Qualitative evaluation of successful homeopathic treatment of individuals with chronic diseases: descriptive phenomenology of patients’ experiences

Homeopathy, an over 200-year-old major system of care within complementary and alternative medicine, is used worldwide. While homeopathy has stimulated much debate over the nature of its medicines (remedies), relatively little research has focused on its therapeutic process as experienced by patients in clinical practice. The goal of this qualitative study was to use descriptive phenomenology to assess patients’ experiences of the homeotherapeutic process. We interviewed 36 homeopathic patients with a history of at least one chronic disease who, in the provider’s global clinical impression, had exhibited a treatment-related sustained, outstanding or extremely successful outcome in their condition for at least 1-year follow-up. Two essential structures describing the lived experiences of homeopathic treatment emerged from the data. One of the structures characterizes what it is like to be “successfully healed” as a transformative process of coming home to self. The second structure describes the experience of receiving care by a homeopath as an intensive process of self-exploration and self-discovery that was facilitated by a trusted partner in care. The data are consistent with contemporary concepts within nonlinear complex systems science. The current findings offer insights into the homeopathic patient’s experience of treatment and provide a fuller clinical picture to guide future qualitative and quantitative research in homeopathy.