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The Sound Medicine of Brian Dailey, M.D.
By Russ Mason, M.S.
This article was published in Alternative & Complementary
Therapies, June, 2004.
Reprinted with permission by Monroe Products
Photographs by Jeff Blackmon, Manager of Visual Communications,
Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, New York.
The use of sound and music for healing has a long history.
In the 1950s Robert Monroe pioneered a new kind of sound technology. This
patented process used tones to create specific physiological states within
the brain, and thus balance both hemispheres of the brain. Though the
combination of tones, various states of healing, relaxation, concentration,
focus, and intuition may be attained. The CDs produced at Monroe Products
utilize this patented technology now known as Hemi-Sync® (see sidebar,
page 2). Today, health care practitioners are finding significant new
ways to assist their patients with this innovative sound technology. Among
them is Brian Dailey, M.D.
Brian Dailey, M.D., is a clinical instructor in ACM therapies
at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (Rochester,
NY) and is board certified in emergency medicine. Dr. Dailey is an attending
physician in emergency medicine at Rochester General Hospital. Dr. Dailey
is also a long-time practitioner of energy medicine, a Reiki Master and
teacher, and uses crystal therapy and aromatherapy. He lectures and conducts
workshops throughout the United States and Canada on the application of
these modalities. Dr. Dailey is on the board of
advisors at The Monroe Institute® (TMI) at Faber, Virginia, a member of
their Professional Division, and a member of the Dolphin Energy Club (DEC),
a group of remote healers. He is actively involved in research of consciousness
exploration as well as energetic and remote healing.
In 1990 Dr. Dailey experienced the Hemi-Sync® technology
in a weekend workshop conducted by Dr. Joseph
Gallenberger, a clinical psychotherapist, in Rochester, NY. Impressed
and intrigued with what he had experienced, Dr.Dailey subsequently attended
many of the residential courses offered at The Monroe Institute. Further
interest led to a membership in the Professional Division of TMI, as well
as a position on the advisory board. Additional experience convinced him
of the therapeutic value of Hemi-Sync® for his patients in the hospital,
outpatient, and home environments.
Russ Mason:
Please tell me how you use sound to help your patients heal.
Brian Dailey: As a physician trained in both
traditional and energetic medicine, I have found that sound may have a
therapeutic effect for patients with a variety of illnesses, and that
sound can be extremely effective in assisting healthy individuals with
concentration, insight, intuition, creativity, and meditation.
R.M.: Please explain about
the sounds, specifically, and what they do.
B.D.: Robert Monroe, founder of TMI, discovered
that specific sound patterns and frequencies have beneficial, identifiable,
and measurable effects on an individual's capabilities. For example, some
combinations of frequencies enhance alertness; others may induce sleep;
and still others evoke expanded states of consciousness. From this research
Hemi-Sync® CDs were produced which may aid with relaxation and stress
reduction; provide healing support for cancer treatment, surgery, hypertension,
stroke, asthma, and many other applications. I use Hemi-Sync® myself for
insight, intuition, improving my own health, and helping to engender a
deeper spiritual connection. It has improved my intuitive insight into
difficult-to-diagnose medical cases. It has vastly increased my abilities
as an energy healer. My patients have benefited as well. For example,
the Surgical Support Series has been shown to reduce the need for
anesthesia in coronary artery bypass surgery1. I encourage all
my patients undergoing surgery to consider using the CDs, as listening
can reduce their pain, their need for pain medication, allow them to awaken
more quickly in recovery, and hasten discharge.
R.M.: How did you discover
The Monroe Institute and the Hemi-Sync® recordings?
B.D.: I first learned about TMI because of
my interest in remote viewing. The military used remote viewing to psychically
obtain information not available by ordinary physical senses, often with
great success. I found this intriguing, particularly the idea that remote
viewing might be used as an aid in medical diagnosis. The military had
sent many of their remote viewers to TMI workshops because the workshops
enhanced the remote viewers' performance. I also learned of people such
as Barbara Brennan and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross who had been
to TMI, and I was intrigued with the work that TMI was doing in consciousness
research. TMI was a happening place!
