Dreams, Homeopathy, and the Mind/Body Connection.

Homeopathy is form of holistic medicine that uses natural, non-toxic remedies that stimulate the inherent healing capacity within the mind and body. It was founded over 200 years ago by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician who not only created a radically new form of therapy; he also formulated a scientific system to understand health and healing on a fundamental level. Among the many ideas that Hahnemann included in his guidelines for homeopathic practitioners are the understanding that to effectively treat illness, the whole person--mind and body--must be considered, environmental factors must be considered in treatment, and the homeopath must understand the difference between suppression of symptoms and cure of disease.

He also viewed symptoms as attempt by the life force of the organism to keep the disease at the periphery where it would do the least harm. Therefore, symptoms are viewed by the homeopath as guideposts to finding the deeper underlying problem. According to homeopathic philosophy, when treatment is based on the totality of symptoms within the mind and body, it will stimulate the organism to move into a state of vibrant health. Hahnemann described this state of vibrant health as allowing each person to "fulfill the purpose of his or her existence."

Although homeopathy may be used by anyone as a very effective form treatment for serf-limiting problems such as colds and flu as well as for first aid for cuts, bruises, and other injuries, solutions to long-term problems on the physical and or emotional level and transformational healing are best achieved through constitutional treatment by a professional homeopath. It is the task of the homeopath to perceive what needs to be healed in the individual and to match what needs to be healed to a remedy that has been shown to cure that problem. Although homeopaths do not ignore the conventional understanding of disease, what essentially needs to be healed is not a disease with a name, but rather a repeating pattern of dysfunction that is at the root of the development of a disease, disorder, or other type of suffering on the mental, emotional, or physical level. Once this recurring pattern of dysfunction is perceived, a remedy must be found that matches the pattern enough to create a healing resonance. Since there are literally thousands of homeopathic remedies now in use, finding the correct remedy requires an in-depth and skillful interview. To the untrained eye, the information given in this initial interview may appear confused or chaotic, particularly because the homeopath gathers information about the entire person, including his or her general and emotional state, likes and dislikes, dreams and family history, as well his physical complaints.

The homeopath must view this confused or chaotic state within the individual from a broader and broader perspective until the order that points to the correct remedy reveals itself. Dreams are often very useful in helping to supply the key allows the practitioner to perceive this order.

Since its inception, homeopaths have used dreams as part of the information that leads to the appropriate remedy. There are, however, several reasons why dreams are beginning to play a more important and sophisticated role in the perception of what needs to be healed in the individual and therefore perform an increasingly important role in the homeopathic interview. Firstly, because diseases are presently more suppressed than they were in the past, and secondly, humanity has become more aware of its own psyche, a factor that happened concurrently with the development of psychology.

In our present day, most symptoms are suppressed or covered over by medications. Skin symptoms are treated with steroids, pains are eased with analgesics or more powerful painkillers, and any uncomfortable emotional state can usually be whisked away by visiting a physician who is willing to write a prescription for mind-altering medication. Given that the homeopath depends on the totality of an individual's symptoms as guideposts, this suppression makes finding the correct homeopathic remedy more difficult. In these cases, dreams, in particular a dream that repeats throughout a period of a person's life, or a dream remembered from childhood, can be a very helpful addition to the information that points towards the remedy. It is not unusual to have an early childhood dream contain imagery that is connected with pathology that develops twenty or thirty years later. It is as if the psyche of the individual is already aware of a state that exists but has not yet become manifest in the body or in the conscious mind.

The other factor that makes dreams a more significant part of homeopathy is that individuals are now much more psychologically aware and have different needs than they were when homeopathy was first developed. Freud and Jung, pioneers in understanding the psyche, had not begun their work until after Hahnemann's death. In our increasingly global society, Jung's concept of the collective unconscious is particularly relevant to what often turns out to be the root of much chronic disease. It is as if the roots of disease have moved to a global level, while, paradoxically, treatment needs to be addressed on a more and more individual level. A simplified example of this is how, since the September 11 tragedy, fear has permeated our society. We subliminally meet it each time we travel and are confronted with it through the media; we are manipulated by others who wish to use this fear to achieve their own ends. This fear has become part of the collective unconscious of the world and is affecting the health and well being of all of humanity. It will affect each person in a different way depending on his or her individuality and predisposition to disease, but touches all of us to a greater or lesser extent.

Because much of what deeply influences us on a collective and personal level remains unconscious, it remains an unknown factor in the development of disease. One of the few ways to access the information needed to reveal such influences is through the symbols and imagery in dreams. Dreams point to a reality that is larger than what we can understand through the intellect alone and are, therefore, useful for helping to find a solution in difficult and complex health challenges. It is very important that the information be taken as fact and not interpreted in a way to fit any particular theory. When used in this way, the homeopath becomes the unprejudiced observer of imagery produced by the psyche that symbolically represents the mind/body relationship. This in turn may serve an essential piece of information that leads to the selection of the appropriate homeopathic remedy.

Not every person will remember dreams and, while they may serve as guideposts, even without dreams, an awareness of the symbolism within bodily symptoms and events remembered from childhood, or even fantasies, can provide a clue for the astute homeopath.

Each individual is deeply complex and cannot truly be understood in all facets of his or her existence. However, the homeopath must attempt to understand the individual as much as possible in order to treat the whole person. Dreams serve as a doorway into another dimension that leads to a realm of symbols and imagery connecting the conscious with the vast unconscious. When used as a part of the art and science of homeopathy, they increase what can be perceived about another person, allowing the homeopath to more easily find the appropriate homeopathic remedy. This remedy will then stimulate the inherent healing capacity of the individual and move him or her into greater wholeness of mind, body, and spirit.

Jane Cicchetti, RSHom(NA), CCH 

Jane T. Cicchetti has been teaching and practicing homeopathy since 1983 and has developed techniques for the use of dreams in homeopathic practice under the guidance of a Jungian analyst. She is the author of Dreams, Symbols, and Homeopathy: Archetypal Dimensions of Healing. Jane currently lives and practices in Fairview, NC She can be reached at [e-mail]. or 828-628-6715.