Debra Sherry made a mid-life career change when she was in her 40’s. It led her to her current position as a doctor of Medical Heilkunst and Homeopathy.

“I was in international sales in the oil and shipping industry and it was a highly demanding career that didn’t resonate with me,” she said. “It was killing me slowly.”

She started treatment under a homeopath and soon her long list of chronic health problems (both physical and emotional) became shorter and shorter, she said.

She was 95% healed of all of them within two years.

A calling to serve

Sherry decided to attend the four-year college Hahnemann Center for Heilkunst in Ottawa. She graduated in 2004.

“But my education will continue for the rest of my life,” she said. “This is a very complex form of medicine.”

After graduation, she moved to New Mexico and founded High Desert Homeopathy in Santa Fe, where she practiced for ten years.

“I felt this was my calling to serve others and give back to the world,” she said. “I knew it could help many others as homeopathy had helped, and continues to help, me—safely, without the side effects of pharmaceutical medications.”

She renamed her business Wholistic Health after moving to Taos in July 2013.

“My husband and I have been coming to Taos for many years to ski and hike and we have always loved it,” she said. “We decided last year to move here to see if we can still maintain and grow our practices, and enjoy all that Taos has to offer.”

What exactly is homeopathy?

It is a gentle, but effective type of alternative medicine that stimulates the body to naturally heal itself, said Sherry.

Homeopathic medicines are mainly prepared from natural botanical, biological and mineral sources and prescribed in micro dynamic doses.

“They are non-toxic and completely safe,” Sherry said. “They work on the principle of ‘like cures like,’ meaning that a substance that would cause certain symptoms in a healthy person is used to cure those same symptoms in an ill person. For example, homeopathy uses diluted extract of onion to treat seasonal allergies that have symptoms similar to what happens when you chop an onion.”

The most challenging part for the practitioner is getting beyond the “quick-fix” expectations of our society today, Sherry said.

“I can treat symptoms, but the end-goal is to heal, which requires time,” she said. “Chronic disease happened over time, usually with multiple causes behind it, so a cure can takes years.”

Homeopathy and the FDA

Homeopathic medicines are the only “other” FDA approved and regulated medicines in the United States, Sherry said. But insurance companies don’t pay for homeopathic treatments here.

“It makes no sense, other than the ‘competition’ factor with pharmaceuticals, since it is recognized and regulated by the FDA and has its own USDA pharmacopia,” she said. “There are only two forms of medicine that have it—pharmaceuticals and homeopathy.”

A homeopathic treatment session

The course of treatment for each individual is different because she treats people holistically, Sherry said.

“If I am treating chronic disease or conditions, I take into account the mind, body, soul and spirit, along with the individual’s history, constitution, life circumstances, inherited predispositions, lifestyle, diet, and exercise,” she said.

Sherry points out that there isn’t one particular remedy for a given illness, but many remedies that can be applied to heal different illnesses, considering all the factors that she mentioned before.

“I spend more time than medical doctors do with their patients,” she said. “A session with me can last up to two hours, and the patient has my full presence during it.”

However, the progressive form of homeopathy and nutrition that Sherry practices does not require that she meets face-to-face with her patients, though she prefers, if possible, to meet at least once.

“The appointment time is spent gathering as much information about the person or animal as possible,” she said. “Unless it is for a simple acute illness, injury, help with healing from surgery or pregnancy and birth, for example, then it’s not necessary to gather complete information about the patient.”

If the consultation is long-distance, via phone, Skype of Facetime, the medicines are mailed via priority mail, with instructions.

A success story

One of her patients was an eight-month pregnant woman who had been diagnosed with herpes. Her doctor wanted to schedule a C-Section because of possible transmission to the baby.

“I gave her prescriptions I thought would help her eliminate the virus, along with others to help enhance the chances for an easy delivery when it was time,” said Sherry. “Four weeks later, she tested free of herpes and avoided a C-section. Two more weeks later, she delivered a beautiful baby boy within four hours of her first labor pain. The baby was diagnosed with an inguinal hernia and hydrocele at three weeks old, and doctors said the only cure was surgery. Once again, with the help of homeopathy, he was healed within three weeks and surgery was avoided.”

Sherry will be offering a free class on homeopathy and some ways to use it at home for simple, acute illnesses on February 25^th at the Taos Food Coop (314 Paseo del Pueblo Norte) at 7 p.m.

Wholistic Health is located at 107 Plaza Garcia, Unit B

Phone: 505-603-9888

www.wholistichealthandhealing.com