One day a synchronicity occurred. A poster advertised TMI, and a local intensive weekend, with Dr. Joseph Gallenberger in Rochester, NY. The poster said that one could expand one's cognitive function with the use of sound. I attended the week-end intensive, and the experience just opened up, in a nearly explosive manner, my appetite for expanding my own awareness and intuition. The weekend provided a wonderful introduction to TMI and Hemi-Sync®. It was a tasty appetizer, leaving me hungry for the main entrée.
R.M.: What, specifically, did
they do in the weekend intensive?
B.D.:We listened to Hemi-Sync® recordings
which produced alpha and theta brain-wave states. These induced profound
relaxation and well-being. They also opened insight and intuition and
I was amazed at the ease with which it worked. Someone practicing meditation
20 years might achieve a hemispheric theta brain-wave state after several
hours of meditating, and maintain it for five to 15 minutes. We were learning
to do it in mere minutes—and maintaining it for long periods of time.
R.M.: Have any Buddhist meditators
tried the Hemi-Sync® products?
B.D.: Yes. A 92-year-old monk went to TMI
and, after experiencing it, returned to his temple with a large number
of
Hemi-Sync® exercises. He felt the younger monks could learn—in one week—what
had taken him years of meditative practice.
R.M.: What happened next?
B.D.: Shortly thereafter I went down to TMI
in Virginia and took two six-day courses, Gateway Voyage® and Guidelines®,
back to back. It was a monumental growth period for me.
R.M.: Why was that?
B.D.: Each six-day residential course takes
place in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the grounds of TMI, sharing meals
and the experience with the others attending. There are numerous Hemi-Sync®
exercises that one experiences in a progressive manner, each expanding
on the previous experience. TMI attracts an incredibly interesting mix
of people and healers. More than half of the healing techniques I have
learned have occurred while there. Karen Malik, president of ISSSEEM,
and a trainer at TMI, took time to introduce me to some crystal healing
techniques that I now use every day. It's one of the most enlightening
experiences I have ever had and has made me a much more effective physician;
not just in allopathic medicine, but in other healing arts, such as Reiki,
Therapeutic Touch, CranialSacral Therapy, crystals, and aromatherapy.
R.M.: How long after taking
these sessions did you begin to apply what you had learned into your medical
practice?
B.D.: Immediately. I was applying it there
at TMI as I learned it. Applying the techniques to my patients back home
was a natural extension. Using Hemi-Sync® in my practice brought immediate
and tangible results for my patients.
Through its research initiatives, The Monroe Institute has found that
specific sonic frequencies can be combined to gently direct the brain
to various states, from deep relaxation, or sleep, to expanded awareness
and other extra-ordinary" states. This "audio-guidance" is achieved by
sending a different tone to each ear through stereo headphones. The two
hemispheres of the brain then act in concert to "hear" a third tone—the
difference between the two tones. The third tone is not an actual sound,
but an electrical stimulus that can only be perceived within the brain
as a result of both brain hemispheres corresponding simultaneously. This
results in a focused, whole-brain state known as hemispheric synchronization,
or "Hemi-Sync®"—a process for selectively optimizing human performance.
The patented Hemi-Sync® process has been refined with over 40 years of research and development. Ongoing experimentation, data collection and analysis are conducted at the Institute's laboratory facilities to demonstrate the correlation between subjective experiential reports and objective scientific validation.
Ongoing research is essential to verify the influence of new, specific Hemi-Sync® sound patterns on human consciousness. Over the decades, these efforts have resulted in the development of more than 200 products for specific applications, such as focused attention, stress management, meditation, sleep enhancement, and pain management, to name a few. New Hemi-Sync® products are continually in development, refinement and testing.
R.M.: How successful were the
CDs in a clinical setting?
B.D.: They can be enormously helpful. Gretchen G.,
a lymphoma patient, liked to listen to Metamusic® in the waiting
room before her chemotherapy. Her oncologist commented one day on "how
relaxed she appeared," in contrast to the other patients.
"It's the Metamusic®," she explained. This is why it is
useful in the reception areas of dental and medical
offices. In a hospital setting where there is a lot of ambient noise,
I place headphones on the patient to enhance the relaxation and healing
effect. Kelly A. was in the surgical intensive care unit after a severe
motor vehicle accident. She had sustained a severe liver laceration with
anemia (Hematocrit = 27%), as well as a compression fracture of her first
lumbar vertebra which had kept her bedridden for three days due to pain.
