industry they can create profits from both ends!

For more information:

Visit the College of Practical Homeopathy’s ”Homeopathic Directory” to find a Cph Qualified Homeopaths, Practitioners, and Clinics in your area.

Tags: academics, addiction, alternative medicine, drug companies, gambling, health, homeopathy, homeopathy college, medical care, medicine, NHS, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacologizing, treatment, world health organizationacademics addiction alternative medicine drug companies gambling health homeopathy homeopathy college medical care medicine NHS pharmaceutical manufacturers pharmacologizing treatment world health organization

Gambling can be seen as harmless fun, an interesting leisure pursuit, morally reprehensible or a serious mental health issue depending on the actions of the individual and the effects those actions have on that person and those around them.

Addiction is defined as the disruptive behaviour or activity associated with something that that a person is dependent on – gambling, alcohol, drugs, eating disorders etc Addiction generally interferes with the ability to work, study, or interact normally with family and friends.

However the first question before we explore gambling and the NHS is to why ask this is suddenly becoming big news. (For a fuller account checkout an interesting article by Alan Cassels ‘Drug Companies Peddling Paranoia’ in New Internationalist Publications) but briefly the following is relevant for readers to get an overview of how the current debate has been started).
About thirty years ago the British physician, Julian Tudor-Hart published his famous ‘inverse care law’: ‘those who most need medical care are the least likely to get it.’ Modern pharmaceutical research is playing Dr Hart’s law out on a macabre global scale. While the debilitating diseases of the poor – such as malaria, tuberculosis and sleeping sickness – have few or no treatments, the drug companies are busy working on cures for a ballooning set of ‘made-up’ diseases of the rich and privileged. There are now drugs for toenail fungus, ‘pre-hypertension’ and bedwetting; for compulsive shopping and gambling ‘addiction’.

How do drug companies create ‘markets’ for new drugs – they create ‘new’ diseases by hiring public relations agencies and work with academics. ‘You find a professor working in a university and fund that professor to write a book, or to do a media tour around the country. Or you find a public figure, a sports figure or an actor, to go around and meet and work with journalists, and to do work with public forums, so you literally create this need.’

Looking at the latest ‘gambling’ disease we can see all the hallmarks of the creation of an investment led ‘social disease’ – the drug companies are fully aware of the market potential and how well a disease area ‘performs’. The rising rates of gambling addiction or obesity and the dark clouds of potentially dire public health consequences are seen in terms of their silver linings – generating legions of new customers. Drug companies claim they need a large market to recoup their research and development costs. But the top drug companies throw nearly three times more money at marketing and promotion than they do at basic R&D. And their initial research is often already ‘funded’ by the taxpayer.

So who actually runs the NHS? More in our next blog…..

Benefit from affordable homeopathic treatment for both you and your family at the College of Practical Homeopathy’s Teaching Clinic.

Tags: academics, addiction, alternative, complementary, drug companies, gambling, health, homeopathic college, homeopathy, inverse care law, malaria, medical care, medicine, NHS, obesity, pharmaceutical research, treatmentacademics addiction alternative complementary drug companies gambling health homeopathic college homeopathy inverse care law malaria medical care medicine NHS obesity pharmaceutical research treatment

The UK govenment continues to pour untold billions into a failed NHS system – Robinsons recipe is to bring in a breed of super managers who can hold there own with the consultants and the Unions – lets manage our way out of it – at more expense of course!

Another interesting remedy suggested in Peter Day’s In Business programme on Radio 4, looked at the application of Toyota’s production principles to healthcare (Toyota hasn’t made a loss, or closed a factory, for 40 years). He sees the beauty of the Toyota system is that it concentrates rigorously on doing only what the customer wants, when they want it - rather than seeking efficiency by speeding up individual activities, it focuses on improving the flow through the entire system by keeping those activities to the absolute minimum.

e.g In A&E, , most of the workload is minor complaints or, increasingly, referrals from NHS Direct that aren’t really emergencies at all. Often even serious incidents are predictable, like drink-fuelled injuries on Saturday night. A system designed to handle predictable demand dispenses with the need for complicated scheduling and automatically increases capacity to cope with truly urgent cases.
However both models miss the essential point which is an understanding of the difference between sickness and health – in a society that encourages over consumption, under exercise, and is busy polluting its children with every toxin we can think up the National Sickness System will never be able to provide other than elastoplast to the problems – and in the process add to them (40% of hospital admissions are thought to be iatrogenic – ie caused by drugs provided by GPs or as a result of previous medical treatment). The customer in this case want to have his cake, coke, alcohol whatever and be given a magic pill to make it all better – the drug companies fuel this fantasy with constant stories about the super vaccine etc and the profits just keep getting bigger.
People are increasingly turning to alternative and complementary approaches such as homeopathy and naturopathy to heal themselves and to promote healthier life styles. If you are a disillusioned soon to be redundant health professional but have managed to keep a passion for helping people see the following blogs to see if there is an alternative for you.

Find out from others about what training to become a homeopath has done for them.

Tags: A&E, alternative, career, complementary, GP, health, homeopathy, homeopathy college, homoeopathy, hospital, medicine, naturopathy, NHS, practical homeopathy, redundancy, sickness, trainingA&E alternative career complementary GP health homeopathy homeopathy college homoeopathy hospital medicine naturopathy NHS practical homeopathy redundancy sickness training

The NHS is in serious trouble - Sir Gerry Robinson’s televised attempt to sort out Rotherham General Hospital highlighted the endemic problems with the National Sickness Service - where the incentive is too keep pouring the taxpayers money into a system that creates more sickness that it solves - ideal for the drug companies whose enormous profits rely on being able to hold governments to ransom and for highly paid overpowered consultants who have always been the bane of the NHS from Day 1 - add the third factor of well meaning, poorly paid and overworked basic nursing and support staff is it any wonder that health is the last thing to come out of the NHS!

