Headford News and Community Spotlight - Headford's Homeopath

The international event: 

16 Days of Action Opposing Violence Against Women 

takes place 25 November to 10 December

And on December 3rd at 8:00 pm in Angler's Rest Hotel:

Seizing Hope and Stopping Suicide

facilitated by

Jim O'Donoghue, Clinical Psychotherapist and Director of Castlebar Counseling & Therapy

For further information, contact Solas at 093.36446.


COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

In the television series ‘House, M.D.,’ Hugh Laurie played a medical doctor, Gregory House, who worked like a sort of medical Sherlock Holmes, using subtle detective work and controversial insights to diagnose and treat disease. Though the character was a grouch, he was described as ‘a genius,’ because his unconventional methods usually worked.

However, as a rule, medical doctors do not think like detectives. Instead of looking at the patient as a whole, they treat each ailment separately, frequently never discovering the root cause. Consequently, symptoms might disappear, but they usually recur or surface as another ailment, seemingly disconnected.

Now, there is a sort of medical Sherlock Holmes in Headford.

Sophie O’Toole, a registered homeopath, sees patients in her cozy at-home office, where she treats each person as a whole, incorporating detective techniques so extensive, they make ‘Dr. House’ seem lazy.

For those who don’t know, Homeopathy is a system of medicine in which ailments are treated by minute doses of natural substances that in larger amounts would produce symptoms of the ailment. The theory is like that of allergy shots administered in a conventional doctor’s office which contain a small amount of the substance that trigger your allergic reactions. Created in the 18^th Century, homeopathy is based on the theory that like cures like. The remedies encourage the body to right the imbalance that caused the symptoms.

Sophie’s soothing voice and optimistic attitude immediately put visitors at ease. Plus, her lifetime of varied experiences have prepared her well for this line of work. She’s lived and studied in France, Scotland, England, and Spain, as well as Ireland, of course. After falling in love and starting a family in the west of Ireland, Sophie says she found a homeopath and was ‘Amazed that she could take seemingly random facts about my lifestyle and emotions and come up with a cure.’ And the cures worked! After that, she was hooked, and found a homeopathic first aid course that also explained theory. ‘It made me feel empowered to help my own family.’

After having three children, Sophie enrolled in a full four-year homeopathic course. Her husband took care of the kids on the weekends so she could undertake long term study.

‘The course was eye-opening,’ Sophie says. ‘This kind of healing takes into account every aspect of a person—spiritual, emotional, family history—it’s all-encompassing.’

Then Sophie had her fourth and final child. A daughter born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a serious congenital disorder characterised by brittle bones that are prone to fracture. The first year of her daughter’s life was spent in hospital in England, so Sophie had to put the homeopathic course on hold for a while. She later found that her daughter has autism, and says, ‘Homeopathy is really helping with that.’

Sophie eventually went on to complete the course and become a registered homeopath. At the same time, her daughter’s conditions have allowed her to learn a lot more about healing than she might have otherwise.

‘Part of brittle bone disease,’ Sophie says ‘is having bad teeth, or teeth that are slow to develop.’ This meant that her daughter did not teethe properly and, at the age of two had only one or two teeth. ‘I gave her a homeopathic remedy and within two weeks, she had twelve teeth.’ This was such a dramatic change that it finally convinced her husband homeopathy really works. ‘He had been sceptical,’ Sophie says, with a chuckle in her voice. ‘Homeopathy can be a little bit challenging to the scientifically-minded.’

Sophie’s been practicing since 2008 and says that she’s, ‘Absolutely passionate about helping people understand that there are other alternatives out there—even allopathic alternatives.’

If you’re ill or feeling bad, Sophie says, ‘Don’t stop trying. There will always be something out there. Homeopathy can offer something for everything—for animals, for plants—even for palliative care.’

To make an appointment with Sophie O’Toole, contact her at 087.2754624 or via email at sophie.t.otoole@gmail.com.