Homeopathy Supports the Shadow Side of Healing

“I was feeling so much better. I really believed I was healing but now all my old struggles are creeping back. Was it too good to be true?”

Many of my homeopathic patients, who are seeking treatment for long-term chronic conditions, share some version of this struggle.  Their challenge often appears shortly after a dramatic positive shift.  Initially, there is relief and gratitude when the symptoms improve.  However, just as the person settles into feeling better, old symptoms often resurface. A crisis of faith often follows.

“I knew that little white pill couldn’t really cure me. Maybe I shouldn’t bother with this medicine after all.”

In some cases, a simple tweak to the patient’s remedy can reset the healing course.  For other people, the struggle deeply activates the shadow side of healing.  The shadow represents the part of you that doesn’t want to change, the part of the psyche that has coped under prolonged stress and is identified with the familiar.  The shadow conjures up the phrase, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”

Change of any kind, even positive healing change, can activate a lot of fear.  It helps to understand that fear is to be expected.   Fear is part of the healing process.  To move beyond our shadow side we need compassion for the fearful part, patience with the process and trust in ourselves.  Homeopathic remedies offer tremendous support in letting go. Healing from chronic disorders is rarely a straight line forward but rather a circuitous route through many shadowy turns.