Dr Mom's Homoeopathics and Apothecary

10/07/2021

Farewell to an inspiring doctor 🌿

The passing of a respected and remarkable colleague Dr Ruth Bloch

'Dear Colleagues

It is with sadness that we share the passing of one of South Africa's most respected Homoeopaths, Dr. Ruth Bloch.

Dr. Bloch began her study of Homoeopathy in 1970 under Dr. Margaret Blakeway and continued her studies with Vithoulkas, Mangialovori, and many other great teachers of Homoeopathy. She was in private practice from 1975 where she was not only a practitioner but also a teacher of Homoeopathy herself. In 1984 she began teaching patients first aid and developed a homoeopathic first aid book. Subsequently, she started teaching M.D.’s and colleagues as at that stage there was no homeopathic course in SA and her goal was always to help raise the standard of Homoeopathy in general. She also taught in Israel at the Bar-Ilan University and introduced the first course in Homoeopathy for M.D’s and pharmacists. She continued to practice and teach post-graduate homoeopaths and M.D’s using failed cases, one-way mirror workshops, and personal supervision of Homoeopaths early on in their practice.

Ruth was remarkable, always thinking of the future of our profession. She did all of this as she believed it essential to sustain our profession and the young homeopathic practitioners. She went on to lecture at DUT until 1999 also including ad hoc supervision of case taking in Gauteng.

Her love of teaching and learning extended into provings, and she initiated a C4 proving group under Alize Timmerman. This grew into the Centre of the Field group for investigating remedies used by Sangomas and substances used by traditional practitioners in South Africa. In total six C4 provings were undertaken as a result of her commitments and drive for homeopathic advancement.

On behalf of her Homeopathic colleagues in Cape Town, all HSA members, and the greater South African homoeopathic community, we would like to honour the doctor, teacher, student, and healer that Dr. Ruth Bloch was. She will be remembered by those who she has healed, supported, counseled, loved, and inspired. Her books, teachings, and her lessons will live on and we will cherish them dearly.

Our deepest condolences to Dr. Michael Bloch and her family and friends.

May she rest in peace.

Kind regards
Dr. Laura Chella
HSA National Secretary'

The Homeopathic Association of South Africa (HSA)

And from all of us in the natural medicine world, our sincerest condolences to her family, friends and patients. May she rest in peace.

The Homeopathic Association of South Africa

04/04/2021

12/02/2021

*SOLD*
I have a limited number of these Blooming tea balls available.
🌿 R30 each or R50 for 2
Courier available around SA

29/10/2020

Been seeing a few Johnson’s baby adverts tonight - ‘clinically proven’ to help your kid sleep better if you a)buy fifty products from them and then b) follow their amazing steps of: singing to your baby, bathing your baby in warm water, rocking your baby, cuddling your baby, rubbing oil gently on your baby. Basically, everything that would work without any of the fu***ng products. I can’t believe they’re still peddling this s**t to parents and carers desperate to try anything at all to get some sleep at one of the most tiring times of our lives. Fine, if you like the smell of all this stuff and want to buy it then cool, but whatever these sorts of adverts suggest, it’s not the expensive fu***ng baby industry products looking after your kid, it’s your FU***NG HARD WORK and these products sure as hell aren’t gonna ensure your kid sleeps 💜

23/09/2020

21/09/2020

How to support your teen

👫Teens need your love and connection more than ever.
👫Give them the space to find their independence from you. Over time, their values will be likely to align with yours.
👫Your teen isn’t rejecting you. They’re finding their own way in the world.
👫The harder you fight to control them, the harder they will push against you. The truth is that when it comes to adolescence, we have no control – they will decide how much they involve you in their lives, how much they tell you, and how much influence you have. Make it easy for them to come to you when something happens or when they need guidance.
👫Give them information, but don’t lecture - whether it’s about friends, alcohol, drugs or s*x.
👫Don’t buy into arguments. Teens will overstate the positives and underestimate the negatives. Try remain calm.
👫Help them to plan ahead and see around corners, but without judgement.
👫Encourage their social connections and give them space to strengthen their relationships.
👫Let them know you will always do whatever you can to collect them from any situation when they want to come home – regardless of the circumstances and how late or far away it might be. THIS is my number one rule.
👫Let nothing be off-limits when it comes to what they can talk to you about.
👫Wherever possible, let them sleep in to catch up on sleep deficits.
👫Listen more than you talk.