After her first Hemi-Sync® and Reiki session, she was able to get out
of bed, and on the fifth day, after four treatments, her hematocrit had
risen to a normal level of 36%, the equivalent of a transfusion of three
units of blood (without the associated $1,500 dollar cost, or health risks
associated with blood transfusion). She did not receive any Epogen injections.
R.M.: What is it that the Hemi-Sync®
recordings actually do for the individual who experiences them?
B.D.: Hemi-Sync® is short for Hemispheric
Synchronization. Sounds embedded on the CD result in a "binaural beat"
produced by the brainstem. Through a frequency following response this
results in both hemispheres becoming synchronized into a "whole-brain
state." This whole-brain state allows us to simultaneously access both
the creativity and intuitive insight of the right brain, with the analytic
insight of the left brain. Many cognitive states that facilitate healing,
manifestation, and problem solving may be facilitated, depending on the
specific frequency patterns that are used. Different frequencies will
produce different effects. Theta and delta frequencies will help with
relaxation and sleep. Beta frequencies will increase mental clarity, concentration,
and produce a laserlike focus, which students find useful for studying,
and children with ADD/ADHD find helpful with concentration.
R.M.: Please explain how this
sound technology can assist cancer patients.
B.D.: We have found anecdotally that Hemi-Sync®
frequencies, along with the positive guided imagery on the CDs, can
improve side effects of cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation
therapy. It may improve neutropenia, anemia, reduce or eliminate nausea
and vomiting, and improve over all well-being. All it takes is 45 minutes,
and a portable CD player with headphones. We are currently developing
protocols to do formal studies of the Cancer Support Series.
R.M.: Please explain the concept
of "reframing" in the Cancer Support Series.
B.D.: As we know, the mind has a tremendous
influence on healing. Many of the Hemi-Sync® products may enhance or "reframe"
traditional viewpoints, such as in the Cancer Support Series. Many people,
particularly those with a holistic
view, consider chemotherapy to be a poison. Chemotherapy may have many
potential side effects, such as nausea/ vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss,
anemia, and neutropenia. If a patient believes they are going to be pumped
full of poison, how will that effect their healing response? I do not
want my subconscious mind, let alone my conscious mind, to
think such negative thoughts. Therefore, on the Cancer Support Series
CD for chemotherapy (which I helped to
develop), in our guided imagery we refer to the chemotherapy treatment
as a "Love Potion". We refer to chemotherapy as a love potion because
it is used to make the person well, not ill; and that needs to be understood,
appreciated and
embraced. Can you appreciate and feel the difference between taking a
love potion to make you well, and a poison?
R.M.: How do the patients react
to these sound recordings?
B.D.: Jackie G. was a wonderful mother, 34
weeks pregnant, who, while showering one Sunday afternoon, discovered
a lump. It turned out to be a highly malignant breast cancer. I was asked
to participate in Jackie's care. She was very open to the Reiki and crystals,
and really enjoyed the Hemi-Sync® recordings. She used Metamusic® for
relaxation. She used another series of recordings to assist with nursing
and childbirth, for her delivery. "The sounds really helped reduce the
discomfort of my labor." Jackie gave birth to a beautiful baby boy after
a one-hour-twenty-minute labor; no episiotomy, and no repair. She used
the Surgical Support Series for her seven hour surgery, which she
sailed through with little need for pain medication postoperatively. Jackie
also used Chemotherapy Companion to reduce the side effects of
her chemotherapy. The Positive Immunity Series helped to improve
her immune function and well-being. Jackie and I had a wonderful dinner
one month ago with her family, to celebrate her baby's second birthday,
and Jackie's wellness. What a joyful experience that was!
R.M.: Can you give me an example
of other cancer patients who were helped by the use of these recordings?
B.D.: Yes. The first person to use Chemotherapy
Companion was Gretchen G., who was 21 when she was diagnosed with lymphoma.