Is there an alternative ? - yes there is and that is why increasingly thinking people are turning to alternative and complementary approaches such as homeopathy and naturopathy to heal themselves and to promote healthier life styles. If you are a disillusioned soon to be redundant health professional but have managed to keep a passion for helping people see the following to see if there is a more satisfying alternative lifestyle for you.

If you:

• have an interest in health issues (your own and others)
• are concerned about current medical approaches to health
• already qualified as a nurse, Doctor, pharmacist, or alternative practitioner and interested in seeking further training in the complementary health sector
• thinking of changing career
• redundant - looking for retraining
• are fed up with your job
• are returning to work after bringing up children/illness etc
• think you have what it takes be self employed

Then training to become a homeopath or Naturopath could be a good option for you.

Find out what some our recent graduates have to say about what training to become a homeopath has done for them.

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With 14,000 nurses looking at redundancies – perhaps now is a good time for those who are interested in becoming part of the healing professions rather than the ‘sickness’ industry to have a look at how they could improve their lifestyle by training as a homeopath – for instance you could be your own boss – and have following benefits -

Salary and other benefits - As Homeopathy is a self employed profession these figures are only a guide.

• fees range from approximately £30 to £80 per hour. They may be higher in London and the South East
• a homeopath starting out and working two or three days may earn £16,000 plus p.a. (depending on client base)
• start at around £25,000 per year as a full-time equivalent.
• the highest-earning homeopaths make around £75,000 per year.
• many homeopaths work about 40 weeks a year, leaving time for other interests

Professional Skills - A homeopath needs to:

• have a strong belief in, and commitment to, homeopathy
• an interest in alternative and complementary approaches to health
• a concern about conventional medical treatment methods and their side-effects.
• knowledgeable about disease processes and homeopathic remedies
• responsive to clients’ personal issues and problems, but able to stay emotionally uninvolved as a professional
• a good manager

Personal Skills (and most nurses have these at least at the start of their career!)

• an enquiring mind and a willingness to learn
• be good listener, skilled at explaining complex issues in a simple manner
• be able to inspire trust, and form a rapport with all kinds of people
• analytical, non-judgmental
• confident ,enthusiastic and energetic to promote and build a practice.

Getting in - There is no set educational route into the field. There are about 30 training providers in the UK. Courses are not the same and vary widely in their philosophy, teaching approaches and the ability to practice after completion. (The following are broad generalisations but should be helpful when deciding on a course that is most suitable for you). Broadly speaking course providers can be put in the following categories.

1) Vocational courses aimed at producing graduates who are capable of setting up and running their own professional practice

2) Academic courses primarily aimed at providing a degree

3) Eclectic – a number of courses offer a more esoteric approach and attract people who have a general interest in alternative approaches to health.

All the courses are completely different and have very different standards. Watch this space for further helpful hints on choosing the right course.

Click below to download our free guide on choosing the right course

<< Free Guide 2 - Choosing the right Course? >>

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What do homeopaths do?

Homeopathy is both a complementary and alternative medicine. Around 3,500 homeopaths practise in the UK. The profile of homeopathy is rising and so opportunities are growing. As more and more people are becoming disillusioned with modern medicine approaches there is a constantly growing demand for safer alternatives to the drug and surgery based approaches. NHS clinics can now offer homeopathy alongside traditional treatments. There are also NHS Homeopathic Hospitals in London and Edinburgh.

However most homeopaths run their own practices

Homeopaths treat people with a wide range of medical conditions. They take a ‘holistic’ approach – looking at the individual’s life as a whole, rather than just their physical symptoms. Clients come for help with a wide variety of complaints – from relatively minor conditions, e.g. headache, toothache or insomnia, to potentially more serious illnesses, e.g. asthma or arthritis. The job entails:

• meeting patients and asking questions about their condition and their wider lives
• choosing the most appropriate method of applying homeopathy.
• choosing a remedy most likely to work for each patient – either a one-off remedy or a course of treatment
• explaining how to take and store the remedy supplied
• advising on diet and other lifestyle factors
• monitoring the patient’s progress, through phone calls, email or further consultation
• keeping patient records
• advertising and publicising the practice, perhaps through talks or seminars
• managing the business accounts
• keeping up to date with developments in homeopathy and other health issues.

Homeopathy is a demanding occupation. The holistic nature of treatment means clients may confide personal and emotional problems. Building up a practice, usually through word of mouth, can be an interesting and challenging process. Some practitioners complement their work by offering other therapies, such as massage, aromatherapy, acupuncture, kinesiology or nutrition.

Hours and working environment

Almost all homeopaths are self employed and run their own practice. This may be from their homes, or within a clinic as part of a wider alternative therapy practice. They may also visit patients at home. Increasingly there are opportunities available in GP surgeries or hospitals as the Government has increased the funding for complementary therapies.

Although Homeopaths may need to offer appointments in the evenings and weekends for their clients’ convenience it is increasingly accepted to deal with clients over the phone and by email and this really enhances the flexibility for homeopaths to create their own lifestyle. Each homeopath will decide what the most appropriate hours to run their business are and this varies according to personal circumstances.

It is a very flexible career option. It can be started later in life and one you can continue until you choose to stop. You can work part time only or build up a busy practice and develop in to a full time occupation with earnings increasing with the growth of the practice.

Click here to obtain and download our free guide

<< Guide 1 - Choosing a career as a Homeopath? >>.

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