20/09/2020

👫Our discussion on the important stages of childhood concludes with adolescents.
It’s often baffling for parents, so I’ve divided it into 2 posts.
It’s honestly been one of my favourite times. I’m the mom of 3 teens and I love it.

👫Friends will be more important than family. You’re still important, but this is a stage they have to go through, to find out who they will be when they step into the world as a healthy, independent adult. Just like you had to do at their age.
👫What their peers think of them may be a source of stress for a while, peaking for girls around 13 and for boys around 15. They might go to extra lengths to try to fit in with their peers. Breathe. This will pass…
👫They will become more argumentative and will push against you more. This is part of gaining their independence.
👫They may become more emotionally distant from you (don’t worry – they’ll come back, some later than others).
👫They experiment with their image, their identity, and the way they are in the world.
👫They may become s*xually active.
👫They might be impulsive and they might start taking risks.
👫They will be more creative and will start to think about the world in really interesting, different ways.
👫They will act like your opinion of them doesn’t matter but it does – as much as ever.
👫They will often misread your emotional expressions – reading anger, hostility or disappointment when you feel nothing like that.
👫Their sleep cycle will change.
👫They want to make their own decisions about the things that affect them.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss how you can help them navigate the teen years.

19/09/2020

👩‍👧‍👦 Our discussion on the important stages of childhood continues with tweens (10-11yr olds).

👧The tantrums of childhood will be calming down by now.
🧒Might still argue about rules and the necessity of them.
👧Will try to explain away misbehaviour through excuses and justifications. They will fight hard to find the loophole in the rule.
🧒Promises become important and they will remember EVERYTHING.

What to do.
👧Don’t make promises you won’t be able to keep.
🧒Avoid arguing with them whenever you can. Hear them out, always, then make your decision.
👧Let them push against you in safe ways – let them try things, express their opinions, and make their own decisions when appropriate.
🧒Know where your boundaries are and make sure they know where they are so it’s clear. Make the consequence about their behaviour, not about who they are.

18/09/2020

👩‍👧‍👦Our discussion on the important stages of childhood continues with nine-year-olds.

👧Friends will start to be more important than parents, and this will continue through adolescence.
🧒What their friends think will start to become more and more important.
👧Their friendship circle narrows and they have fewer but closer friendships.
🧒Will share jokes and secrets with friends.
👧Will push against rules and directions and may disrespect you.
🧒Will be able to be loving and silly but will also develop the capacity to be selfish, argumentative and abrasive.

What to do.
👧Provide them with opportunities for independence and to make their own decisions.
🧒Avoid being too bossy or directive.
👧Encourage them to start thinking about things from another point of view, ‘What would so-and-so say about that?’ ‘How do you think she felt when that happened?’

17/09/2020

👩‍👧‍👦Our discussion on the important stages of childhood continues with eight-year-olds.

👧Kids at this age want you to think the way they do and have little tolerance for differing opinions.
🧒They can be very sensitive to what you think of them.
👧Will often fight with their moms.
🧒Things will be black or white, right or wrong, good or bad.
👧This tendency to think in absolutes might cause a little trouble with friendships. This is the part where they learn about friendships and how to get along with people.

The support they need.
🧒When you’re praising their good behaviour, be clear about what it is they have done.
👧Avoid arguing whenever you can. With their black and white thinking, an argument will just mean that someone is right (them) and someone is wrong (you). Instead, ask them to explain their point of view and encourage them to see things from different angles.
🧒Spend plenty of time together to cement the relationship to minimise the natural pull away that is coming at adolescence.

16/09/2020

"Knowing we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people"💚

15/09/2020

👩‍👧‍👦 Our discussion on the important stages of childhood continues with seven-year-olds.

👧You might wonder what happened to your happy little child. Who replaced them with this poor misunderstood soul?
🧒Might complain, usually about parents or rules, but also about friends and other kids.
👧Can be dramatic about school, friends or life in general.
🧒Will try to use words to talk about how they are feeling but may become frustrated and angry when they are upset.
👧Will be becoming more aware of what other people think.

The support they need.
🧒Listen and validate what they are feeling - that may be all they need. You don’t need to fix their problems.
👧Discuss how they might solve the things that are causing them trouble. Give them space and encouragement to come up with their own ideas.
🧒Don’t be drawn into the dramatics.
👧Don’t immediately think that things are a mess because they are saying they are.
🧒Highlight the positives without minimising the negatives.

