Guidelines For Symptom Selection

The initial consultation is very important. The client comes with a big story of their suffering and their life. How we understand this as a homeopath is most important. We can only know the true portrait of their dis-ease by the symptoms they have. These can be objective as in physical observations or subjective as in the way a certain malady feels to the client. The most important task the homeopath has is to understand what is asking to be healed. Without symptoms, we could never know.

To understand symptoms, we must understand the difference between health and dis-ease. Without comparison, we could never perceive the most appropriate symptoms to select rubrics during repertization. One of the biggest mistakes in this process happens with the selection of common traits of a person that has aspects of the dis-ease but does not fully reflect what is asking to be healed. An example is a person who worries about their children. This is very common and may not be reflective of the core of the case. Yet I find many students who would choose this as a symptom and select a rubric like, Mind; Anxiety, children, about his. This is normal and healthy, but cannot be a part of the case when the core of the case is something else. It will only muddy the remedy selection choices after repertization.

Separating health from dis-ease can be difficult at times. This is why it is important to choose symptoms that speak to the core of the person and are undeniable. Often these symptoms are difficult to translate into rubrics. They then must be held as a concept or part of the totality and considered in what is asking to be healed.

Because every case is different, there is no set way to understand symptoms. Some cases come on a silver platter and lead directly to a well-known remedy. Other cases need to be examined closely to discover those symptoms that are reflective of the dis-ease. Here are some guidelines for symptom selection that I have found to be useful!

• Always choose symptoms that are undeniable. This means that no matter who would observe the client or their testimony, no one could ever dispute that it fit their case.
• Always choose symptoms that are reflective of a bigger thread or picture in the case. If they choose a word to describe a subjective symptom over and over, then using this symptom will help understand the energy of the dis-ease that is expressing. This becomes a valuable symptom in the final selection of the remedy because it should reflect the energy of the remedy also.
• Choose a symptom that is strange, rare, or peculiar. Not all clients will come with them, but when you hear or observe some part of their symptoms that just are uncharacteristic, then pay close attention to these symptoms. When you can choose a rubric that reflects this unusual symptom, it will have fewer remedies and will possibly be a determining factor in the remedy selection.
• Always choose mental symptoms wisely. There can sometimes be many mental/emotional symptoms. Choosing the most appropriate symptoms that best reflect the case is very important.  They must reflect the fundamental core of what is asking to be healed.
• Choose clinical symptoms sparingly. It is good to know a western diagnosed disease name but rarely will this help in the individualization of the client's symptoms. It is helpful to know the organ or body part to help select the most appropriate remedy but rarely will a disease name be a symptom as such. Symptoms are the unique language of the vital force that shows the dis-ease.
• Always look for concomitant symptoms. These are symptoms that occur alongside or with the chief complaint. They help show the unique expression of the dis-ease. An example may be, the chief complaint is diarrhea but the concomitant symptom might be extreme weakness when a stool is passed.

With these simple guidelines, you can usually find two or more particular symptoms that a case can be used in repertization. The selection of the symptoms and the rubric selection are most important. Knowing the difference between health and disease is absolutely necessary. If you confuse healthy expressions of the person with their disease, your case will surely fail. Not all mental/emotional symptoms are to be used in selecting rubrics. You will have a real mish-mash of a case if you do.

A client may have so many symptoms that it may be difficult to pare down which symptoms are most important. Remember to come back to the bullet points above and use them as a guide. This could help you take a very confusing case and simplify it a great deal. Once symptoms are repertized, then the remedy selections will either be created or destroyed. Keeping your rubrics to a minimum can often be a better solution to cases with lots of symptoms.

Keep the conversation going! I would love to hear your questions and thoughts below!