Interview with West End Wellness Homeopath, David
Practitioner Name: David Kempson
Occupation: Classical Homeopath
Location: Brisbane
So in simple terms, explain what is homeopathy and how it works?
Homoeopathy works on what we call the Dynamic Plane, that is the level of energy or spirit. We see all life and all health as springing from the Vital Force, the most fundamental element of a living thing. Our remedies are processed in such a way as to extract what we call the Vital Principle out of the original substance, its potential healing blueprint. This leaves behind any toxic or poisonous material, removing any risk of physical harm to the patient. The Vital Force is responsible for all our mental, physical and emotional experiences, and so Homoeopathy is able to affect any diseases that affect these aspects of us, making it the most versatile medical system currently available.
This inexplicable immaterial nature of our medicines provokes disbelief and ridicule amongst the materialistic sciences. Homoeopaths are often expected to apologize for this inability to show how the medicines do what they do. I just accept that healing is the result, and to those people I point to the complete failure of the materialistic philosophies of Orthodox medicine to improve our health in any meaningful way. The state of our mental health, the health of our children, the enormous amount of chronic disease rampant in our society, this shows clearly the ‘success’ of their philosophy.
What inspired you to become a homeopathic practitioner and how does this practice differ from say a naturopath or even a GP?
I was damaged severely by a Hepatitis B vaccine in my mid-20s, before I had any concept of what dangers were found in the Orthodox medical system (Allopathic medicine). My health both mental and physical deteriorated to a point where I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen to me. I managed to find my way to a very good Classical Homoeopath who literally turned my life around. On top of that miracle, I was completely fascinated by the system itself, where my very character and the deepest issues of my life somehow provided her the key to healing me. Not only did I physically improve, I began to change in myself, as a person, for the better. It was both systematic, mysterious and yet based on a set of rules that I could already begin to grasp. Studying it was I guess my unavoidable destiny, as it clicked with me in a way nothing else in my life ever has.
Homoeopathic practice is built on a set of very clear rules, and it applies those rules in a way that creates both reliability and consistency of results. We examine the whole person, as a whole, rather than examining someone as disconnected parts. We see the health as part of one living changing thing, and treatment must also be based on understanding the total picture. This is true Holism. The mental and emotional suffering is an important part of case taking, and expectations are that any healing will involve all levels of a person not just a single location or organ. This promotes a deeper level of respect and empathy for the patient, since we are seeing them as a whole, and drawing out the deepest experience of their pain.
This differs from Naturopathy where many systems are used together, often in conflict, often without concern for any synergy. Homoeopathy can often be mixed in with other opposing therapeutic approaches. Naturopathy in Australia tends to work like a ‘green’ GP, specializing in no one area but having a broad view of many different alternative therapies. Naturopaths may be trained in different ways, meaning that what you get from one may be quite different from another. Medicines tend to be raw substances, supplements, and dietary changes.
Orthodox medicine, or Allopathy, is pretty much the opposite of Homoeopathy, no consistency in its rules, rules changed as the weather changes, and it is rare for one GP to be anything like the next one you see. Obviously the main issue with Allopathy is its use of toxic substances, often in combinations that are not tested. Homoeopathy was created in response to the terrible practices of the past, but it has not changed much at all in the 200 years since. Allopathy focuses on individual parts of the person, prescribing for each bit as if it is unconnected to the rest of the body, and treats the heart and mind as organs that can be drugged as if they were physical objects. There is little respect shown for the individual patient’s suffering, and all people are typically shoved into clearly labelled boxes where pharmaceuticals can be mechanically prescribed.
You work for a not-for-profit organization part time and work as a Homoeopathic consultant part time – what motivates you to work so hard and even on Sundays?
I work with victims of Domestic Violence, trauma clients, and separated parents in high conflict because I experienced much of this in my own childhood. It’s always been important to me to try and give back the help I received in my life. The Homoeopathy doesn’t feel like work, it’s definitely more like my vocation. When I am in that zone, listening to the sound of the internal disorder, the ‘song’ of the suffering of the patient, and allowing my mind to piece together all the disparate parts of the puzzle and watching it fall into order, I feel I am exactly where I am meant to be.
What’s your biggest motivation for continuing to do your work especially at a time when Australia and government bodies keep dismissing natural therapies?
Yeah, this is hard for a lot of us. Many therapists give up, I know a lot of Homoeopaths have. Facing such a negative tide of opinions from the media, the government, from medical professionals, from the general community … it’s hard to go on each day trying to do good work. But in the end, doing something good, getting those people well, making differences in the lives on individuals and their families, I guess those are the things that give your life meaning and purpose.
What’s the biggest take home message you’d like the general public to know when it comes to homeopathy and even general health?
Listen to your body! Don’t let those with vested interests in making money tell you how you should be living or feeling. We live in an age where the search for wisdom has become so externalized, that many people no longer hear the wisdom of their own bodies, their own spirits. Homoeopathy teaches us that each person knows best, what is best for them, even if they cannot hear it themselves, even if they have lost their way. Homoeopaths listen closely to the person’s own inner daemon, taking its advice, giving the help it requires. If people learn to listen to themselves this way, they can resist the illogical and destructive advice of Pharmaceutical medicine. One of the greatest tragedies I observe nowadays is people giving up control of their own minds and bodies, or those of their children, to the corrupt powers of this world masquerading as benevolent.
I hope to become a practitioner in nutritional medicine over the coming years, what would be some words of wisdom you could share with me?
Focus on Holistic medicine. Don’t get too caught up in the biochemical approach. Food has greater meaning to us that fuel, we are not machines simply balancing out our chemical components. Modern medicine continues to look at smaller and smaller aspects of existence, ignoring the big pictures, ignoring the purpose of humankind, ignoring our ability to connect with other living things. Nutrition can be part of a philosophy of life, a way of existing in the world, it can incorporate a belief in existing alongside nature instead of dominating it. Healing by any means needs to plug into something deeper than science, at least deeper than the science we’ve all been lead to believe is ‘settled’.