Comprehensive Information Packet for Patients
Douglas Falkner, MD, MHom

(Note: This pamphlet includes a great deal of information. Please browse the 12 pages to familiarize yourself with the topics included.)

Dear Reader:

So you’re interested in homeopathy, and wondering if it is really the right choice for you. I get calls all the time from people like yourself, wanting to know if I can help them to relieve or cure whatever symptoms or conditions they are suffering. While this type of inquiry is typical, it is unfortunately not so simple to answer. For homeopathy is likely the least understood of all the non-conventional approaches to healing. This is why I have decided to prepare for you this informational packet with some real life examples of homeopathy.

With this material, I hope to stimulate your thinking about how to best manage the problems and difficulties you face, and how you might achieve your goals.  I also hope to explain enough about my own philosophy and approach so that you can make an informed choice regarding your personal pursuit for good health.

You will find within this packet an introductory statement, an article written for publication, a section on homeopathic principles, and concluding sections describing the general treatment process and costs for my services, all to help you make your own decision about working with me. I have also included a brief personal biographical statement to give you some information on my training background and clinical experience.

I want to thank you for your interest in me and my work, and for taking the time to go through this information. I hope I can be of real help to you sometime in the near future by assisting you in your pursuit of healing and better health.

Sincerely,

Douglas Falkner, MD, MHom

Introduction

After years of clinical work in Emergency Medicine, I realized that modern medicine was generally incapable of producing the deep and lasting changes to one’s health and well being that I had always hoped for when I became a doctor. When I learned about homeopathy, I recognized instinctively its incredible potential for bringing about a true healing response, way beyond what conventional medicine had to offer.

People who have used homeopathy over time often report that they feel better than they have in years or even decades, that they enjoy a renewed vitality and an increased sense of overall well being. Most experience an enhanced life, with improved financial success, and better personal relationships, and greater personal satisfaction. Indeed, the positive impact of successful homeopathic treatment on your life can be extensive.

However, it is important to realize that this process of change might take some time and patience.  Some people require six month’s treatment, others five years or even more. It only makes sense that it will take time to reverse the damage to one’s life force suffered over years and possibly decades. Nevertheless the positive changes you can experience through homeopathy will be real and cumulative.

These positive changes will arise because homeopathy actually addresses the root causes of dis-ease, rather than merely suppressing symptoms, as most approaches do. If you are not just looking for a quick fix to your symptoms—an approach that generally does not last— it is well worth investing a few years of work with homeopathy. You will benefit as your treatment gradually and gently reverses the patterns of injury at their root and thus brings about a true and lasting cure.

Many doctors have criticized homeopathy as being unscientific, even quackery. For, in truth, no one actually can prove the exact mechanism by which our remedies work. However, for me, whether homeopathy works is not really in question. From over a decade of clinical experience, the efficacy of homeopathy is an uncontestable fact.

If I didn’t see firsthand the practical verifiable results of homeopathic treatment on a daily basis I would have long ago found a better method for healing. But as a trained medical doctor and emergency physician, with a broad exposure to mainstream medicine, as well as many other healing systems and treatment approaches, I have not seen any other discipline compare in real results to properly applied homeopathy. This is why I do it.

Nevertheless, I never make any promises or predictions to newcomers. What I say is this: if I can successfully find the best homeopathic remedy for you, it will make profound and powerful changes for you on a spiritual level. To the extent that you are willing to allow the spiritual changes that a remedy stimulates to proceed, homeopathy will work for you. Such changes can and will positively impact all the other levels of your being—physical, mental, and emotional—by improving your total health and wellness, often quite dramatically.

After reading the article that follows, you will come to a further discussion on homeopathic principles, which I feel can be more easily appreciated and understood after you have had a chance to read about some real life examples of homeopathy at work.

On Making the Family Whole

By Douglas Falkner, MD, MHom

For many years as a homeopathic medical doctor I have been privileged to see how profoundly homeopathic care impacts the family system. I have witnessed firsthand the strengthening of family bonds, intimacy, harmony, and well-being, even if only one family member undergoes a course of homeopathic treatment. This connection between family health and homeopathy is even more impressive as more family members participate. Even in the absence of individual or family counseling or other therapeutic support, homeopathy’s impact extends far beyond the individual being treated. As our own vitality, health and well-being evolves it effects our family, friends, and close contacts who surround us.

