The Bay Area Homeopathy Association, affectionately known as BAHA
by Kathleen Scheible, CCH
It was the summer of 2006 in San Francisco, and school was out at the Pacific Academy of Homeopathy, but a group of homeopathy students including myself were meeting to brainstorm ways of increasing awareness of homeopathy. Richard Pitt had called this meeting, and we were discussing various strategies (giving talks, publishing articles, etc.) and associated challenges of the day. I was pretty new to homeopathy still, and naively asked whether there was a local networking organization for homeopaths, as clearly there was a need. Though the Bay Area had at least one well known study group, there wasn't yet a homeopathy network where local homeopaths of all levels and from different educational backgrounds could share information and find community.
And then of course the inevitable response – you know what that means – the time has come to make one. So the Bay Area Homeopathy Association became a big focus of mine – so much so that it became my senior project in homeopathy school. More than just a project, it was and has been a passion. From the beginning, I was warned that we wouldn’t be able to get homeopaths from different backgrounds and schools of thinking in the same room together, that it would have to be clearly defined as a classical homeopathy organization (or not), Kentian (or not), etc. etc.
That has not been the case.
From the outset, the motivation was to create a networking group of homeopaths in the San Francisco Bay Area, pure and simple – with the idea that we all have more to gain from knowing each other, strengthening the profession, and spreading the word about homeopathy so that more people may benefit from our great healing modality. To that end, it has been very efficient to focus on the aspects of our profession that we have in common, rather than those that may be different. Likewise, a spirit of positivity and collaboration is where the efforts of the group gets concentrated. More recently, it has been good to broaden conversation about what practices are really working for us as individual practitioners and to challenge ourselves to continually improve.
The main organizers in 2006/7 were myself, Richard Pitt, Sandi Kaplan, and Pam Grant Ryan – and encouragement and advice from many others!
On May 6, 2007 we held the inaugural meeting in San Francisco, with Peter Fraser as a guest speaker. After Peter held the educational portion of the meeting, we came together to discuss the vision – about 50 people.
The expressed goals and wishes came from the group:
Community – a need for shared information and getting together, to support ourselves in this challenging profession, including mentorship
Sharing of best practices
Increasing public awareness of homeopathy
And thus our Mission Statement:
The mission of the Bay Area Homeopathy Association (BAHA) is to increase the public awareness and understanding of Homeopathy as an integral part of personal health care. BAHA puts homeopaths in touch with one another so that Homeopathy in the Bay Area continues to thrive, and so that more people learn of the great possibility that Homeopathy brings. We strive to do this by providing networking and collaborative opportunities for professional homeopaths, and by publishing a directory of Bay Area homeopaths for the public. While the activities of the group have waxed and waned, with some years being more focused on sharing information about who is offering classes, or clinics in the area, we have picked up steam in the last couple of years. Some of our members have taught classes on running a homeopathy business in California (Myra Nissen), or given a presentation on their homeopathy clinic in Africa (Adjoa Stack), or offered post-graduate classes in homeopathy for women’s health (Karen Allen), to name a few.
For the past 8 months, a subset of us have met almost monthly in an effort to share best practices in order to improve our clients’ quality of care. Dubbed the BAHA Quality of Care Working Group, we have met to share information about:
Tools for Improving and Auditing Your Practice
Strategies for Getting Back on Track with Case Analysis
Talking with Clients (&Potential Clients) About Homeopathy
Objective Observation – Philosophical, Scientific, and Practical
Working Integratively with Other Types of Practitioners
Difficult Client Dynamics – Strategies for identifying, working with (or not), and improving outcomes
And, we are planning our first Case Conference for November of 2013– a coming together of peers to present our case work to and learn from one another in a spirit of humility, collegiality, and rigor.
While the public education piece has been limited to subsidizing homeopathy booths at the SF Green Festival and the Bioneers Conference in addition to our online directory of local homeopaths, An Van de Moortel is our new point person for Outreach and Public Education, and welcomes ideas from members about how to educate and engage the public about homeopathy (plus she has lots of ideas and passion in this area!).
We also have a new and growing resource for the public: an online directory of local practitioners (non-homeopaths) who are “Homeopathy-Friendly” – this means that one of our members knows the quality of their work, and that they view homeopathy in a favorable light and in most cases refer clients to homeopaths.
To better elicit the spirit of BAHA, here are some recent responses from our members to the question, “What does BAHA mean to you?”
BAHA for me is the local Bay Area homeopathic community's touchstone. We don't place restrictions on membership. We spread the word about important topics locally, nationally and globally. We have a nexus for communication and camaraderie for what otherwise can be an isolated profession.
BAHA is a homeopathic home base. - Judy Schriebman, CCH, RSHOM(NA)
BAHA is great. Why?
At the time we created BAHA there was not much going on on the Right Coast. BAHA allows us to get connected with other homeopaths without jet lag.
In BAHA we get to exchange information, knowledge and at times formal education. We support each other by way of having platform in a friendly, non-threatening, non-competitive fashion.
BAHA is committed to spread the word of homeopathy to the public - Varda Wilensky, CCH
… to me BAHA is an indicator that homeopathy in the Bay Area is becoming healthier. I myself have worked for many years on creating a sense of community among homeopaths. The previously existing model was one of individual practitioners everywhere, but not many knowing one another. I feel that in the last 15 years the Bay Area has become a place where I know many practitioners and where we homeopaths form a loosely interconnected web. With time and continued and consistent effort I believe we can strengthen this movement toward community, which in turn will strengthen the standing of homeopathy within the greater community. BAHA is on a path of reaching out and creating places and events where homeopath can gather in a supportive network of like minded people, much in the same way that other professional societies exist and grow. - Anneke Hogeland, MFT
Community, support and education.
Improving the standards and quality of care in homeopathy as individuals and as a profession. - Mary Johnston, CCH (Cand.)
We are blessed to live and work as homeopaths in an area of the country where we have health freedom, and also an international and progressive populace. This is the ideal place to nurture and grow homeopathy, which is why I believe we have so many homeopaths who practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. BAHA has been and can be a catalyst for homeopathy to better flourish and thrive here, and for all of us to bask in the light of professional community.
We have over 80 active members, and growing – including a few out-of-area members who are inspired by our efforts, and wanting to replicate our efforts in other parts of California and in other states in the U.S.
For more info. visit www.bayareahomeopathyassociation.org
$30 annual membership includes html email newsletters, discounts on local classes, and support for our work.
