Sequential homeopathy

Domain XII · Complementary, energy & biofield · Jean Elmiger · Lausanne, Switzerland

What it is

Elmiger, described by his publisher as practising in Lausanne since 1968 and trained in both conventional and homeopathic medicine, argued that neither orthodox nor alternative medicine was "asking the right questions". He held that the foundations of health are gradually weakened by mass…

Format

• The method's own framework (as published). Proponents describe an approach built on a life-history view of illness: the practitioner takes a history oriented to weakening events (the three named categories are childhood vaccination, antibiotics, and shock or trauma including surgery) and treats…
• Phase A, Discovery and recording (session 1 onward): routine, non-judgemental enquiry about complementary use; record method, practitioner, cost and any changes to medical care.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Who practises it. Elmiger ran training courses and seminars attended, according to the French practitioner network, by more than 150 doctors since 1986; listed practitioners are mostly general practitioners in France, plus a small number of naturopaths. Some use it routinely, some occasionally or only on request, and some only for children. The network itself states that a listing shows only regular seminar…
• Regulatory status (one line each):
• Switzerland: physicians may hold a complementary federal certificate (attestation de formation complémentaire, AFC) in homeopathy awarded by the Swiss Society for Homeopathy (SSMH) on behalf of the Swiss Medical Association (FMH); the published programme concerns classical homeopathy and does not name sequential therapy.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line): no reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective for any health condition; the 2015 Australian NHMRC review "fails to demonstrate that homeopathy is an effective treatment" for any condition studied, and no trials of the sequential method specifically are known.

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?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• 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

• client fear of retaliation or loss of a valued practitioner relationship. Working: the client chooses an informed course and stays safe.
• debt, secrecy from family, fear-based messages about stopping. Working: the client makes spending decisions that fit their own budget and values.
• re-traumatisation or overwhelm when the client revisits many events at once; dissociation; self-blame ("I let them vaccinate me"). It is working when distress about the events reduces and the…
• refusal driven by fear of being judged (explore it); medicines stopped without the prescriber knowing (encourage urgent prescriber contact). Working: the client and medical team share information…
• a seriously unwell child kept from medical care; a parent's guilt about past vaccinations or medicines; family conflict between parents over the approach. Working: the child remains under medical…

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.