Dr. Richard Gerber is an internist (physician to Australians) and the author of the previously published Vibrational Medicine. In this third edition he includes a new preface and updated resources. It includes over twenty five years of research on alternative medical diagnosis and treatment.

All aspects of vibrational medicine are critical in the 21st century health environment. Health care is becoming very expensive and harder to access. It is becoming more noticeable in the public-health area that there is a conditioned reluctance by traditional health practitioners for patients to take responsibility for their own diagnosis and treatment.

The outmoded 19th century mechanistic view of the body has fostered this attitude. Patients will certainly do themselves a favour by being an active participant in their own treatment.
Knowledge is power – as always, and the more we know about our bodies as well as options for managing health, the more we can seek wellness. The concept of ‘wellness’ seems rather trite, but as the opposite of sickness it makes perfect sense.

The reader will find here a unique, but ultimately sensible model of medicine. It combines the best of East & West and traditional & modern approaches.

Dr. Gerber outlines the philosophy, science and research of modern vibrational medicine in a clear and precise way. There is no waffling in this book. He outlines the major areas of alternative therapies in terms that are easy for the non-medical or non-scientific reader to understand.

Dr. Gerber addresses critical questions. How does it work? What happens during the treatment? What can a particular therapy treat? What is the success rate?

The vibrational or energetic therapies covered include homeopathy, acupuncture, flower essences, colour & light healing, magnet therapy, radionics and distant healing, and a variety of hands-on approaches. Each broad area is given a large chapter with good resource appendices and recommended reading.

In the chapter length introduction Dr. Gerber looks at vibrational medicine research from the micro to macro level. That is, from Western cellular biology and how it informs energetic therapies, to the oldest forms of healing knowledge from traditional Chinese and Indian sources.

His overview examines the theoretical and philosophical framework on which the different approaches are based. It is not an easy thing to render some of the more esoteric scientific and philosophical ideas into everyday language, but Dr. Gerber seems to manage it most of the time.

It is heartening that many of the ancient Eastern ideas dovetail perfectly with the currently emerging scientific research. Vibration is one of the things that all creation has in common. No surprise then that we see commonalities in the diverse methods of approaching health and harmony.

The first chapter is devoted to the multidimensional paths to health. Factors include nutritional inputs and environmental stressors. The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) concept of Ch’i, or Qi, is discussed along with the role of the invisible, but critical energy pathways in our bodies.

From Indian medicine comes the role of the chakras and the workings of man’s subtler bodies – those shimmering vibrations that surround us all and if they contain obstructions of any kind they become manifested in our physical body as dis-ease – whatever the cause. Equally the energy pathways called the meridians or nadis, are subtle, tiny highways and byways of electrical energy.

In a review like this, it is impossible to convey the depth of knowledge and research that Dr. Gerber is able to share. The reader may take an overview or delve quite deeply into each modality, which the subsequent chapters show.

The first of these is on homeopathy. It has had a much better run in Europe than America until recently. Dr. Gerber gives a very succinct overview of the history and use of this popular medicine. The principle is ‘like cures like’ and very dilute remedies have exceptional effects on common maladies.

Despite skepticism from modern medicine, homeopathy continues to gain popularity. The latest research focuses on the vibratory qualities rather than counting the number of molecules still in the highly attenuated dose. A list of the most common remedies is given, with their applications.

The next large group of vibrational therapies is acupuncture. It is an ancient science/art of needling the energy pathways in the body to produce a result.

TCM has been using acupuncture for thousands of years and in the last 30 to 40 years, Western medicine has been researching and using the principles in a number of ways. New technologies have been harnessed to optimise this treatment, with laser-pulse needle-less therapy.

The research in this area left my brain straining to understand it all. A good knowledge of the TCM meridian and Ch’i systems helps. It seems that acupuncture is ideally suited to pain management and anesthesia as well as a host of other maladies.

I had the privilege of seeing two operations by acupuncture anesthesia while in the People’s Republic of China in 1978. It was rather unnerving to see still-conscious patients undergoing a knee-cartilage surgery and a thyroidectomy. All I can say is that they did not appear to feel any pain; furthermore the thyroidectomy patient was talking and sipping plum tea!

The next significant area is that of flower essences. Phytomedicine, including herbal therapies, have been emerging as the big new natural healing area. The Bach Flower Remedies are at the core of it and continue to be the best from the angle of balancing temperament.

Dr. Gerber brings news from around the world, with flower essences native to many countries around the world. Australia, Canada, South Africa and the rainforests of South America are offering strong medicine from plants. There are remedies for every physical, spiritual and emotional imbalance.

Colour and light healing. What can I say? This is one of the more delightful forms of healing, and with proven results. Dr. Gerber shows that the vibrations of the visible spectrum can affect the way we experience everything from emotions to infections and pain.

I must confess that the chapter on magnet therapy baffled me. Perhaps this is due to the technical presentation of the subject. Magnets have been used for healing since ancient times when lodestone was prized by healers. The resurgence in the 19th century and again in the last twenty five years has been accompanied by science of a very cloudy nature.

Admittedly, I was never good at physics and this limits my ability to take in the details of the various theories. I do know that we are surrounded by magnetic vibrations, both natural and man made. Most of us carry cell phones, there are power lines everywhere and our electrical appliances give off electro-magnetic radiation.

Dr. Gerber’s explanations for the healing use of magnets are compelling, but it is a confusing area. Use of the recommended reading list will likely provide readers with a deeper insight.

The last major areas surveyed are radiesthesia/radionics, or distance healing, and various forms of hands on healing.

Dr. Gerber admits that distance healing is a controversial area – the ‘Black Sheep’ of vibrational medicine, but suspects that in the future it might prove to be a huge healing modality in all its forms.

Related to dowsing, radiesthesia or radionics uses the intuition of the practitioner, sometimes with the help of pendulums, to choose herbs, essences or crystals. Machines have even been developed to imprint remedies by the use of photos, hair or even simple blood spots of the patients.

I think it must be this sort of machine to which Professor Emoto (The Secret Life of Water) refers as a Hado machine. However, as weird as this may sound, there have been amazing successes and the author explains the science in an almost convincing way.

Distant healing does, of course, include prayer and meditation. Dr. Larry Dossey has undertaken research on the efficacy of prayer in healing and Dr. Gerber has his publications in his reading list. The forms of hands-on healing include massage, Reiki and all those related touch modalities including faith healing. The methods are far too diverse to summarise here.

This very wide-ranging compendium of vibrational healing covers almost everything on offer at present – except sound healing in all its forms. I was quite surprised that such a seemingly obvious and important area was not included. The healing properties of sound are used in a variety of ways – singing, chanting, toning, and tuning forks among the many.

Despite this omission, I gained a lot from this work. It proves to be a worthy reference work and a help to practitioners and patients alike.

For those who wish to take responsibility for their own health, it is a valuable information resource. Overall, I got good vibrations from this massively informative work.

– Reviewed by Jennifer Hoskins in New Dawn No. 99