ABOUT ME If anybody had suggested 15 years ago
that I would become a full-time practicing homeopath I would
have been mystified and astonished! As a graduate of Yale University's
Family Nurse Practitioner program in 1987 I was fully committed
to the medical model of health and disease upon which my training
was based.
After more than a decade of prescribing pharmaceutical drugs,
however, I developed a strong gut feeling that there must be
something "more". Intuitively I sensed that there
was a connection between physical problems and the state of
mind that mainstream medicine had not grasped. I began an intensive
search for this missing link, never suspecting that the answer
lay in a forgotten, 200 year old medical tradition called "homeopathy".
While I was taking workshops on hypnosis, guided imagery, and
other mind-body therapies my two year old son became ill with
an ear infection. After two courses of antibiotics failed to
resolve his high fever and pain I became desperate, and brought
him to a homeopath. Not having much faith in the little sugar
pellets I was told to dissolve on his tongue, the rapid cure
I then observed amazed me. Like most people, I tried to dismiss
what I couldn't understand. But a repeat experience several
months later forced me to take a closer look at this obscure
medical art and science.
Within a year I had enrolled in the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy,
widely considered the best and most thorough program in North
America. Taught by Roger Morrison, Jonathan Shore, and Nancy
Herrick, and other dedicated homeopaths, this four year program
gave me a deep grounding in homeopathic philosophy, materia
medica (the study of the sphere of action of different homeopathic
remedies), case analysis, and management. After one year of
study I was so persuaded of the superior efficacy and deeper
healing provided by homeopathy that I opened up my own homeopathic
practice in downtown Portland, and resigned my positions in
mainstream medical settings. I had educated myself out of my
jobs!
Since graduation as valedictorian of my class in 2001 I have
continued my post-graduate studies with the best homeopaths
in the world. Of these, the teachers who have influenced my
practice the most are Divya Chabbra and Rajan Sankaran of Mumbai,
India. In January-February of 2004 I spent one month in India
studying with them and other great Indian homeopaths. I have
also served as newsletter editor for the North American Society
of Homeopaths, and opened up a second office in Walla Walla,
Washington.
I take great joy in my practice of homeopathic medicine. It
allows me to become both an instrument in, and a witness to,
a healing process which points to a deep compassion and impulse
towards wholeness built into the structure of our universe.
What do the initials 'CCH' and 'RSHom(NA)' stand for?
CCH means 'Certified in Classical Homeopathy'. This certification
is increasingly recognized as the standard which guarantees
professional competency in a field which still has very varied
educational requirements from school to school, and includes
practitioners from a variety of licensed and unlicensed backgrounds.
RSHom(NA) indicates a registered member with the North American
Society of Homeopaths in North America, a professional organization
establishing high standards of competency and ethics among homeopaths.
