The first appointment usually lasts one hour to an hour and a half. The homeopath might do a physical examination; however, most of the interview is verbal. During the first interview, the main objective of the homeopath and patient together is to gather as much information as possible about the totality of symptoms – mental, emotional, and physical.

In taking your case, the homeopath will look for symptoms in your body and also give equal importance to your nature, your feeling and reactions, your dreams, etc. So, in Homeopathy, each patient is regarded as a sum of his symptoms, his innermost feelings. Since the aim is to understand each person as an individual, the homeopath looks for things that are most individualistic of people. In order to properly gather complete information and determine the right remedy, the homeopath is likely to:

	Ask you to describe your symptoms in detail, when they were first noticed, was the onset sudden or gradual, and what makes them feel better or worse. If there is a pain, is it burning, shooting, throbbing, pulling, etc.
	Inquire about your dreams, fears and anxieties to look deeper into the source of your illness. Your nature. Incidences that have affected you deeply or that have had an impact on you.
	Encourage you to talk about your work, relationships and interests. Innermost feelings, hopes and aspirations, disappointment, impulses, unwanted thoughts.
	Ask you about the foods you like, your reactions to the weather, and how you feel at different time of the day. How is your sleep? What position do you sleep in? About your pattern of urination and bowel habits.
	Gather information about the health of your family members to see what generic factors could be contributing to your health problems.

Most chronic and acute conditions are curable by homeopathy. The treatment for some of the chronic illnesses may span over a year or more. For chronic treatments, after the first appointment, initial follow-ups are scheduled every four weeks and, once an improvement is noticed the future follow-ups may be required at every three to six month intervals.