I had wanted to write this book for a number of years. The idea first occurred to me in the late '80s and early '90s, when I offered a course called "Healing Women Naturally" in Seattle. I met many women who sought information on how they could address their health issues in a safe, yet effective, way. I was happy that I, as a licensed naturopath physician specializing in homeopathy, could guide them. As inevitably occurs in any teaching setting, I am sure that I learned as much from my students as they did from me.

The greatest blessing that I have to share with other women is the gift of homeopathy. I once heard that conventional physicians often become disillusioned with their practices because of the lackluster results of many of their treatments. The experience of being a homeopath is exactly the opposite. Every day I see the profound changes that this remarkable method of healing has brought to my patients' lives. That a form of healing that is so simple and elegant and makes so much common sense to patients can transform lives so powerfully, with doses of a natural medicine administered months or even years apart, still boggles my mind almost as much as it does the minds of my patients.