She was only able to complete four of her scheduled 12 chemotherapies,
because she had such pronounced nausea and vomiting, in addition to complete
hair loss. One year later while living in Amherst, MA, her tumor had quadrupled
in size. Her doctor had suggested that she and I talk, and she agreed
to come to Rochester, NY
for evaluation and treatment. She was initially extremely reluctant to
undergo the chemotherapy her oncologist recommended, based on her prior
experience and her holistic beliefs. We discussed her misgivings, with
the understanding that this chemotherapy was to make her well, and she
liked the idea of infusing a "love potion," rather than something toxic.
When she had a severe episode of nausea and vomiting with her first episode
of chemotherapy, we put on Chemotherapy Companion, and 45 minutes later
she awoke feeling "awesome," and ate lunch.
Ardith F. had a severe episode of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea with chemotherapy two weeks earlier. After listening to Chemotherapy Companion during her next chemo treatment, and eating lunch during her infusion, she later remarked, "I feel better than when I came in." Susan S. took the concept of the REBAL (Resonant Energy Balloon) from a CD and used it in a new way. "They explain for you to inhale, and as you exhale, to visualize a balloon or cocoon of white light surrounding and protecting you. I had a bad allergic reaction—hives, itching, difficulty breathing—to my first chemotherapy. At the second chemo, they reduced the dose of my chemotherapy and gave me intravenous anti-allergy medications (Prednisone, Benadryl) and I had a less severe reaction. Prior to my third chemotherapy, I thought to "pop my REBAL." I had no reaction to that particular therapy, and they were able to resume full strength chemotherapy and eliminate my pretreatment allergy medication after that."
The mind is a powerful healing adjunct. I am constantly amazed how much our patients have to teach us. From Sue I learned to have all my patients "pop a REBAL" before any procedure they receive.
R.M.: You mentioned crystals
as healing aids. Would you please explain your use of crystals, and how
they relate to
your practice of energy medicine?
B.D.: Each crystal has a frequency of vibration.
Quartz crystals vibrate at 60 cycles per second, which is why quartz is
used as a timing mechanism in quartz watches. If you take two tuning forks
that are tuned to a "C" of 128 Hz, held next
to each other, and strike one so that it vibrates, the other will start
vibrating because of the principle of resonance. Crystals may be used
to store energy, and stimulate the human body by the principle of resonance,
or "vibrational medicine2." Healing may be done without crystals,
but I truly enjoy their feel and energy, as do many of my patients. Crystals
will amplify energy, and can be used to direct or focus healing energies.
Crystals may be placed on specific chakras as an aid in amplifying healing
energy.
Mitch Gaynor, M.D., has described the use of quartz crystal bowls to produce sound useful in healing cancer. We use quartz crystal bowls along with Hemi-Sync® in our Reiki circles. It elevates the energy of the entire room, as well as the energy of all the people present.
R.M.: Many allopathic physicians
and ACM practitioners are striving to bridge the gap which exists between
conventional and alternative medicine. You seem to be doing this now.
B.D.: I look forward to the day when we no
longer consider them "conventional" and "alternative" medicine, but can
appreciate that we have therapies of any modality will help the patient.
I believe the placebo effect is a very real energetic effect that we have
been unable to properly measure and characterize. We are on the cusp of
the next great adventure—how energy medicine and human consciousness can
affect healing, and how consciously we may use these energies to make
us well.
R.M.: What sparked this integrative
view for you? That is, using a combination of protocols, such as Reiki,
crystals and
the Hemi-Sync® CDs.
B.D.: My father was a great influence. When
I was four years old, my father taught me how to grow crystals, which
I now use in healing. My mother had conventional medical training in nursing,
but in addition, she was a great touch healer. If we skinned our knee,
she "would rub it and make it better." If it was really serious, she would
"kiss it and make it better." And it always made us feel better. I was
too young to understand that it was energy medicine, but I learned that
you could make people feel better through touch, that it was a normal
part of life.
R.M.: What is the Dolphin Energy
Club?
B.D.: The Dolphin Energy Club (DEC) has a membership of 203
healers, coordinated by TMI, who attempt to heal and
assist others from a distance using guided imagery, Hemi-Sync®, and energetic
healing. We ask recipients to record
their impressions and results. It is clear that some people perceive benefits
from remote healing. In the research lab at
TMI, they did EEG brain mapping of healers while they did healing. A remarkably
consistent brain map was found
amongst many healers, and a Hemi-Sync® tape produced to induce this brain-wave
state. New members of DEC receive the DEC Hemi-Sync® tape that is of benefit
to all members, but particularly those with an interest, but no previous
experience in remote healing. It is a wonderful gift to participate in
DEC.
