Van Hootegem, H · Homeopathy : the journal of the Faculty of Homeopathy · 2007 · DOI
This study describes a single case of a 23-year-old woman with chronic fatigue syndrome treated with homeopathy combined with psychoanalytic principles. The author explores whether ideas from psychoanalysis—such as the importance of the therapeutic relationship, the role of dreams, and inherited family trauma—might help explain how homeopathic treatment works. The paper is theoretical rather than providing strong medical evidence.
This work highlights the potential importance of the therapeutic relationship and psychological factors in ME/CFS treatment, which may be underappreciated in biomedical research. It raises questions about whether trauma, family history, and psychological processing influence ME/CFS outcomes, areas that warrant rigorous investigation.
This single case report does not establish that homeopathy is effective for ME/CFS, nor does it prove that psychoanalytic concepts explain homeopathic mechanisms. It cannot demonstrate causation between dream function, transgenerational trauma, and symptom resolution, and generalization from one patient to broader ME/CFS populations is not valid.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Van Hootegem, H (2007). Can homeopathy learn something from psychoanalysis?. Homeopathy : the journal of the Faculty of Homeopathy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.homp.2006.11.013
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-van-hootegem-2007-can-homeopathy,
author = {Van Hootegem, H},
title = {Can homeopathy learn something from psychoanalysis?},
journal = {Homeopathy : the journal of the Faculty of Homeopathy},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1016/j.homp.2006.11.013},
note = {PubMed: 17437938},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-hootegem-2007-can-homeopathy},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-hootegem-2007-can-homeopathy
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