Review - Homoeopathy in the Real World 2006

The 5th Australian Homœopathic Medicine Conference 2006 28th – 29th October 2006 The Esplanade Hotel Convention Centre Fremantle, Western Australia On the weekend of the 28 th and 29 th October 2006 179 homoeopaths, students and like-minded practitioners descended on the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle WA for what was to be a truly wonderful weekend of camaraderie and stimulating presentations. The Conference kicked off to a great start with our very special guest speaker, Dom Christopher Power, a Benedictine Monk from the small wheat belt town of New Norcia. Dom not only regaled us with his hilarious version of a day in the life of a Monk, but told us a little of the history of homoeopathy in WA.   While New Norcia, founded by Dom Rosendo Salvado in 1847, was the first place in WA and possibly Australia to use homoeopathy, Dom Chris gave credit to Jan Owen and the WA branch of the AHA for rekindling interest, helping to update the museum and library, and giving the monks an insight into their homoeopathic heritage. The social program allowed plenty of opportunity to network with colleagues, catch up with friends, and integrate in the delightful relaxed setting of Fremantle. The welcome reception on the Friday evening prior to the Conference saw over 100 delegates enjoying finger food, local wines and a few laughs with old friends, having the opportunity to register before the morning rush was a real bonus and delegates enjoyed a chance to look through the proceedings manual before the event.

The conference dinner was held on the Saturday night. 80 hyped-up homoeopaths met in the bohemian atmosphere of La Tropicana café to eat, drink and swing dance!   Yes, our very own Sophie Yesburg and her partner Marcus demonstrated this wonderfully spontaneous form of dance, joined by Michael Blanch and Kate Diamantopolou, both budding homoeopathic swing dancers. The whole group then spilled onto the pavements of Fremantle to form a group swing dance circle.

On Sunday morning Patricia Hatherley presented a commemorative plaque to Peter Torokfalvy in honour of his many years involvement in AHA on a state and national level. Peter has been an outstanding president and spokesperson for the association working tirelessly to increase the public profile of our profession.

The New Norcia day trip was on Monday the 30 th October and a group of 45 departed from the Esplanade Hotel by coach and traveled through picturesque vineyards of the Swan Valley and out onto the Great Northern Highway towards New Norcia. On arrival in this charming town we were greeted in the monastery parlour with morning coffee and New Norcia's own nut cake and biscotti.   Dom Christopher was his usual friendly and hospitable self and the guides were informative and helpful. The atmosphere was relaxed and there was plenty of time to network, while enjoying lunch at the historic hotel and strolling around the museum, art gallery and gift shop. It was exciting to see the homoeopathic display taking up most of a display cabinet in the medical section of the museum, complete with a meaningful message about homoeopathy, both past and present. The day ended with wine tasting and a wander in the gardens at Carilley Estate, one of the most attractive vineyards in the Swan Valley. A great way to unwind from the intensity of the previous two days.

And now having described the general flavour and highlights of the conference here is a brief review of the key speakers and their papers. Every presenter embraced the theme of Homoeopathy in the real World and were generous and 'fearless presenters' as well as being 'fearless prescribers' and for that the homoeopathic community will be eternally grateful. The sessions were chaired by WA members Michael Blanch and Kate Diamantopoulo

We were delighted to welcome Roger van Zandvoort all the way from The Hague as our keynote speaker.   What better qualified person could we find to explain to us the intricacies of repertorisation, particularly in relation to the Boenninghausen method, his chosen subject for the Conference.   He explained that how we have been taught repertorisation should not dictate what method we use to find the remedy, but rather we should be guided by the information we get from our patients, selecting the best method for the case.   He demonstrated through the use of his Complete Repertory program that in some cases Boenninghausen's method will give better results because of the imperfections of the repertory, and we should therefore know a variety of techniques rather than being limited by just one.  

Kent's method of seeking a single, usually small, complete rubric contrasted strikingly with Boenninghausen's method of translating any complete symptom in the case into several rubrics more closely representing the patient's experience.   Kent's method relies on trying to find a complete symptom (location, sensation or phenomenon, modality and/or concomitant) in 1 or 2 rubrics only, usually producing very few remedies to consider, which may or may not contain the remedy you are looking for.   The Boenninghausen methodology rule is to try to construct from the building blocks of the repertory, complete rubrics which more closely and accurately represent the patient's experience, within which should be the remedy you are seeking for the whole case.

Seeing these two quite diverse methods demonstrated on the screen clearly showed the value of knowing different approaches to finding the right remedy.   We could all see that Boenninghausen's method has been greatly under-used and no doubt there will be many practitioners going home to revisit Boenninghausen's work. We don't often have the benefit of "going back to college" to take another look at the basics of repertorisation, and over the weekend there was a lot of talk about rubrics, provings and the accuracy of our repertories versus the results we can expect.   Roger was a passionate and patient presenter, and I have no doubt we could have filled a whole weekend with his knowledge and expertise.

Dr Ivy Dieltiens   was our second guest speaker and her presentation on "Post Tsunami Sri Lanka" which closed the first day of the conference had delegates glued to the screen as well as her words.   Ivy had heeded the call for help in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami on boxing day in 2005 and literally jumped on a plane.   While we are all to imagine how well organized and coordinated these type of disasters are by the groups who are regularly first on the ground, the picture she gave us was something quite different.   Not only was there a disparity between which villages got what aid - and some indeed received nothing - she also talked about fighting between neighbouring villages, con men and greed.   From a homeopathic point of view there were the challenges of dispensing the remedies - carrying bottles and pilules was not an option, so bottles of any type had to do - including old medicine bottles!   Follow ups were another issue and from a learning point of view, Ivy acknowledged that she couldn't learn from her mistakes without seeing the patients again.   There was also a steep learning curve in using translators who left a lot out or changed the context, and Ivy came to realize that perhaps her western homoeopathic view of there always being an outstanding mental/emotional state to be treated, didn't fit with the culture or understanding of these people.   Often it came down to treating pre-tsunami symptoms.   And often people didn't just come for treatment - they came to stare at the strange white doctor who handed medicine in old bottles.   A very grounding, inspiring and heart-felt presentation from Dr Ivy Dieltiens.

The final event of the Conference was the Panel, chaired by Dr Philip Bailey and graced by presenters; Roger Van Zandvoort, Liz Lalor, Nyema Hermiston, Michael Blanch, Peter Tumminello and Alastair Gray.   This was the part of the conference we as a committee were uncertain about! Nothing could be planned and no-one really knew whether delegates would actually stick it out to attend this event.   Homoeopathy in the Real World determined the questions chosen for discussion; and while most were topical, one stands out for me and certainly stimulated some excitable discussion.   "What do you think about giving a remedy by thought transference?"   I'll leave you to ponder that one for yourself!

Homoeopathy in the Real World.....on reflection the conference certainly did cover this topic in many ways. As one student said, ' as a final year student this conference has been a wonderful opportunity to consolidate many years of study. What a privilege to be able to start practice with the knowledge and freedom in knowing that so many methodologies are my tools of trade which can be chosen when the patient needs a different approach and knowing that this approach is supported by wonderful homoeopaths like Alastair Gray, David Levy, Jon Gamble, Peter Tumminello, Linlee Jordan, Isaac Golden and many others'.

Click here to see info on conference speakers and topics.