This book review is reprinted from The Homoeopath with permission from Nick Churchill of The Society of Homoeopaths.
SMALL REMEDIES AND INTERESTING CASES IV
Proceedings of the 1992 IFH Professional Case Conference
Edited by Stephen King, Sheryl Kipnis & Cathy Scott
International Foundation for Homeopathy, Seattle WA USA
1992, paperback, 291 pages
Reviewed by Robin Logan
Robin Logan RSHom, is the Registrar of the Society, practising in Brighton, Surrey.
This book is a transcript of the latest case conference held by the International Foundation for Homeopathy based in Seattle, USA. Stephen King ND DHANP, Sheryl Kipnis ND DHANP and their colleague Cathy Scott, have done well with their material. It is the fourth of its kind. These conferences are proving very successful with homoeopaths coming from all over the country to participate each year. I find books like this invaluable. However experienced you are you can always learn from colleagues, even if your styles of practice differ.
It is interesting to compare the American approach and attitude to homoeopathy to our own. Their enthusiasm is notable. Somehow I cannot imagine an event quite like this being a success here. There are many very ambitious practitioners in the States amongst them some real gems like Paul Herscu, Nancy Herrick, Roger Morrison and 'our own' Louis Klein. These are conscientious practitioners who have enough experience to pass on very valuable information. It is good to see so much ground breaking being done, especially in the field of materia medica. Louis Klein's presentation on Origanum is a good example as is Paul Herscu's Natrum sulpburicum. Paul has got a lot to offer. I look forward to his seminar in Edinburgh in May. There cannot be many practitioners amongst us who have had six Ferrum iodatum cases for example.
It was enjoyable for me personally to read the Cyclamen article by Steve Olsen that confirmed everything I have independently discovered about the remedy.
Five of the presentations are by women which is refreshing. So often occasions like these are overwhelmingly dominated by men. The best American homoeopaths differ from our best in that we have some excellent philosophers whilst in my opinion the Americans seem to excel more in clinical application. Most of them are Vithoulkas trained and this comes over clearly in their presentations. Cases often seem to be presented as a list of symptoms with little regard to the subtleties of the person. Their approach is generally very pragmatic, they theorise less than most British teachers, and that is probably my main criticism of their work. Some of the cases I feel could be analysed in a deeper more holistic way. Some of the results are remarkable though, particularly the lymphoma case by Eric Sommermann, a member of the board of the new North American Society of Homoeopaths The book itself is a good quality soft cover well produced with a very readable layout. Some of the American grates a bit, for example "the symptoms have gotten better", but such details did not mar a very interesting read for me.
I should like to see a lot more of this sort of material coming from our own homoeopathic community. It is more in the British nature to beaver away quietly alone, but the paucity of new material we produce sometimes disappoints me. Hopefully this year the Society will be able to put on a case conference that will equal what is coming out of the USA, Germany, Belgium and Holland.
The Homoeopath Vol.13 No.1 1993