A common misconception surrounding homeopathy is that it is similar, in one way or another, to the fields of herbalism, acupuncture, nutrition and vitamin therapies, and the like. However, homeopathy is actually quite distinct. Homeopathy works spiritually, never physically. It addresses causes, not symptoms. By working spiritually, it strengthens vitality directly and shifts one’s healing in the direction of personal growth and evolution.

By alleviating disturbances on the spiritual level, disease symptoms previously experienced tend to disappear. It is as if by healing the spirit we become whole on every level. Instead of suppressing symptoms and putting band-aids on people’s problems, homeopathy opens the door, in amazing and even magical ways, to the kind of deep healing most of us long for. Ultimately good homeopathic care allows us to be our true selves, to become who we are meant to be.

When I first met Donna she was a single mother with an unwanted four-year-old daughter, Tara, born out of wedlock. Tara had frequent colds, bronchitis, ear infections and behavior problems consistent with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Donna brought her daughter to me because she heard that homeopathy offered a holistic approach that could eventually lead to a real cure of her daughter’s diverse problems. She was also interested in the fact that this might be achieved without any of the toxicity or side effects of standard medications. She heard that homeopathy was completely safe, even for pregnant women and young children.

At their first visit, I learned much about Tara ‘s disruptive and hard to control behaviors, which only worsened with each cold and ear infection. She was impossible to discipline, broke things during her regular and unpredictable temper tantrums, refused to go to bed at night, and woke up very early the next morning! Prior to Tara’s birth, her mother had enjoyed a successful career as a sales account executive, and since Tara ‘s birth has bemoaned the endless demands and duties of motherhood, especially as a single mom with a “very difficult child.” I could see the resentment painted all over the mother’s face.

Donna had a string of failed relationships. She considered herself self-centered, depressive and disappointed in life. Her personality was somewhat aggressive, and she tended to find men whom she could dominate. She quickly lost respect for the men she dated, and the father of her current child was no exception. Her unhealthy personality translated into a pattern of failed intimacy and a disconnection with her own instincts as a mother. “In general,” she told me, “I dislike kids. They think the world is all about them; they have no right to demand anything.” She went on to add, “The essence of me is not a mother.”

I proceeded to evaluate the daughter, and recommended a homeopathic remedy and treatment plan. Nevertheless, I felt the mother would also benefit from a good remedy, especially with regard to her lack of any real bonding with her daughter. With the help of her remedy, Donna’s daughter began to improve on all counts. At this point, Donna decided to try homeopathy for herself because of the virtually miraculous results Tara was having. She was glad that she did.

After two years of treatment, it would be hard to recognize Donna. She was not the same woman and mother who desperately sought to make her daughter a “tolerable inconvenience.” Donna became happy. She had found a husband and partner, not one she would come to alienate, but a strong, mature person whom she could respect and with whom she could build a life.

One day Donna called to announce she had exciting news: she was pregnant with her second child. She was elated. She had long since become attached and quite fond of Tara , whose behavior problems were so transformed that she was no longer bringing her in to see me. Tara had become a healthy girl, still very energetic, but without all the sharp edges and unruly patterns of previous years. Her constant colds, coughs, and ear infections also completely resolved. “Your remedies have saved my life, and my daughter’s,” her mother remarked at one of her last visits. “I cannot believe the person I have become. I am a happy mother and I am happy with my life.”

This story is by no means unusual for me. Since the founding of homeopathy over 200 years ago, its principles and tenets have been applied to millions of people worldwide who have benefited from a higher quality of life. While the mechanisms of action of homeopathic treatment remains poorly understood, the results of its application are quite reproducible, verifiable and often astounding.

In essence, homeopathy is medicine for the human spirit, for the vital force. Samuel Hahnemann, homeopathy’s founder, asserted that the vital force rules the material body with “unbounded sway.” When disturbed, the vital force cannot maintain the physical being in harmonious accord, as it is meant to do by nature. When our life energies come under attack, every part of us is affected, mind, body, and emotions. As a result, we begin to manifest illness on all levels. We become limited in the full and free expression of who we really are and are meant to be. Without a free flowing vitality, we cannot be truly well. Perhaps more importantly, we cannot be our full selves, free to discover and pursue our higher purpose in life.

As a master homeopath I know this. I use homeopathic remedies to remove obstacles to the vital force and thus to strengthen it. Remedies have the ability to free the vital force from the ravaging effects of the forces that have been limiting it. Once restored to a more healthy state, the vital force is able to restore health and balance to the whole living organism. The result is one tends to grow and evolve more rapidly, manifesting his or her own true nature, full of energy and creativity.

