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Organizing Complaints

Joette Calabrese, HMC, PHom M

September 26th, 2021  |  12 Comments

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Joette Calabrese

As you can imagine, I get loads of questions. Some queries are posted here in the comments; some come through Facebook; some are emailed to my office. I’m just glad they’re not all snail-mailed to me on paper. I’m not that tall. I’d be buried alive!

Many times, the questions posed are too specific to personal cases for me to address. As you know, I cannot consult or take a case on these public platforms.

However, I welcome general questions. Through them, you help me understand what topics need to be covered more thoroughly.

For example, here’s an excellent question from a student:

“One thing I’m stumbling with is where to list complaints … like do I put ‘cold sore’ under C, or S for skin, or R for rash? Does knee pain go under K for knee, or P for pain, or A for arthritis … etc.?

“If you are going to share more organizing tips, would you consider weighing in on how you might categorize/file complaints?”

I love that question!

Look, I’m very old-fashioned. I prefer hard copies of material, replete with painstakingly curated, handwritten notes. If you saw the books in my office, you’d laugh.

My most precious collection — the consolidation of most of my notes from my extensive time spent in India at the Prasanta Banerji Homoeopathic Research Foundation — is contained in a large 3-ring binder. The pages are different sizes and eventually obscured the organizational tabs along the sides of the pages that segmented my giant book of notes into sections. I couldn’t sift through the pages without great effort, which became quite frustrating.

So, here’s one little trick I came up with to overcome that obstacle. First, I created a heavy-stock lead page at the beginning of each of the section partitions. Then, I taped a popsicle stick to each lead page, taking care to have it jut out far past the edge of the largest pages so that the sticks remain readily accessible. (See the photo above.)

(Stop laughing. I told you I was old-fashioned, and nothing in this modern world can be handier than a well-placed, low-tech popsicle stick!)

Next, I wrote the name of the section’s category on both sides of the popsicle stick (so that the labels are legible whether my book is open or closed).

Now, here’s the answer to my student’s question: The popsicle-stick-designated sections are loosely arranged according to some of the old homeopathic repertories! I find that to be the most intelligent, intuitive way to organize notes.

Here are my categories:

  • Mind
  • Head
  • Eyes (including sight)
  • Ears
  • Mouth (including dental)
  • Throat/ lymph nodes/thyroid
  • Respiratory (including nose and sinuses)
  • Cardiac
  • Gastrointestinal
  • Urinary tract
  • Male/Female (reproductive)
  • Muscular/Skeletal
  • Skin
  • Generalities (fevers/and specific conditions unrelated to above categories)

Some repertories contain different, more detailed breakdowns, while modern repertories (such as Robin Murphy’s) contain additional chapters and a different layout. But this basic hierarchy, as listed above, is what works for me.

So, going back to the question, I would place information about cold sores in the Mouth section. I’d organize Dengue Fever under Generalities. See?

Once you have the general binder set up to your liking, you can also customize your collected information about specific complaints according to hot topics that matter most to you. For instance, you could add a section called Vaccination if that is of particular interest to you. Make it your own!

The easier it is to access your information when complaints arise, the faster you and your loved ones will regain good health … and the quicker you can pass on the good news of homeopathy!

Warmly,

Joette Calabrese

P.S. To learn more tips and tricks from other like-minded folks, I suggest you join a study group. Sharing information in a group setting can turbocharge your learning. I recommend it because it’s the way I learned when I first started out in homeopathy. Your group will not only explore the topics that interest you but also will examine subjects you may not have considered if studying alone.

So, for a well-rounded homeopathy education, start with Gateway to Homeopathy: A Guided Study Group Curriculum. My self-guided curriculum will take your group by the hand and give you a strong foundation on which to build. Even if you already know a bit about homeopathy, a study group will provide lifelong friends who can share your journey, your trials and your successes.

They say two heads are better than one, so imagine how much better an entire study group filled with industrious noggins can be!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am a homeopath with a worldwide practice working with families and individuals via Zoom. I'm also a teacher and most importantly, a mom who raised my now-adult children depending on homeopathy over the last 31 years. I lived decades of my life with food intolerances, allergies, and chemical sensitivities until I was cured with homeopathy, so I understand pain, anxiety, and suffering. You may feel that your issues are more severe or different than anyone else’s, but I have seen it all in my practice and in my work in India. My opinion is that nothing has come close to the reproducible, safe and effective results that my clients, students and I have achieved with homeopathy.

Call today and learn how homeopathy might just be the missing piece in your health strategy.


Joette is not a physician and the relationship between Joette and her clients is not of prescriber and patient, but as educator and client. It is fully the client's choice whether or not to take advantage of the information Joette presents. Homeopathy doesn't "treat" an illness; it addresses the entire person as a matter of wholeness that is an educational process, not a medical one. Joette believes that the advice and diagnosis of a physician is often in order.


We've provided links for your convenience but we do not receive any remuneration nor affiliation in payment from your purchase.


The Author disclaims all liability for any loss or risk, personal or otherwise incurred as a consequence of use of any material in this article. This information is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.



 

12 thoughts on “Organizing Complaints”

  1. Sally Sommers says:

    I’m so glad you wrote this! I never thought to send a question on organization to you. But I sure have been wondering how to organize all my information! I assume this is how you can organize protocols, though that word wasn’t used.

  2. Tiariana says:

    Thats smart and fantastic 🙂 thank you!

  3. Pavan says:

    Thank you, Joette. This is exaclty how I save my online notes in FB from your blog posts and from others also.

    Greetings and wishes,
    Pavan

  4. Elaine Annette says:

    Thank you so much, Joette! Love it!

  5. Catherine A says:

    I love this! The sticks are a sturdy and brilliant idea! Old school , hands on, it’s awesome! Thank you!

    Blessings to you!
    Catherine

  6. Anita Vaughn says:

    Oh my Joette! This is something I would do. My issue is I have notes on all kinds of slips of paper. Whatever is at hand. It would take a lot of recopying. Than I thought it would still work if I used sheet protectors and put my slips of papers in the protector in the correct category. That’ll work for me! Thanks for showing us your system.

    1. Joette Calabrese, HMC, CCH says:

      I have my notes in sleeve protectors and have added bits of papers here and there. When I have time, I transcribe to a more organized page.

  7. Cynthia says:

    what a fantastic hack! I am going to use it for my fermenting and herbal and essential oils notebooks right away!! Been learning and doing those things for several years but I am in the beginning Gateway studies right now. Don’t have a group but your notebooks and the videos links you have included are fantastic. Even through I have to do it by myself. I am learning a ton. Thank you for who you are and what you have done to help others learn to take care of themselves and their families without dangerous pharmaceuticals

    1. Joette Calabrese, HMC, CCH says:

      Contact my office and Eileen will connect you with a group. There are many groups forming all over N. America.
      They’ll become your friends…maybe forever!

  8. Karen says:

    I too like to have notebooks and written notes. I actually have several notebooks, one specifically for your FB live and Mighty Musings. Then, I have a folder/binder for each of the courses I have taken. And lastly, I have your blogs in plastic pages and in sections. But your suggestion on specific sections will work much better!! I am grateful to learn another organizational hack. Plus, I have a ton of popsicle sticks, guess I will be putting them to use! Love it. Thanks.

  9. Julie Earl says:

    Where you do organize nerve pain/disorders in your system?

    1. Joette Calabrese, HMC, PHom M says:

      Go to JoettesLearningCenter and scroll down to my online course titled Pain: Make it Stop.

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