14/09/2020

👩‍👧‍👦We continue our discussion of the important stages of childhood with six-year-olds.

👧It’s pretty likely that they will know a lot more than you. Just ask them.
🧒May start having tantrums again.
👧Can start to test the limits but will still want to please you and help out.
🧒Will seek praise for their school work and for the ‘good’ things they do.
👧Will seek to master new skills and to feel competent.
🧒Might worry about being away from you.

The support they need.
👧Encourage their efforts and acknowledge when they have worked hard.
🧒Encourage effort over outcome to help them develop a growth mindset and a strong self-belief in their capacity to achieve.
👧Ensure they get the support they need if they are struggling at school.
🧒Avoid overpraise or meaningless praise and let them know that they are special, but so are other people.

13/09/2020

👩‍👧‍👦Let’s return to our discussion of the important stages of childhood with five-year-olds.
👧They understand rules but tend to be ‘flexible’ with them.
🧒They start to show empathy and recognise other people’s points of view.
👧Can share but it’s still hard.
🧒Might be afraid of failure, criticism and creepy things like monsters.
👧Attention span will start to increase and they believe they’re an ‘expert’ on everything.
🧒Jokes and‘potty’ humour are hilarious.
👧Will be looking to make their own decisions, particularly around what to wear and what to eat.
🧒Lots of changes around starting school can make them moody, sensitive or tired. Having to sit still and concentrate is exhausting.

The support they need.
👧Encourage skills like taking turns, getting along with others, working together, negotiating, compromising, and winning or losing graciously.
🧒Set aside time each day to play with your child one on one, together, to give you the opportunity to get into your child’s world.
👧Start to expand your child’s emotional literacy by naming and discussing feelings.
🧒Continue to keep rules simple and try not to have too many.

12/09/2020

This message goes for ourselves and our children. When self-talk gets negative, it's helpful sometimes to think in terms of "Would I speak like this to my best friend?"
Often the answer is "No". Be gentle with yourself

11/09/2020

👩‍👧‍👦We continue our discussion of the important stages of childhood with four-year-olds.

👧They start defining the world in simple terms. Things and people will be right or wrong, good or bad, nice or not nice.
Their command of language may still be loose, so they will often back up what they are saying with actions (hitting, pushing, grabbing) or non-verbals (tone, volume, facial expressions, posture/stance).
👧Will become competitive.
🧒Blurring reality and fantasy might lead to telling lies or having imaginary friends.
👧Sense of self is expanding so they may become stubborn, defiant or bossy.
🧒Will do all sorts of things to avoid bedtime and may have bad dreams or develop a fear of the dark or being away from the parents.
👧Will start to enjoy playing WITH other kids not alongside them.
🧒Still keen to please and help you.

The support they need.
👧When you set rules, explain why they’re important.
They’re developing their ideas about how the world works.
🧒Keep your requests simple.
👧They desperately want to make you happy. Let them know whenever you see “good” behaviour.
🧒Don’t argue with a four-year-old. Just don’t.
👧Be consistent. If you don’t think it’s always important to enforce a rule, your child will, understandably, think it’s not always important to follow it.
🧒Let them be little people when they are stressed or tired.

10/09/2020

👩‍👧‍👦We continue our discussion of the important stages of childhood with three-year-olds.

👧Tantrums can arise from frustration and a need for independence and control.
🧒They start to assert control over their environment by doing things by themselves and trying to challenge things.
👧Might develop sudden fears and phobias.
🧒Commonly confuse real and make-believe - it’s the age of imaginary friends.
👧It’s also the age of ownership - ‘Mine!’ - and jealousy.

The support they need.
🧒REMEMBER: ‘This will pass’…and quickly. I promise.
👧Give positive reinforcement. They love knowing they’ve pleased you.
🧒Be gentle when they get it wrong. Your child wants to do the right thing but they’re still figuring it all out.
👧Few rules and be consistent
🧒Give them freedom and space to play and experiment with imaginative play. Support them so they can feel their own ability to influence their environment.
👧Encourage decision making with choices so they feel they have control over their world (‘Would you like to have a bath first or choose your pyjamas first? Would you prefer corn or avocado with your dinner?’)
🧒Take time out for yourself.
👧Have bedtime rhythms that work for your family.