A family affair: Treating parents and kids
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A family affair: Treating parents and kids
by Mary Aspinwall, ISHom, PCHom
Published in Homeopathy Today November 2003
The Chinese have a saying: “If the child is sick then
treat the mother.” Very often when parents bring their
children to see me, my gut feeling is that the child is ill
because all is not well with one or both of their parents.
Children are like psychic sponges mopping up the “dis-ease”
their parents transmit and then broadcasting it loud and clear.
Special offer for mothers
The child may be presented as the client, but I often long
to treat the parents! Parents, especially mothers, nearly
always put the needs of their children first. That is why
I run a “special offer” in my practice: if a child
under two years old comes for treatment, I will treat the
mother for free. It is amazing how much time and trouble this
offer has saved me over the years.
Terrified and sympathetic
In one particular case, a woman (who was also a mother) came
to see me because she had recently developed some fears that
were becoming debilitating. She had always been of an anxious
disposition, but her symptoms had become much worse since
a very frightening episode a year or so earlier, when she
and her children had become trapped in their car during a
flood. Since then, she was terrified of many things, and the
worst of all was thunder and lightening. She had a very caring,
sympathetic disposition and often exhausted herself by taking
care of everyone but herself. Based on these key symptoms
as well as others, I prescribed Phosphorus. She was delighted
with the results.
A guinea pig
She then asked if I might be able to help her teenage daughter.
I realized that this mother had actually used herself as a
guinea pig—checking me and homeopathy out first, before
allowing me to treat her daughter!
Ovarian pain and low self-esteem
The daughter had just had an operation a few weeks earlier
to remove a large ovarian cyst. Unfortunately, the girl was
now experiencing intense pain on the opposite ovary, and a
further cyst was suspected. She had always had very painful
periods, with ovarian pains that alternated from side to side.
She told me she had had a horrible
time since going to high school. She believed the other girls
in her class were always making fun of her. She had low self-esteem
and was scared to answer a question in class in case she got
it wrong. These symptoms pointed to Lac caninum. After taking
a dose, all of these issues resolved and the teenager didn’t
need a second operation.
It is now many years later,
and both mother and daughter continue to be well. I wonder
if the daughter would have stayed so well had her mother’s
anxiety gone unresolved.
High-powered peas in a pod
In contrast, I had a case where a father brought his teenage
son to see me because of lingering weakness and listlessness
after a diagnosis of mononucleosis. The son was in his final
year of high school and was due to take his exams in a few
months. A Grade A student and a superb athlete, he had played
and trained for three different school teams. Now, however,
his illness was interfering with this.
This father and son were like
peas in a pod. They had the same drive to be the best at everything
they did. The son wanted to attend the same school and college
as his father “because they are the best.” Both
father and son viewed the illness as a disaster because it
meant the teen might not get the exam results he needed to
get into college or would have to delay taking the exams until
the following year.
I treated the son with Aurum
metallicum because of his traits of being super-ambitious
and wanting to be the best, in addition to other confirmatory
physical symptoms. I also suggested that he be given as much
time as possible to recuperate.
The son made good progress after
the homeopathic remedy, but at the first sign of recovery
he was pushed hard to succeed and, predictably, he relapsed.
Obstacles to cure
Homeopaths are taught to be aware of potential “obstacles
to cure” and to remove them wherever possible. For example,
there is no point treating an asthmatic if they continue to
live in a horribly damp house, and they should be encouraged
to move. Likewise, I believe that the pressurized atmosphere
in this teenager’s house was an obstacle to his getting
well.
If only I could have treated
the father (possibly with Aurum metallicum as well), I think
the son would have had a better chance at a full recovery.
About the author:
Mary Aspinwall studied at the London College of Homeopathy
and is a Dynamis School graduate. She is a Registered member
of the Irish Society of Homeopaths. In 1992 she designed the
best-selling Helios Double Helix homeopathic medicine kits
for home use, foreign travel, and childbirth and wrote A Basic
Guide to Homeopathy. She now has a large, busy holistic health
center in the South West of Ireland, teaches for the Irish
School of Homeopathy, and together with her saintly husband
runs www.homeopathyworld.com. You can read more of her cases
and articles there.
© Mary Aspinwall
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