Before you arrive
Your Consultation Guide
What an unhurried homeopathic consultation actually involves, and what is genuinely worth doing before you arrive.
Written for anyone coming to homeopathy for the first time, and for people who have been before and would simply like to know what the hour holds.
First steps
Before you book
Most people begin with a free twenty-minute Discovery Call: a telephone conversation in which nothing has to be decided. It is a chance to ask whatever is on your mind, hear how consultations usually work, and notice whether the approach feels right for you.
Other people arrive already certain and book an initial consultation straight away. Either way, the first session itself asks very little of you in advance. There is no form to complete, nothing to buy, and no tidy story you are expected to have ready.
What does help is a little thought beforehand about what you are hoping for, and permission to be imprecise about it.
What you are hoping for
Not a diagnosis, and not a list of goals. Just a sense of what you would like to be different, and how much it is shaping your days.
Who should be part of it
Some people bring a partner, parent or friend, and a second pair of ears is useful. A child's consultation always involves a parent or guardian.
Anything you would rather not discuss
Worth knowing in advance, so you can mention it and leave it there. Nothing has to be explained away, and pauses are welcome.
Getting ready
How to prepare
Worth writing down
A page of scribbled notes is plenty, and you are welcome to read from it during the session.
- When things first began, and how they have changed since
- A rough timeline of the main events, in whatever order comes back to you
- A list of any medication and supplements you are currently taking
- Recent test results or clinic letters, if you have them to hand
- What makes things better and what makes them worse, including time of day, weather, food, movement and company
- How you sleep, eat, feel and cope from one day to the next
- Anything you would rather not go into, so you can say so at the start
Worth having with you
Nothing is required and nothing is checked. These simply make the hour easier.
- A notebook, or the notes app on your phone, whichever you actually use
- The names of any practitioners you have seen about the same difficulty
- A family member or friend, if talking about it feels like too much alone
- The knowledge that you can ask for a moment at any point
If it is for your child
A parent or guardian takes part in the conversation throughout.
- What you have noticed at home, and when it tends to show up
- How they sleep, eat and play, and what changes their mood
- Anything their doctor has said, treated or ruled out
- Your own worries, including the ones that feel small or hard to explain
You do not need a tidy story ready. Piecing it together is part of the work, and "I can't remember" or "I'm not sure" are genuinely useful answers.
Inside the room
What happens, step by step
01
First few minutes
Settling in
The session opens quietly. Melanie explains how the hour is likely to go and confirms the simple things: that you can stop or take a break whenever you need, that nothing is rushed, and that you decide how far any part of the conversation goes.
02
The opening part
Your story, in your own words
You are asked what is happening now, when it started, and how it has changed. You talk, Melanie writes. This is the part most people brace themselves for, and it usually takes less time than they expected.
You are not asked to make it coherent. Jumping about is normal, and a detail that seems irrelevant to you may matter a great deal to the case.
03
The longest part
The wider picture
From there the conversation widens: health and family history, significant life experiences, sleep, appetite and thirst, warmth and cold, energy, mood, and the small things that make a difference one way or the other.
Some questions feel unexpected, and a few come round again from a different angle. That is deliberate. The way you answer, and what you notice yourself noticing, are part of what a remedy is chosen from.
04
Throughout
Room to think
Melanie will often go quiet while she writes something down or turns it over. Silence in the room is not a problem and not a sign you have said the wrong thing. Take the time.
05
After the session
Case analysis and your remedy
The case is worked on once you have gone. One carefully selected remedy is usually prescribed, along with a personalised plan of support, and both are discussed with you rather than handed over as a list.
Two people describing similar difficulties may well be offered quite different remedies, because the choice rests on the whole picture of the person rather than a label.
06
Last few minutes
Practical arrangements
The final part is ordinary and unhurried: how your remedy reaches you, the written instructions that come with it, when it makes sense to meet again, and any question you had not got round to asking.
Good to know
Things worth knowing
No examination, no diagnosis
A consultation is a conversation. Melanie does not set out to diagnose, or to reinterpret a diagnosis you already carry.
You set the pace
It is entirely fine to say you would rather not go into something, and no reason is required.
Feelings may surface
Tears are common, welcome, and never treated as an inconvenience.
Approximate answers help
"Most nights", "since the spring" and "better on a Sunday" are all useful.
Forgetting is normal
Notes, blank stares and "what was the question?" all belong in a consultation.
Nothing is sold to you
If the picture suggests medical or professional help is the better next step, Melanie will say so plainly.
Once you have been
After the consultation
Your remedy comes with written instructions. They are written for you and your prescription, so it is worth following them rather than improvising, and asking rather than guessing if anything is unclear.
In the days that follow, people notice different things. Some notice a temporary shift before anything settles: tiredness, a brief return of an older symptom, or a change in mood. That is not universal, and where it happens it usually passes on its own. If anything feels worrying or lasts longer than you expected, contact Melanie rather than waiting it out.
A few lines in your notes between sessions, covering sleep, energy, mood, appetite and what changed and when, make a follow-up consultation far more useful than memory alone.
- No particular outcome or timescale can be promised. Progress is reviewed together and the plan adjusted where appropriate.
- Please do not stop or alter prescribed medication without first speaking with the healthcare professional who prescribes it.
- For anything sudden, severe or worrying, seek medical help: your GP, NHS 111, or 999 in an emergency.
The detail
Practical details
- Where
- Cheshire Clinic: 10 Orwell Road, Sandymoor, Cheshire WA7 1JB. Tell Melanie how you would prefer to meet when you get in touch and she will confirm what is possible.
- When
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 9am to 6pm UK time.
- How long
- Discovery Call: 20 minutes · Initial Consultation: 60 to 90 minutes · Follow-Up Consultation: 30 to 45 minutes · Acute Consultation: 20 minutes
- Fees
- Discovery Call Free, Initial Consultation £175, Follow-Up Consultation £75, Acute Consultation £35. Also Prescription remedies £10.50 each, Postage & packaging £5.50. The Consultations page always shows the latest figures.
- Payment
- Payment details are confirmed when your appointment is arranged. Ask if you would rather know them in advance.
- If you are running late
- Ring ahead as soon as you know, so the time is not lost and the session still has room to breathe.
- Emergencies
- Homeopathy has no part to play in an emergency. In an emergency call 999; for urgent medical advice contact your GP or call NHS 111.
Anything not covered here? Ring Melanie on 07805 826693 or email melaniebaileyhomeopathy@outlook.com.
Before you ask
Questions people ask first
“From a small acorn, with love and care, a mighty oak grows.”