R.M.: Although ACM protocols
have been slowly entering standard medical practice, many allopathic practitioners,
and insurance companies such as HMOs, remain unconvinced. What do you say
to them?
B.D.: Delores Krieger Ph.D., R.N., has shown
that Therapeutic Touch can increase hemoglobin blood levels in
patients. This may be helpful for dialysis and cancer patients who may
be anemic (low red blood cells) or neutropenic (low white blood cells
that help fight infection) as a result of their illness or therapy. Fortunately,
Epogen and Neupogen injections may be given to these patients to help
improve their blood counts, at approximately $800 for both injections.
Some of our patients using energetic techniques have been able to decrease the frequency of these injections, and in rare instances, have been able to stop them altogether. This can result in significant cost savings. Ironically, if you want the insurance industry to cover a specific therapy, you need to show them how it saves them money, not just improves patient care. Reiki therapy is now partially reimbursed or discounted by HMOs in Rochester, N.Y.
R.M.: How do your medical colleagues
react to your use of energetic techniques?
B.D.: My colleagues have been very supportive
as they learn about these therapies. Rochester General Hospital had an
ACM teaching day for their Internal Medicine residents. We had five Reiki
tables, along with Hemi-Sync® recordings; and we had 50 physicians participate—giving
treatments as well as receiving them. The chief resident had chronic hip
pain which had caused her to stop running, her favorite exercise. She
called four days later excited that after a 15-minute treatment, she had
no pain, and had resumed running! She now works in private practice, and
has referred patients to me.
R.M.: Considering the variety
of products, there are probably several that a health care practitioner
could use to enhance their patient's....
B.D.: (interrupting) Absolutely! Look at
it this way: it's less than $20 for the chemotherapy CD. How many drugs
do you know that can treat a cancer patient that cost $20 and are reusable?
R.M.: And, in this case, you
recommend that the patient uses headphones for maximum effect.
B.D.: Speakers placed on either side of the
head will work fine, but I especially prefer headphones for the first
few listening experiences, as it screens out ambient noise and enhances
the experience. The frequencies are like training
wheels on a bicycle, after listening a few times, you can induce the experience
at will.
R.M.:Would you please clarify
that? You can do that without a CD playing?
B.D.: Yes, because once your brain becomes
acclimated to the subtle synchronization energies, you can do it on your
own. Many of the Hemi-Sync® exercises have encodings, or anchors, that
are used during the exercise, so that you can recreate the effect later
without the CD. In Chemotherapy Companion, if you become nauseous or vomit,
you would inhale, and as you exhale, think "Plus-stomach calm". It induces
the wonderfully pleasant experience they had earlier, and reduces nausea/vomiting.
There are signals to reduce pain, etc. It is also interesting that
Hemi-Sync® is just as effective at low listening levels.
R.M.: Is there any down-side
to the Hemi-Sync® CDs, or adverse affects which you have observed?
B.D.: I have never observed an adverse or
untoward affect.Unlike some medications, sound is not physically addicting.
It doesn't interfere with, and is a wonderful adjunct to, traditional
therapies. For the practitioner, Hemi-Sync® is an additional tool easily
used. I tell patients that in the worst case scenario, "you might feel
better." My personal experience is that it has helped me and my patients
greatly.
1. Kliempt P, et al. Hemispheric synchronization during anesthesia: a double blind randomized trial using audiotape for intra-operative nociception control. Anaesthesia, 1999; 54: 769-773 - 2. Gerber R. Vibrational Medicine: the #1 book of subtle energy therapies. Bear and Company, 2001. ISBN 1-879181-58-4
Disclosure: Dr. Brian Dailey is a member of the Professional
Division, the Dolphin Energy Club, and is on the Board of
Advisors of The Monroe Institute. He receives no income from TMI, and
receives no income from the sale of their products. To contact Brian Dailey,
M.D.: - bdailey@rochester.rr.com Rochester General Hospital 1425 Portland
Avenue - Rochester, NY 14621 (585) 922-4000 - www.ViaHealth.org