Vital Practice

stories from the healing arts: the homeopathic and supervisory way

Below you can find information on the Vital Practice book.

This collection tells the story of rapid, gentle and lasting change achieved by a homeopathic approach to supervision.
Homeopathic principle is explored as guide to healing relationship: Individuality, 'like cures like' and minimum intervention are seen in action in both therapeutic and supervisory relationships.
Further, we see what difference it makes when we bring a supervisory quality of looking to our practice: The tales show how simply being present to the moment contributes to healing.

Along the way we meet with eternal questions for any healing artist:
Are some people healers and others not?
Do we think we can heal anyone but ourselves?
What is the difference between healing and curing diseases?

Whether you come to these tales as homeopath, therapist, clinician, student or supervisor, there is inspiration here to practise a homeopathic supervision in the interests of healing relationship.

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Vital Practice in Education

To Homeopathic Schools, Colleges and University Departments.
To course providers and students of wholistic health care, counselling and therapy.

In return for a free inspection copy of ‘Vital Practice’ for you to consider as part of your Student and Supervisor reading lists, you are asked to send a line or two of review, possibly to be included, along with your course name, in distributor's catalogues and publicity materials.

Why ‘Vital Practice’ is essential reading for the student of homeopathy preparing for clinical practice and their supervisors.

Why ‘Vital Practice’ is recommended to students and practitioners of wholistic health care, counseling and therapy.

For students and practitioners of wholistic health care, counsellors and therapists, ‘Vital Practice’ makes connection with the body-mind and so assists with understanding the many ways in which clients present themselves.

‘Vital Practice’ is central to the education of the professional homeopath, integrating as it does Materia Medica, philosophy, healing relationship and supervision. In this it mirrors the core criteria adopted by the profession in the U.K. for assessment of competence to practice.

Part One demonstrates a homeopathic approach to practice and supervision and shows how other healing and helping modalities can benefit from a homeopathic approach.

It goes on to show how a supervisory approach to practice contributes to life long learning and well being in practice.

A unique contribution to the homeopathic and supervisory literature, the book inquires into homeopathic principle as guide to healing and helping relationship with a focus specifically on two things: A homeopathic approach to clinical supervision and a supervisory approach to practice.

Homeopathic principles of ‘like cures like’ and ‘minimum and energetic intervention’ are examined in therapeutic and supervisory relationships through the media of story telling, activities and conversation.

Students are assisted with being homeopathic in -

1. Making and maintaining healing relationship
2. Receiving the case
3. Synthesising the case
4. Supervising and being supervised by oneself, one to one and in a group
5. Assessing progress

Teaching and Group Facilitation Resources

Activities, exercises and models suitable for people working by themselves, in pairs, triads and groups, are designed to help students acquire and consolidate essential practitioner qualities and skills -

1. Active Listening and Observation.
2. Presence.
3. How to focus on the elemental story and the dynamics of change.
4. Reflection and Parallel Process.
5. Working with language.
6. Awareness of different learning styles.
7. The art of perception - Apollonian and Dionysian elements.
8. Ethical practice.
9. Giving and receiving homeopathic feedback.
10. Being facilitative in a group to promote both learning and change.

Vital Practice contributes to the following modules -

1. Homeopathic Philosophy from Year One - What it means to be homeopathic as well as to do homeopathy.
2. Preparation for clinical practice under supervision - Years One to Four -
   1. Receiving and taking the case
   2. Making and maintaining working relationship with patients, supervisors and college.
   3. Re-creating practice for the purpose of reflection and supervision
3. Practitioner Development - Ethics and Values, learning styles and the therapeutic use of self.
4. C.P.D and the Development of Clinical Wisdom.

’Vital Practice’ makes the case for a supervisory approach to practice in order to continue to learn and develop, stay well and avoid burn-out in practice.

It is dedicated to thriving and not just surviving practice.

Vital Kit

Part two of the book provides elemental guides to making and maintaining relationship, contracting, working in threes, self supervising, supervising networks, teams and groups, student clinics and phone and email supervision.

A Glossary of terms, References and Index are an aid to formal study and research.

This section is generic and provides essential guides for every student, practitioner or supervisor in the helping and healing professions.

Sheila Ryan F.S.Hom is Clinical Principal of the School of Homeopathy Devon. She is a faculty member of the School of Homeopathy New York and Supervision Consultant to The Society of Homeopaths, the Irish society as well as other schools and organisations including the Prague Institute for supervision.

She is a member of the European Association for Supervision.

She studied homeopathy at the School of Homeopathy from 1984 with Misha Norland and since with George Vithoulkas, Jeremy Sher and Rajan Sankaran.

She practices homeopathy and supervision at her home in Dorset where she also runs Sea Change workshops for individuals, groups and facilitators to practice a homeopathic approach to supervision, mentoring and coaching as well as a more supervisory approach to homeopathy.