Case: Hind came to me after being with another healer for a year. She was experiencing digestive problems and constant vertigo. She had also been diagnosed with a pre-cancerous breast lump. She had made progress with the other healer but after a year felt that her progress was slow and she was starting to question some of the advice she was being given. At the same time she was no longer able to afford the high fees charged by her healer.

Hind was a seeker of knowledge. A week after contacting me she wrote twice asking once for the name of a homeopath I knew and another time asking if she should visit a Chinese doctor with her cousin who had an appointment the next day. Over the course of the next two weeks I spoke to her about her case and her experience with the healer she had been seeing and was shocked with the things she had been told. I could see that Hind was a very trusting and generous person. From what I could understand about her case she had been treated in a very unethical and unprofessional manner and had spent thousands of dollars in less than a year for the simple treatments she was given. Hind had already been quite open with me about a number of things and she had not even asked me many questions about my experience or qualifications. I became worried about Hind and told her that before I took her case I would give her a list of guidelines to follow for choosing a healthcare practitioner. I wanted to ensure that any other health care practitioner would not take advantage of her and that she would be able to distinguish for herself what was right and wrong for her.

I gave Hind a list of ten things she needed to ask any health care practitioner before she agreed to let them take her case. I also advised her that this same list should be used for doctors. Some of the questions on the list she could answer herself by reading a brochure the practitioner provided or by asking friends who had seen them. However, by the time she arrived at her appointment I recommended that she have every question on the list answered. I instructed her to ask:

1. Where did the person study and what degrees, certifications and accreditations do they have?

2. How long has the person been practicing their craft?

3. What are their fees and how long does she expect to be seeing them before she starts to heal?

4. What is the person’s policy on healing remedies?

5. What is the practitioner's policy on transferring records and cooperating with other healers?

6. How much experience does the practitioner have with her ailment?

7. Does the practitioner listen to the client?

The most important questions to pose to any practitioner are the ones about where they studied and the experience they have had. Some practitioners have studied at prestigious universities but have had little practical experience. Other practitioners have had vast experience but have studied at low-rated or even online universities. Still, other practitioners may have years of experience and prestigious certifications but very little intuitive ability about people in general which is a great asset in the field of healing. Finally, some successful practitioners have had little experience or study but seem to possess a great and powerful intuitive ability to know what is wrong with people and how to heal them. Some of the best of these types become intuitive healers. It was important for Hind to know where her health care practitioner fell in this list and if she felt comfortable with that or not. Some people feel comfortable with new graduates or practitioners with little experience because they like the freshness and newness of their ideas. Other people only consider a practitioner legitimate if they have been in practice for more than ten years. Still others will only see someone by recommendation from a friend. There is really no universal standard for what is best. However, what is universal is that the client should know what they are paying for and be able to make their own decisions based on complete information.

I shared with Hind that the second important question to ask her health care practitioner, herbalist, doctor, homeopath, acupuncturist or any healer is what their fees are and how long they expect to see her for. The best results are found when a person develops a long-term relationship with a practitioner so for this reason most practitioners will recommend that you stay with them from three months to a year. Keeping this in mind, I told her that they should be able to give her an estimated charge for their initial consultation and follow-up fees. I advised Hind that she should be suspicious if the practitioner does not initially reveal their fees, if they do not have a standard set of fees or if they want to see her only once. Additionally she should be suspicious, if they seem too eager to possess her for a year, if they often have surprise extra charges, or refuse to cooperate with any other practitioner. Her previous homeopath had refused to let her get a mammogram for a year and had consistently charged her extra fees stating that the remedy she had given took extra care to mix or that she had to administer another test of some sort.

Since Hind had already had some bad experiences with her previous practitioner she knew that another important question to ask was what the person's policy was on sharing information and cooperating with other health care practitioners. An ethical practitioner should never reveal a client's information to anyone without his or her permission. However, at the same time they should always give as much information as required, including the client file, to the client themselves or another healer if requested in writing by the client. Her previous healer refused to release her complete records and even demanded that she not be allowed to see the reduced version of her records when sent to another homeopath. They had also requested that she not get a mammogram. However, it is a fallacy that one mammogram would be harmful. We live in a world today where we are exposed to great amounts of microwaves and electro-smog so claming that one mammogram would harm a person or disrupt a remedy is not a realistic claim. Finally, it is often helpful to combine modern medicine with traditional medicine or even to combine two methods of healing such as herbs and acupuncture or homeopathy and reflexology. Any practitioner she used should be willing to work with other healers.

The problems Hind had with money and her previous healer were also as a result of the person's policy on remedies. I informed Hind that this was one of the most important things to find out about any practitioner before seeing them. I asked her to make sure she knew what method of healing the practitioner was using and how she would obtain the remedies that would be suggested. Some practitioners give out the names of their remedies and send the client to the store to buy them. Other practitioners mix their own herbs or homeopathic remedies and yet others purchase from a single supplier and act as an agent of that supplier. I told her to beware of the problems related to each one. In the case of her being sent out to get her own remedies there was always the chance that she would not be able to find or afford what she was asked to use. It also meant that the practitioner would have no idea about the quality or cost of her treatment. However, mixing remedies is not an easy task and if a practitioner is not skilled at it then it is not a good idea to use their remedy at all. Last, but certainly not least, it is very easy to come into a conflict of interest if a practitioner is acting as an agent for a certain company or if they are selling their own remedies. In the medical as well as the natural healing field this can cause a tendency to over-prescribe remedies in order to gain more money from the client. Sometimes healers use one company as a convenience to the client and because they trust and know the results of that particular formula. However, just as many are simply representing a remedy because they can make a lot of money selling it to people.

One of the last questions Hind needed to ask any future practitioners was what experience they had with her condition. If a practitioner has experienced the problem personally they will often have the most insight. A healer can also gain important insight by having treated a large number of people with the same ailment. Even reading some specialized books or taking a seminar can provide a healer with insight. However, if the practitioner has never even heard of her condition or has never treated anyone with her condition she needs to know that.

Hind also needed to be able to decide if her healer was being honest or not and what legal rights she has being treated by that person. The only people legally able to diagnose disease and prescribe medicines are medical doctors (MDs). Her alternative health care practitioners should always follow the moral rules of alternative healing to protect both her and themselves. The rules are:

1. Herbalists, homeopaths and other natural healers are not allowed to diagnose disease or prescribe medicines. They may comment on body weaknesses and suggest solutions, however they must not use medical language in their speech or suggest a client has a particular disease.

2. Non-MDs cannot take patients or claim to heal disease. They can only take clients and claim to help them to heal themselves. They must present themselves as teachers and assistants to the client and not as doctors.

3. A healer cannot claim to be something they are not. Naturopaths, for instance can practice legally in Washington but only if they have passed certain board exams. So if a person calls himself or herself a naturopath in Washington and does not have board certification they are making false claims.

Last, but not least, Hind needed to know how well her health care practitioner would listen to her. Often the best information comes from a client's intuition, feelings or personal experience so any good healer should always be willing to listen to and give proper respect to any insight the client can provide.

I also shared with Hind the “Oath of the Muslim Physician" that is used by the IMA (Islamic Medical Association). The oath was a good indication of what qualities one should look for in a good medical practitioner.

• The Oath of a Muslim Physician 

 

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