Patients tell me this time and time again: “I never knew I could feel this well again.” Or, “I finally feel like my real self. I haven’t felt this way since I was a young child.” Or, “it is hard to believe, but my life has never been better.”

Most people come to homeopaths with the hope of removing some symptom or another, or to address some specific diagnosis or chronic illness, like asthma or allergies, skin problems, bowel problems, migraines, depression, phobias, hormonal issues like menopause or PMS, and more. They come for all those conditions that modern medicine can only manage and suppress, but never cure. Although the homeopathic remedies only treat the spirit level, most of the time these conditions do get better and go away after my treatments.

But people successfully treated with homeopathy come away with much more. Indeed, many become aware of a previously unseen or unexpected potential within themselves. Instead of hoping to simply feel better, they begin to see all the possibilities of life. Rather than a mere removal of symptoms, as painful and debilitating as they might be, often people begin to experience a personal unfolding that surpasses their initial expectations, well beyond what they could have imagined.

This evolution of self has a dramatic effect on one’s surroundings. We are not islands unto ourselves. We exist in multiple webs of enlarging influences. As the world is an extension of nations and societies, so the family is an extension of individuals. The family system is open and malleable. Individuals, with their diverse nature and energies, influence directly and indirectly the shape and form of the family unit. When one family member is ill, the whole family suffers, either to a lesser or greater degree. When one person changes, it necessarily causes changes in the whole family.

Diane suffered with chronic PMS. She spent the first half of her month recovering from her period, and the second half preparing for the one to come. Her moods were so unstable that she found it hard to like anyone in her family, especially her husband. Her children seemed always to misbehave and she complained about them and her husband all the time, usually over trivial things. She had little sex drive, found mothering a chore sometimes too difficult to cope with, and honestly felt that her husband treated her badly, in spite of being aware that she was also very ill. She was convinced that he no longer respected her.

She came to homeopathy after every conventional treatment either didn’t work or whose side effects became intolerable. Although hormonal treatment modalities were effective, she was frightened of the potential impact it might have on her fertility later on and on her risk of cancer. It wasn’t many months after starting homeopathic treatment that she noticed a few interesting changes. Yes, her monthly cycles were becoming much more tolerable. But of more significance was her observation that her husband started being nicer to her! “You would have thought that it was he who was taking the remedy,” she remarked, laughing. She also noticed that she was becoming more patient with her children. Their time spent together was becoming much more pleasant and enjoyable, even fun.

Diane was just beginning to understand how interrelated her energy was to the rest of her family members. As her own energy began to shift, manifested by less pain and discomfort, better moods, and a more hopeful outlook, she also became a more tolerable person to live with. Even more, energetically she became a more attractive mate, probably more like the woman her husband had remembered marrying. Her children responded by behaving better, even though she hadn’t really changed the discipline or routines in the home.

Sometimes, parents come to homeopathy through witnessing the positive changes that occur for their child, and for the beneficial effects such changes bring to the family. Other times, parents are the ones who come first, and later want their children to receive all the same gifts of restored health and vitality and the prevention or elimination of serious or chronic illness. What many families discover is that once one family member experiences a transformation of their health and spirit for the better, it often has a beneficial action on everyone else, as was so clearly observed in the case above.

However, healing and strengthening the individual does not always lead to strengthening of the family. There are instances when marriages do split apart while both parents are under treatment. At times it becomes clear that the husband and wife have real substantive differences, and that perhaps they were not a good match to begin with. Other times, homeopathic treatment will strengthen a person’s resolve to leave a dysfunctional situation and move forward in life. After becoming more healthy and clear about one’s real needs and priorities, some people become unwilling to wait and hope that their partners will grow and evolve to a point they can live with. So they divorce.

But even in these instances, it seems that the use of remedies smoothes the painful transitions of family upheaval, whether from divorce, or some other trauma, such as death, serious illness or injury. In most instances, healing with remedies tends to bring out more long term good for the individual and the family than any perceived harm in the short term.

It is clear from my many years of applying the principles of homeopathy with my patients that when homeopathy is applied correctly and judiciously, people’s health and lives begin to blossom. I have found it quite gratifying to play a role in the improvement of my patients’ health, including the actual resolution and disappearance of what my more conventional allopathic counterparts have labeled incurable chronic disease of all kinds, even very serious ones.

