What to expect

Your consultation

There are two experts in a homeopathic consultation: one is qualified in homeopathic medicine; the other is qualified in the ‘what, where, when and how’ of the patient – that's you.

In the consultation we work together to create a full and accurate picture of all aspects of your symptoms, which enables me to draw up a properly individualised prescription and treatment plan for your case. 

After the consultation I continue to work on your behalf by checking through and synthesising the information compiled between us. I may briefly contact you again at this point to clarify something, or to ask for a piece of information not gained in the consultation. I then make your treatment plan, and dispense and post or deliver your prescription.

A first consultation usually lasts one to one-and-a-half hours with an adult, and about forty-five minutes to an hour with a child. I will take many more notes than you may be used to with a health practitioner; and I will ask a great variety of questions, some of which might strike you as odd, particularly if you are presenting with a physical ailment! This is because as well as looking at the symptoms you are presenting, a homeopath needs to know about how you generally 'run', both as a body and as a person. So I will ask about things like:

  • your temperament and general disposition 
  • your likes and dislikes in a range of things
  • any particular sensitivities you may have
  • any odd or persistent symptoms not necessarily related to your presenting complaints
  • what makes your symptoms better or worse 
  • any identifiable patterns of illness in you or in your family history 
  • whether you have ‘never been well since…’ etc. 

Many people find that the opportunity to take proper stock of their health and well-being is beneficial in itself, even before a prescription has been made.

When appropriate, and only with the patient's consent, I welcome further information or observations regarding their case from someone close to them, e.g. partner, parent, grandparent, other carer or health professional. Patients are free to bring a supporter to their consultation, if needed.

Consultations in a patient’s home are carried out on the understanding that the patient will have the privacy and the freedom to focus properly on their case, and interruptions, if necessary, will be minimal. 

When consulting with people under sixteen years of age I will expect to have someone present who is either a parent, or is the child’s primary carer. The only exceptions to this are where it might be more useful for a teenage child to consult alone, for some part or all of a consultation, and the parent or carer has given their consent for this to me directly.

Where it is agreed to be useful and appropriate to do so, and only with the patient’s or a parent’s/carer’s consent, I may make a brief examination of a physical symptom. This will be noted in the patient's consultation record, and I will ask the individual (or their carer) to initial and date the entry as a sign of prior consent to being examined physically.

Your prescription

Unless a remedy or another item needs to be specially ordered for you, you should receive your prescription by a working week after your consultation. If there is any reason to stop me from fulfilling this timescale, I will tell you as soon as I can. 

I usually supply remedies in the form of small pills to be dissolved under the tongue; but I may also supply a larger, softer, form of tablet, or powders, or liquid remedies and tinctures to be taken in drop doses.

Please read carefully any enclosures with your prescription, and do follow the instructions  re dosing, quantity and timing. If you have any doubt about these, or accidentally destroy, or even lose your remedy, contact me immediately.

Depending on your presenting case, and your response and progress, you will need at least  one or two follow-up appointments. These are usually spaced at four, six, or eight week intervals, but can be more or less frequent, as needed. The follow-up appointment is important: it is where patient and practitioner assess together the response to the prescription so far and the person's progress. All feed-back being taken into account, the prescription is left to stand, repeated, or altered appropriately. These appointments take approximately half the initial consultation time. ​
“I am always quite apprehensive to lay all of my problems out on the table with 'strangers', but the atmosphere seemed so relaxed and instigating of trust that I had no problem doing so in this situation. It was very clear that I was speaking to someone who really knew her stuff and towards the end [of the consultation] we already had a pretty good idea of what might help and why. I left the consultation with an unusual sense of optimism and an eagerness to try out what Sandra decided to prescribe.”

Mr WN-S, Chippenham, Wilts.