Sue Smith
Sonaz Taleghani
Katja Behrens
Jenny Grist
Charlotte Johansenberg
Amanda Biggs

Charlotte Johansenberg

Graduated 2009

“In my previous life I worked in the commercial world of genetic testing and eventually started working for a large pharmaceutical company, it seems a million years ago now and so different from anything I do now.

I knew nothing about homeopathy and my first child was a typical, use-all-the-medication-the-doctor-advises kind of kid. Unfortunately he didn’t sleep very well so I took him for osteopathy and it was a miracle, he started to sleep. Unfortunately, soon after, his behaviour started to deteriorate and I was advised to take him to see a homeopath. He behaved appallingly during the consultation but I was at my wits’ end and desperate for help. When the homeopath gave him a dose of Tuberculinum I didn’t see a change in him, but the next morning he woke up and I had my beautiful even-tempered little boy back again. It was amazing.

As a scientist, this was fascinating to me, so I researched and read everything I could lay my hands on about homeopathy; I was so inspired by this change. I had a lot of stress in my life and I started to question what I could benefit myself from using homeopathy. It turned out quite a lot!

When my third child was 18 months old, I decided I needed to study it for myself, I had told myself that if I didn’t study homeopathy I would be doing my family an injustice, so my journey began.

I wanted to be sure, so being the person that I am, I investigated further. I sat in at the college lectures for one weekend and by the end of the weekend I knew I couldn’t not do this, I was completely and utterly convinced that this was my next path.

Now I run a holistic centre and wellbeing cafe. The centre has yoga studios and workshop and I have 10 practice rooms with 50 practitioners working from them. It’s an amazing place to work and this is where I run my own busy practice.

For me, peer supervision is the most important part of maintaining a healthy and effective practice. During our sessions, we bounce ideas off each other and find different perspectives on cases that we hadn’t considered. I also believe it is vital to experience the ways other homeopaths work, whether that is going to talks or conferences; it gives us extra dimensions to be able to do the best for our patients.

I am exploring other therapies now, including Energy Diagnosis Therapy which is based on a systemic kinesiology. I find it useful as a therapeutic tool to help me to clear away any layers and build the patient’s vital force through organ support for example before prescribing a homeopathic remedy. I think, for me, this helps me to support my patients in a more holistic way.

I’m known as the ‘wart fixer’ as I have had a great deal of success with treating all kinds of warts in patients. It sounds bizarre, I know, but it’s so wonderful to see a child who is lacking in confidence because of his anxiety over his appearance to be transformed when his warts were healed. This also brings me new patients as my reputation has spread!

I run introductory workshops in first aid remedies and more advanced ones where the participants leave having made up a homeopathic kit for their own use. This is incredibly empowering for them and I find that it gives them an insight into the importance of using full constitutional treatment alongside everyday acute remedies.

If I was to talk to the person I was at the beginning of my training, I would say go easy on yourself; it all takes time and it eventually all starts to make more sense. It can be incredibly overwhelming at first but the process needs time to acknowledge all the inevitable ups and downs you experience.

More than anything I would say that when you are feeling fearful, don’t back away as would be your instinct; engage with other practitioners and find supervision, from peers and from more experienced homeopaths.

It keeps me (relatively) sane and very happy.