Seminar report: National seminar on psychology and homoeopathy, 2^nd October 2023, Mumbai, India

INTRODUCTION

Dr. M. L. Dhawale Memorial Trust celebrated the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation on 2^nd October 2023 in Mumbai through the inauguration of the literary opus Foundations of Psychology and Homoeopathy’ in a well-attended National seminar on Psychology and Homoeopathy. No better day could have been chosen as Mahatma Gandhi was himself an ardent believer and follower of Homoeopathy, and there is no better hymn to commence the programme than his favourite ‘Vaishnav Jan Toh Tene Kahiye.’ It depicted the cause, the pain, and the suffering of the helpless and needy.

THE DIGNITARIES

The seminar was fittingly graced by the President of the Homoeopathy Educational Board (HEB) of the National Commission of Homoeopathy, Dr. Tarkeshwar Jain as Chief Guest, and the Guest’s of Honour were Dr. Mangesh Jatkar, a Member of the HEB and Dr. Rajkumar Patil, Dean, Homoeopathy Faculty, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik. Dr. Jain had also penned the foreword to the new book.

THE SESSIONS

The flow of seminar was designed and divided into three main sections, which consisted of the initial part of talks by three renowned speakers of the homoeopathic field focusing on the importance of psychology and its relevance to homoeopathic students and teachers, followed by an introduction and inauguration of the book and lastly concluding the seminar with motivational words and guidance by the chief guests.

THE SPEAKERS

The first speaker, Dr. Prabhakar Devadiga, Professor and Head, Department of Organon and Homoeopathic Philosophy, Smt. CMP Homoeopathic Medical College, Mumbai, spoke on the ‘Importance of Psychology in Hahnemannian Thought’. He took us back in history and gave us a glimpse of the mental asylum which Dr. Hahnemann managed and where he successfully treated the first psychiatric patient. Dr. Hahnemann’s concept of mind through various aphorisms in ‘Organon’ was traced, which brought out the importance of a homoeopath of knowing the mind in depth. The concept of disposition is nothing but understanding the emotional, moral and intellectual character of the patient, for which knowledge of psychology is a must.

Further, he showed how knowing the emotions and reason behind those emotions and behaviours become the key to perceiving the mind through a beautiful case of Platina. Knowing normal and abnormal psychology enables the physician to handle the difficulties and challenges faced during practice. It was great to realise that Dr. Hahnemann’s insights imparted 200 years ago hold so much significance and relevance for a homoeopathic student even today. The presentation was impactful and generated insight in our viewers to understand the fundamental causation of disease and to manage it; knowledge of psychology is a necessity.

The next speaker, Dr. Jawahar Shah, celebrated creator of the HOMPATH software, spoke of ‘Representation of Mind in Repertory and Software’. He stated that ‘behaviour is the external face of the mind’ and different types of behaviours, emotions and mental states, which are expressions of psychology, have been widely represented in our various repertories. This systematic study of the mind in identifying and processing those symptoms methodically through appropriate repertories and software will help the students to find the similimum. Sir’s presentation illustrated this thought process through a rare case of a genetic disorder, Cornelia de Lange syndrome, in a 14-month-old child. The understanding of an intellectual aspect of the mind, along with characteristic physicals helped physicians to ensure orderly development of the mind and body. He highlighted how understanding of mental and physical development growth was an essential aspect of psychology. Gradual but periodic improvement of the patient demonstrated the role of homoeopathic drugs in rare genetic disorders. This presentation was able to illustrate the importance of knowing normal and abnormal psychology, growth, mental and physical retardation to breakthrough a case, even though it had a high level of difficulty and complexity.

