1. Homeopathy in Practice Summer/Autumn 2016
PRACTICE MATTERS
20
agreed and, after a lengthy chat, we
had a vision about how to move
forwards. At my end, I had to en-
sure I had an up-to-date client list,
a diary of consultations in the near
future and client notes which were
explanatory to someone other than
me, something I’d been consciously
thinking about since Dad’s earlier
illness. I found it a really useful
discipline to think about justify-
ing my prescriptions to Deborah,
and I feel my notes became more
focused as a result. I also contacted
the therapy rooms to fill them in
on my situation and to introduce
Deborah to them.
Deborah’s story
When Dorothy popped over for
a cuppa in summer 2014, I didn’t
realise it was a carefully crafted
interview strategy; in fact, I was
grateful for the good advice she
gave me for starting out in practice.
A year later, when she contacted
me again and asked if I could help
her out, I realised what had been
Dorothy’s story
In the summer of 2014, my father
nearly died. The shock of his
sudden decline and subsequent
resurrection in hospital had
a profound impact on me and my
family which, with hindsight, I can
see all too clearly: chaos reigned.
I was consumed by stress and
should really have taken a break.
I realised that, when my father
finally did die, I would owe it to
myself, my family and my clients
to take time out, and the idea of
finding a locum to whom I could
hand my caseload for a short time
seemed an elegant solution: clients
wouldn’t be left in the lurch, and
I wouldn’t feel pressurised to work
when in no state to do so. I’d previ-
ously met a homeopath who lived
near me, had trained at the same
college and even had the same su-
pervisor; having talked to her, there
was a rapport which I hoped would
mean we could work together and
provide clients with seamless sup-
port. Fortunately for me, Deborah
Taking time out
How two practitioners supported each other through ‘compassionate leave’
Deborah Phethean
recently qualified
from the College of
Practical Homeo-
pathy and also
practises iridology.
She has a special
interest in post-
natal depletion
and helping new
mothers rebalance
after birth. She
works from Bushey
in Hertfordshire.
Working as a sole practitioner can be a lonely experience, particularly
in times of crisis. We’d like to share with you a way of working
which provided much-needed support and which we feel has the
potential to be applicable to other practitioners who might be in a
similar situation.
by Deborah Phethean LCPH MARH and Dorothy Watt LCPH MARH RHom
Following a career
as a teacher and
lecturer in primary
education, Dorothy
Watt graduated
from the College of
Practical Homeo-
pathy in 2011. She
now runs Cross-
roads Homeopathy
in Chesham, Bucks;
Redbourn, Herts;
and Berkhamsted,
Herts. She has a
special interest in
digestive health,
mental health
and working with
children who are
struggling to ful-
fil their potential
at school, either
because they are
on the autistic
spectrum or for
other reasons. She
is also a certified
GAPS (Gut and Psy-
chology Syndrome)
practitioner.

2. Homeopathy in Practice Summer/Autumn 2016
PRACTICE MATTERS
21
(I had checked with her what to say)
and offering the option of postpon-
ing their appointment or seeing me
instead. If they postponed, I checked
they had enough remedies to tide
them over till their appointment.
In all honesty, it was more admin
than seeing patients. I did see a
few patients, but most rescheduled
(and one tried to defect). I did some
acute prescriptions and dealt with
some new enquiries. For confidenti-
ality, I only picked up notes after I
got verbal permission from the cli-
ent to read them. We had an agreed
place outside Dorothy’s house to
stash them so I didn’t disturb her
too much.
I breathed a huge sigh of relief
when I saw Dorothy’s notes: all the
prescriptions in one place and a
clear chronology of appointments.
References were easy and there
were even clues as to where to start
at the next appointment. I sat up
late at night reading their notes in
preparation for the appointment. I
found prescribing so much harder
A quick scan of her client list
showed one familiar name who,
fortunately, was not currently
seeking treatment, so there were
no conflicting interests. I also had
access to her online diary which
worked well as we both used the
same online calendar. In fact, all
she had to do was invite me to her
calendar and it popped up, mean-
ing I was able both to rearrange
meetings and schedule future ap-
pointments for her.
