Banerji protocols

Domain XII · Complementary, energy & biofield · Prasanta Banerji, Pratip Banerji · Kolkata, India

What it is

There are no phases set by the method for psychotherapists. A workable sequence:

Format

• Protocol assignment: each named condition has a set protocol. Practitioner sources describe about 200 conditions covered in the published book, each with a first, second and third "line"; if a line does not produce the response the practitioner expects within what they regard as a reasonable time,…
• Discover and record (first session or whenever disclosed): routine, non-judgemental inquiry (4.1).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Who practises it: the Kolkata clinic and its trained doctors; outside India, lay and professional homeopaths who have taken commercial courses in the protocols, including a US "practical homeopathy" training business. A book, The Banerji Protocols: A New Method of Treatment with Homeopathic Medicines (Prasanta Banerji, 2013), is listed by booksellers.
• NCI review: between 1999 and 2010 practitioners submitted case series to NCI's Best Case Series programme. NCI identified "the treatment approach of the P. Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation" as one of three practices warranting research and funded a prospective outcomes-monitoring study, approved by the NCI IRB; NCI states "The study was not done because of regulatory issues in India." The founders' 2008 paper…
• India: homoeopathy is a recognised system; under the National Commission for Homoeopathy Act 2020 only practitioners enrolled on a State or National Register may practise as qualified homoeopathic practitioners, and a Board of Ethics and Registration handles professional conduct.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line): NHS guidance states there is no good-quality evidence that homeopathy is effective for any health condition and NICE does not recommend it; NCI's Best Case Series review judged the Banerji approach worth prospective study, but that study was never carried out.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the client fearing retaliation from the clinic or group; working when concerns reach the body able to act.
• debt; diverted money meant for medical care, rent or food; shame about spending; working when the client sets spending limits that they keep.
• switching between many practitioners; distress when uncertainty is discussed; working when the client tolerates uncertainty with less checking.
• serious or worsening symptoms in the child; missed appointments; parental conflict over treatment; working when the child is under medical review.
• fear of exclusion shaping medical choices; a client who stops telling you about the group; working when the client can disagree with the group and stay connected.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.