Homeopathy is making a big comeback in the United States.

This should be cause for celebration.

But I’m not sure what the future holds.

We seem to be at a crossroads.

This amazing healing art developed by the late Samuel Hahnemann, MD is set to take off.

If we let it.

It’s also set to become a lot more restricted.

Possibly even being driven underground.

Because we’re inviting it.

I’ve been studying homeopathy and using remedies for the last 25 years.

Never have I seen more disorder in the profession than I’ve seen lately.

So what’s going on?

How can we correct it?

How do we get a runaway train back on track?

The first step toward correcting anything is acknowledging you have a problem.

We do have a problem and it’s a big one.

It also seems to be getting worse.

So what’s going on?

The problem is “on-the-fly homeopathy,” which seems to have sprung up seemingly overnight.

In the last few years various Facebook groups have proliferated.

Especially the Repertory-on-Demand groups that give instant suggestions for all kinds of conditions instead of taking a case.

Remember when case taking used to be a thing?

With an acute situation, people would reach out to their homeopath, who would carefully find the right remedy and follow them until they were well.

When my children were little, this kind of careful prescribing is what saved us from numerous rounds of antibiotics.

I would first try to find the right remedy before calling my homeopath. (Because Moms should learn all they can about home prescribing.)

Often my own choices worked. (I wasn’t a homeopath yet.)

But if they didn’t I knew who to call.

This is the benefit of having a personal homeopath who lives in your time zone.

You can reach them when you need to.

At 4 pm when a fever is spiking they’re not half a world away sound asleep.

Because it’s the middle of the night where they live.

The Future Of Homeopathy

Homeopathy in the US is now like the Wild Wild West.

This lucrative market is booming.

Everyone wants a piece of it.

The Internet allows practitioners from around the world to zero in on US-based clients, or potential clients.

On the one hand this is a good thing.

Because it’s now easier than ever to find a homeopath.

Back when my children were little I had great trouble locating a good homeopath.

Homeopathy was an emerging healing art.

At least in the United States.

There weren’t a lot of practitioners.

Some offered add-ons, such as Reiki, in conflict with my religious beliefs.

So that further narrowed the field.

Nowadays, with the Internet, it’s very easy to find a homeopath.

All of us work with clients via Zoom, an amazing technology that functions like a virtual office.

So it’s really easy to find a practitioner, regardless of where you live.

At the same time, there’s growing resistance to using a homeopath.

Even for chronic conditions and serious acutes.

I think this is happening because of various Facebook groups, which serve as remedy suggestions hubs, for “on-the-fly” prescribing.

Is there anything wrong with helping a worried Mom choose the right remedy?

Of course not.

What’s concerning is that the mother may have tried four or five remedies before getting on Facebook.

Then she asks for more suggestions.

Typically a homeopath will oblige. (I’m not blaming the homeopaths because they’re working for a system. It’s the system that needs to be fixed.)

Various home prescribers will also weigh in.

What Mom needs to hear is that she has already tried a number of remedies. \

They didn’t work. Now she needs to book an appointment with a homeopath. No new suggestions without taking the full case.

Notice I’m only talking about acute prescribing.

What’s also happening is a growing expectation we should treat deep-seated chronic conditions on-the-fly too.

This type of prescribing is often inappropriate for acutes.

It’s exponentially wrong to attempt this with chronic cases.

Yet this is exactly what’s happening, which should alarm everyone who cares about homeopathy.

On-the-fly prescribing is not ideal.

Eventually one of these cases will go sideways. (Because homeopathy is a delicate balance of finding the right remedy, in the right potency for the right amount of doses.)

The powers-that-be will get involved. (In fact they’re probably already trolling the various Facebook groups, looking for the perfect opportunity to pounce.)

Then our beloved healing art will suffer.

We all will.

Mostly our clients will suffer because we won’t be practicing.

Our books and courses (the real money makers) will be worthless, since we won’t be able to sell them.

Yet there’s still time to change direction.

We as homeopaths can take a stand.

We stop the on-the-fly prescribing and focus all of our efforts on education.

So home prescribers can learn all they can.

So everyone has realistic expectations.

We clean up our act.

Because if we don’t someone else will step in and we’re not going to be happy with the outcome.