Soul & Survival

In this episode, we speak with Elizabeth Balcar, a practitioner of HFA from the United States, about her journey into homeopathy and how HFA has reshaped her practice. Elizabeth shares how she came to homeopathy later in life after working extensively with PTSD, and how discovering Burnett’s work and later Grant’s books opened new perspectives. She explains how HFA’s focus on colour groups and miasms as forces gave her the structur...

Is this really the way life is now—built around scrolling and phones? Not just social media as a distraction, or the private little worlds we create in our heads, but something deeper. How we use our phone reshapes how memory works. And when memory turns into fragments, personality loses its depth. Who you today come from the memories of yesterday. Without that thread, life risks becoming one-dimensional, disconnecte...

In this episode, we explore the complex role that trauma plays in a person’s development and the subtle, often overlooked ways it expresses in behavior, posture, and belief systems. We talk about how early coping mechanisms - especially those formed around traumatic events - can solidify into unconscious strategies that shape our health and life patterns. We also reflect on the difficulty of unearthing these buried stories, and how...

In this episode, we explore how the subtle cues of posture, movement, and presence can guide a homeopath’s case-taking process. We discuss how observing the body can reveal expressions of a person’s inner state—sometimes even more clearly than their words. We look at ways the body unconsciously communicates patterns of tension, suppression, or need, and how that informs our remedy choices. We also reflect on the nature of vital for...

In this episode, we explore the evolving nature of the developmental stages and how our understanding of them continues to shift as we deepen our work. We reflect on the role of pre-conscious experiences and how they shape a person’s survival strategies and defense structures, often long before language or memory are available. We talk about the importance of tracking not just what is said, but how it is said—tone, gesture, rhythm,...

In this episode, we reflect on what makes a homeopath effective - looking beyond personality and communication skills to focus on results and reproducibility. We discuss how Homeopathic Facial Analysis (HFA) offers an objective framework that brings consistency to prescribing, especially when traditional methods fall short. Drawing from both personal experience and professional observations, we consider why some practitioners appea...

In this episode, I continue exploring the evolution of Homeopathic Facial Analysis (HFA), focusing on how Hahnemann’s miasm theory can be better understood as forces of motion rather than static disease layers. I discuss how combining miasmatic forces—such as psora, sycosis, and syphilis—results in unique, complex energies that behave independently of their original components. Using analogies like blending colors or the uniqueness...

In this episode, I revisit some of my earlier written work that laid the foundation for Homeopathic Facial Analysis (HFA) and reflect on how those ideas still hold strong today. We explore Hahnemann’s miasmatic theory, examining how his research into chronic disease shaped the evolution of homeopathic practice. By breaking down the key differences between acute and chronic diseases, we highlight Hahnemann’s realizatio...

In this episode, we take a deep dive into one of the most debated topics in homeopathy - remedy repetition. We explore how Samuel Hahnemann’s views on repetition evolved over time, from strict caution against it in the early editions of the Organon to the eventual development of the LM potencies, which are entirely based on repetition. We discuss the importance of consistency in homeopathic treatment, comparing it to fundamental hu...

In this episode, we explore the distinction between symptoms and diagnoses in homeopathy, emphasizing the importance of understanding a patient’s unique experience rather than focusing on labels. We discuss how modern healthcare conditions people to rely on diagnoses while overlooking the deeper symptom patterns that reveal true constitutional weaknesses. Through practical examples, we highlight how modalities—factors that influenc...

In this episode, we reflect on the most empowering moments in my homeopathic career and explore the factors that contribute to truly transformative results. We discuss the difference between steady, long-term progress and the occasional “miracle” cases where patients experience dramatic improvements in a short time. Expanding on this, we examine how conditions like PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated ...

In this episode, continuing our discussion of survival instincts and life themes from Episode 38, we dive deeper into the nuances of how inherited stress patterns influence behavior and health. We explore the interplay between survival instincts and environmental factors, emphasizing how these dynamics shape life experiences and recurring challenges. Building on the previous episode, we focus on how unacknowledged stress and suppre...

In this episode, we dive into the concept of the survival instinct and its role in shaping personality, behavior, and health across generations. We explore how the stresses and unexpressed aspects of our parents’ lives are passed on as survival mechanisms, creating gifts and challenges for each new generation. By examining how suppression, life themes, and personality patterns influence health, we highlight how homeopathy can help ...

In this episode, we explore the parallels and distinctions between homeopathy and psychotherapy, focusing on their roles in addressing emotional and physical imbalances. Using Jung’s concept of the shadow as a foundation, we discuss how unacknowledged aspects of the self can manifest as patterns in life, often mistaken for fate. We emphasize how homeopathy offers a direct pathway to resolution by restoring balance and freeing the v...

In this follow-up episode, we delve deeper into the relationship between acute and chronic illnesses and how homeopathy adapts its approach to each. We explore the repellent model used in acute conditions like scarlet fever and the replenishment model applied in chronic care, emphasizing how these strategies support the body’s survival mechanisms. Building on our discussion of flexible dosing, we highlight the importance of symptom...

In this episode, we discuss the distinctions between trauma, acute, and chronic conditions in homeopathy, focusing on how each requires a unique approach to treatment. We challenge outdated teachings that associate remedies exclusively with specific categories, like acute or chronic, emphasizing that remedies like Arnica or Belladonna can serve across multiple contexts. Through this exploration, we explain the importance of underst...

In this episode, we discuss the practical and philosophical aspects of homeopathic case-taking, focusing on the balance between efficiency and depth. We delve into the different methods of case-taking, from written forms to face-to-face interviews, and examine the advantages and limitations of each. We highlight the importance of focusing on idiosyncratic symptoms - those unique to the individual - while avoiding distractions from ...

In this special episode, we start by discussing the Soul & Survival book, sharing its origins and purpose. We reflect on how the book was designed to engage both patients and practitioners by exploring the survival instinct through the lens of homeopathy and evolutionary psychology. By incorporating color groups and survival mechanisms into the narrative, the book provides a framework for understanding how stress responses mani...