Yet what is even more extraordinary to ponder is the growing evidence that homeopathy has an influence far more reaching than the health of the individual alone. When individuals heal, their families benefit. Healthy families are the foundation of a healthy society. As we are all inter-related and connected by the web of life, homeopathy offers real hope for making our families whole and, by extension, for healing our world, one person at a time.

The End

Homeopathic Principles

Now let’s return to our discussion, and begin to explore the principles of homeopathy. Homeopathy is a spiritual science, not a medical intervention. Therefore, the benefits you gain from homeopathic treatment are exclusively due to its positive spiritual impact on you, not on any physical, mental or emotional effects whatsoever. (Please re-read this paragraph a few times if it comes as a surprise to you.)

As mentioned briefly in the article above, although many equate homeopathy with herbs, nutrition, vitamins, and other forms of natural healing, it has nothing at all to do with these disciplines. Homeopathy is spiritual medicine, not physical medicine. Effective homeopaths are highly trained healers who are experts in examining and defining the spiritual disturbances in those who are ill. The very best homeopaths become masters at helping others by the use of homeopathic remedies, which are spiritual, non-physical potencies. Unlike most medical disciplines, homeopaths generally avoid material medicinal interventions altogether.

The master homeopath approaches all cases of illness and dis-ease from the spiritual perspective. By careful inquiry and observation, the well-trained homeopath endeavors to discern the nature of the spiritual disturbance(s) impacting the patient. With the aid of the properly selected homeopathic remedy, the disturbances can be eliminated. What results is the strengthening of the vital force, which can now flow more freely again..

Through the vehicle of applying the correct homeopathic remedy, I can help enable individuals to manifest their true nature and highest goals in life, by helping to rebalance and realign the spirit or life force. The end result is a deep and profound healing, a true restoration of health and well-being.

Even if this seems outlandish, it is precisely what homeopathy is about. If you have any doubt, consider these facts about our remedies. All homeopathic remedies come from material substances found in nature—from herbs, to minerals, to animal products. Yet, before they are packaged, all remedies are manufactured in such a way as to dilute out any trace of material substance. There is no laboratory process or instrument known to man that can detect anything of material value in any properly manufactured homeopathic remedy, period.

Ultimately, the only active principle in any homeopathic remedy that you might investigate is a kind of spiritual force, not a substance. In other words, the active ingredient, if you will, in homeopathic remedies is nothing (material or physical) at all…except some spiritual force. To be sure, this force is related and connected to the original source substance, but nonetheless is non-material in nature.

In brief, the homeopath is indeed a doctor of the spirit or vital force, not the body. Because our remedies are spiritual, if homeopaths are honest, we cannot claim to treat or address any specific symptom, condition, or diagnoses directly.

In essence, we use our remedies to remove disturbances on the spiritual level alone. We are able to do this due to the spiritual properties of the homeopathic remedy. When disturbances to the spirit or vital force are removed by the remedy, the body begins to heal spontaneously of itself, restoring order, balance, and harmony naturally. As this process unfolds, symptoms usually improve. It is that simple.

Making Your Own Decision

By now you may begin to wonder if you really want to pursue something that may seem somewhat far-fetched. First you hear that homeopathy does not directly treat any of the problems that lead you to call my office. Secondly, the spiritual underpinnings of homeopathy may not gibe with your personal beliefs or understanding of disease. If you are beginning to think it is time to move on to the next available option…before you do, read on.

I never try to convince a person to engage in the homeopathic process. First, I believe that you are 100% in charge of your health and your life. You need to make all your own choices. I personally can make no promises or claims to alleviate any of your physical, mental or emotional conditions, since I don’t ever treat any of those. True, I am a medical doctor, but I do all my work according to homeopathic principles. That means, I try to help individuals on the spiritual level alone.

If one feels obliged to work on the physical, mental or emotional levels, then there are all kinds of people out there who specialize in interventions that address the material levels directly. Yet, will any of the other options actually go as deep as homeopathy can and ultimately lead to a lasting and permanent cure? Suppressing symptoms may be easier, quicker, and more comfortable, but the underlying problem will continue unrelenting, usually becoming even worse and more complicated over time.

What I can say in favor of what I do is this: in truth, as evidenced from over a decade of clinical experience with the homeopathic approach, most symptoms, conditions, dis-eases, and diagnoses stem largely, if not almost entirely, from spiritual causes. By annihilating the disturbances to the spirit, balance is restored to the spiritual level. Because the spirit controls the other levels of our being, all the other levels tend to improve as the spiritual level improves.