Then I got a text from Dorothy
saying that her father had died. I
started by calling up the first week
of clients, telling them the news
in her mind. The question came at
a time when I was pondering my
newly found self-employed status. I
don’t like being self-employed, but
the path of a homeopath seems to
dictate this; so I quickly understood
Dorothy’s situation.
I practise part time so I was not
too busy to take on a few extra pa-
tients for a couple of weeks. I was
also conscious of contacting her
as little as possible when she was
grieving and therefore suggested
that we spend some time putting
the plan together so that all she
needed to do was send a quick text.
We also discussed fees and rec-
ommendations around homeo-
pathy such as dietary and herbal
support. She talked me through
her rooms at two different clinics
and what she likes to do for each
patient (water, tissues, book the
next session on the spot). When
she informed them of our plan, one
of the clinics reassuringly asked me
to provide evidence of my qualifi-
cation and insurance.
Working together
alleviates the
sometimes lonely
experience of
a practitioner
I got a text from
Dorothy saying that
her father had died
©Adamgregor|Dreamstime.com

3. Homeopathy in Practice Summer/Autumn 2016
PRACTICE MATTERS
22
So, what were the benefits of
this support? It was a win-win
situation!
Deborah and Dorothy would
like to thank Tim Lloyd for his
behind-the-scenes support for both
of them.
Deborah can be contacted at
debphethean@gmail.com or
www.cellheal.co.uk; Dorothy can
be contacted at dw@crossroads-
homeopathy.co.uk.
than I expected. Perhaps this was
my inexperience. Or could I be try-
ing to emulate Dorothy rather than
being true to my own prescribing?
However unconfident I felt, I was
also acutely aware that the patients
had paid to see me and that I owed
it to them to be fully present during
the consultation. I did not want to
short-change them on any level.
They liked to hear that their
notes had been kept meticulously,
so I was able to pick up a consul-
tation easily. I absolutely believe
that you attract the right patients
to yourself so, in treating someone
else’s patients, I think I took more
care, and had a huge amount of
respect for them all. Later Doro-
thy sent me a quick update from
the patients I had seen; it was
lovely of her to do this. We both
understand what the other got out
of the experience.
Support from both sides made the whole
thing work
We both
understand
what the other
got out of the
experience
Clients benefited from seeing a practitioner
who wasn’t stressed, who knew their history
and was able to prescribe in a similar way.
They also benefited from having another
pair of eyes go over their case, as there is
always scope for a fresh perspective and
a tweaking of remedies.
Dorothy benefited by having the whole
weight of her practice lifted off her and held
by someone knowledgeable, competent and
understanding.
Deborah was able to look inside the
practice of an experienced homeopath and
see the longstanding relationships she had
developed with her patients.
So while you are pondering what you might
do in this situation, we encourage you for
a moment to think:
• Who might you reach out to, should life
events get very stressful?
• Do you have systems in place to hand
over quickly to another practitioner?
In any case, it’s a good excuse for a bit of
an admin tidy up. Here’s a check list:
• Share client contact list (paper or online
copy).
• Give access to appointment diary (paper
or online copy). Neither of us was par-
ticularly technically adept, but we found
it very straightforward; you could set up
a Google account just for this purpose if
you needed to.
•Ask about the scope of work:
• • Length of sessions.
• • Costs (including deviation from the
standard rate).
• • Do you prescribe remedies on the spot
or post them? Do you have an address
to post them to?
• • Do you offer other services? Discuss
how this might work if they differ.
• • How do you rebook?
• Ask about the clinic environment:
• • If the homeopath works from home,
consider alternative locations. Remem-
ber it’s unreasonable to make patients
do a 20-mile trip to see you.
• • Is there a receptionist?
• • Do you provide anything? Water /
tissues?
• Ask the homeopath to contact the clinic
and give you their contact details. They
may want to see your qualifications.
• How do they take notes?
• Do they have a prescription style?
• • Any favourite combinations or mixtures
(Narayani, Peter Chappell, tissue salts or
tinctures for organ support)?
• • Do they disclose remedies to patients?
• Any red flags? Patients who require spe-
cial treatment?
• Signal for the plan to kick into action?
(I said I only needed the shortest of texts.)
• What explanation will be given to patients
for their homeopath’s absence?
• Logistics of notes hand-over.
Benefits of support for clients and homeopaths
©OlegDudko|Dreamstime.com