Statistical research supports interviews
Carefully tested database
Behind an effective strategy for my interview, lies 20 years of statistical research to support homeopathic interviews. Patients first experience the results of this statistical research when they fill out a questionnaire. Patients participate in a deeper interview after filling out the questionnaire and the homeopath has checked the patient's interpretation of each question. So, this questionnaire is the first step in the treatment process.
As a result, the groundbreaking work of Dr. Heinner Frie has increased the scientific reliability of homeopathic prescribing. Over 20 years working in a busy clinic, Dr. Frie has devised several strategies to use statistics generated from the questions used in cured cases and the homeopath's daily work of analyzing their patient's problems. For example, questions that produced the highest cure rate for any given treatment (remedy) are the questions that appear on the questionnaire. Furthermore, because Dr. Frie relied on an exceptionally reliable database, the Boenninghausen Pocketbook Repertory, with his added research, Dr. Frie has made it much easier for homeopaths to find a curative treatment. That is, through statistical research, the chances of producing a cured case have become much higher.
For my first analysis of most interviews, I use Dr. Frie's carefully tested questionnaire. Either I interview patients looking at Dr. Frie's questionnaire or patients receive a questionnaire from me. If patients fill out the questionnaire, their answers guide the interview that follows. If I talk to them without a questionnaire, often I am using Dr. Frie's work as my guide.
The content of the questionnaire
The questionnaire focuses on conditions that patients can clearly feel. It asks how patients adjust to change or stress. What causes them to feel better or worse? Reactions to different weather condition, reactions to typical body movements and positions, desires for food, drinks, etc are so general, yet they can be first line indicators of the type of treatment that would help the patient. This questionnaire alone will not cure most cases. Rather it is a shortcut to narrowing down the remedies that could possibly lead to healing.
Furthermore, the questionnaire does not focus on mental/emotional symptoms that can be difficult to verify or to communicate to another person. However, when we are sick, we often have distortions of perception. These distortions are easier to verify and as an option, a specialized questionnaire focusing on distortions of perceptions is given to some patients. The questionnaire covers very general physical characteristics relevant to health. The specific symptoms of each patient will be addressed during the interview and not necessarily in the questionnaire.