The seminar moved further with a comprehensive and elaborate talk by Dr. Anand Kapse, Professor and Head, Department of Organon and Homoeopathic Philosophy, Dr. M. L. Dhawale Memorial Homoeopathic Institute (MLDMHI), Palghar. He spoke on the topic of ‘Utility of Psychology Principles in Homoeopathic Practice’. Dr. Kapse engaged the audience through his vast knowledge of philosophy and through his own experiences. The homoeopathic physician has the role of a friend, philosopher and guide, and to discharge that role satisfactorily, the homoeopathic physician must have all the requisite knowledge to study mind and body. He described how our different stalwarts had studied the mind in their own way, based on different models of man and, hence, could perceive each case in a unique way and prescribe. A homoeopathic physician must acquire the basic knowledge of psychology, psychiatry, psychodynamics and psychosomatic medicine to study the mental state, disposition and symptoms. This knowledge enables the physician not only to select the similimum but also assists in identifying the problem and taking action with appropriate intervention. As he proceeded to share cases of depression and infertility, the participants could understand the role of emotions in the generation of the disease. All appreciated that there was no other alternative but to have an integrated knowledge of mind, materia medica, philosophy and repertory. He summarised that homoeopaths have maximum potential in managing psychosomatic illnesses. He concluded that the new book fulfilled a long-felt need to understand all the complexities of the mind.

BOOK LAUNCH

The launch of the book ‘Foundations of Psychology and Homoeopathy’ was preceded by a brief explanation of the gist of the book by Dr. Kumar Dhawale, one of the contributors and Consulting Editor of the book. Then, Mrs. Rohini Belsare, the consulting editor of the book, shared the elaborate process of editing a multi-author book, the challenges associated with it and how those were managed effectively. Dr. Manoj Patel, a contributor and the author of the book ‘Knowing the Mind in Homoeopathic Practice’, shared useful tips on how to use the book. Both the guests of honour, Dr. Mangesh Jatkar and Dr. Rajkumar Patil, expressed their satisfaction with the way the book has been written. There was a conviction that the book would be a guiding device for the upcoming generation of homoeopaths to treat patients with more alertness and success.

THE CHIEF GUEST’S ADDRESS

The Chief Guest, Dr. Tarkeshwar Jain, in a memorable and motivational talk, shared his vision of refining the curriculum of homoeopathy. He envisaged that the homoeopathic undergraduate student be exposed to the field where he could see the application of classroom knowledge on patients in practice. Sir rued the reality of the current educational scenario where, in spite of having many books, the student fails to grasp the Homoeopathic Materia Medica (HMM) language and various terminologies. He gave a beautiful and refreshing insight into the study of HMM. He observed that there was a general tendency to do a lot of interpretations of symptoms rather than focussing on proving’s and guiding symptoms. Hence, he wanted all the teachers to focus on using the Materia Medica Pura, Hering’s Guiding Symptoms and Allen’s Encyclopaedia for teaching HMM. He felt that all current teaching and future teachings should be focused on making use of these books in in-depth and innovative ways. He found that the reason for the different ways of teaching and practising in homoeopathy is due to the poor standards in the UG teaching colleges. This has created the need for this book. There are no resources available to understand the importance of psychology and its interconnections with homoeopathic subjects. He believes the book on the foundation of homoeopathy and psychology will fill up this gap in medical education. Moreover, it will serve its purpose at multiple levels for students, teachers, and practitioners and at the wider level for system and curriculum as well.

SUMMING UP

Dr. Bipin Jain, Academic Director and Principal of MLDMHI, summarised the event. He accentuated the basics, that mind and body linkage is an integral part of understanding human health and illness. The integration of homoeopathic subjects with psychology was not an easy task; it became possible when ten people with diverse perceptions and unique personalities came together and interconnected with each other and then with the concept of the book.

All the contributors to the book and its design Dr. Manoj Patel, Dr. Sunita Nikumbh, Dr. Madhavi Tamboli, Dr. Ananya Chitale, Dr. Latika Agrawal, Dr. Rajesh Yadav, Dr. Mansi Surti and Dr. Tanvir Sheikh were felicitated by the chief guest and guests of honour.

The seminar concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Madhvi Tamboli, the Editor of the book. It was attended by a large number of participants from various homoeopathic colleges, teachers, practitioners, academicians, postgraduate students, undergraduates and interns. Online viewership was also very high, and the numbers remained persistent through the larger portion of the seminar. The hosts of the event Dr. Gayatri Patel and Dr. Nikunj Jani, were effective, as the delivery of content was crisp and fresh.