Remember, fundamentally the body heals itself. I have seen countless cases of what are labeled incurable conditions disappear and not come back. I explain this by one simple fact: the homeopathic approach addresses the real cause of dis-ease, because most of the time the cause is on the spiritual level, not the physical, mental or emotional.

For me, it is a routine experience to see people with any number of problems arrive at a complete and lasting cure of their ailments. What I observe so often in my work borders on the miraculous.

Without the slightest exaggeration, I have seen repeatedly how the correct homeopathic remedy gradually but steadily leads one to a complete transformation of health, physically, mentally, and emotionally. The incredible healing potential of the free-flowing spirit is grossly underestimated. Naturally, when the spirit of life is unencumbered from disturbance and disharmony, it will manifest in health and beauty, according to the unique nature of each being.

The remarkable success of homeopathic healing is an ongoing testimony to the oft unrecognized fact that we are sick first and foremost in our spirits, and only later in our bodies, minds, and feelings. This is the main point you must keep in mind when making your decision.

Scheduling Appointments

Now that you have read and considered all that I have written above, perhaps you are interested in moving forward and making an appointment with me. If homeopathy sounds like something you would like to pursue, please do not hesitate to call me and we can set up an initial consultation. For those wishing to know more about the time and financial commitments that such treatment entails, please see further details below.

Treatment Process

Your first appointment will be scheduled for approximately an hour. The purpose of this first appointment is to clarify the nature of the spiritual disturbance(s) in your case and to select a fitting homeopathic remedy. To accomplish this at your appointment, you will be asked to speak in depth about yourself and your life, so that I can get a clear sense of who you really are. Learning about your problems or difficulties through the recounting of your own personal experiences helps me to understand and delineate the kind of disturbance(s) you are suffering at the spiritual level.

After I have determined the most appropriate remedy, I will make recommendations to you, including how to obtain and use the remedy selected, what to expect during the course of treatment, and how often we will need to have follow up visits.

In general, follow up visits occur approximately every 4-6 weeks, and last about 20 minutes. At each follow up visit, I will reassess your case by reviewing your symptoms and any changes that have occurred over time. The purpose of the follow up visit is to monitor your progress with the remedy, and to make any necessary adjustments to your treatment plan. Follow up visits are essential and integral to the homeopathic process.

While it is impossible to predict how long it will take to achieve the full benefits from homeopathic treatment, the average person can expect to continue working with me over a period of one to three years. Naturally the longer one has suffered with a problem and the more severe it is, the longer one can expect it will take to achieve the best results.

Treatment Costs

Fees as of March 1, 2024:

Initial Comprehensive Homeopathic Consultation (Approx. 90 minutes): $650 for adults; $500 children (12-17 years); $450 (newborns – 11 years)

Acute Care Established Patient: $100-$175 depending on complexity

Acute Care New Patient: $150-$195 depending on complexity

My fees reflect an annualized fee structure. In general, the cost of your care is divided over the course of the year. A larger initial payment is expected at the time of the first evaluation, and subsequently equal payments are made at the time of regularly scheduled follow up visits. There is generally no extra charge for calls made or care provided in between follow up visits.

Taken altogether, you can expect to pay about $2000 per year for your care, which comes out roughly to $40 dollars per week. This cost is similar or even more cost effective when compared to ongoing acupuncture treatments, chiropractic, psychotherapy, and many other non-conventional therapies. For some, insurance will pick up a large percentage of the cost, while for others working with me will be an entirely out of pocket expense. In either case, I offer the highest level, state-of-the-art homeopathic care in return for your investment in my program. As fees vary with the age, please call me for my most current fee schedule.

Personal Biographical Sketch

“My personal philosophy and general approach to health problems is to do what really works: results speaks louder than words. Homeopathy is the best approach I have found that is in line with this philosophy. Better still, it yields results bordering on the miraculous!”

Douglas Falkner, M.D., M.Hom, brings nearly two decades of clinical experience to his Ashland based practice of Classical Hahnemannian Homeopathy. Founder of Ashland Mountain Homeopathic Medicine, he is also graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, a trained Emergency Physician, and has earned the prestigious diploma of Certified Master Homeopath.

He teaches an ongoing, open enrollment course on spiritual homeopathy to students desiring to learn the art and science of homeopathy. He also gives frequent lectures on homeopathic medicine in Ashland and surrounding communities.

Dr. Falkner works with people internationally, and is available for consultations both in person and by telephone. He treats both children and adults.