TRANCE SONICS
The merging of hypnotherapy and sound healing
Since the coining of the word “hypnosis” - adapted by James Braid in 1841 - the induction of a trance or trance-like state, and the results that subjects experience, have been the topic of both popular misconceptions, and scientific study. Here, we will learn of the work of Dr. Milton Erickson, and a different understanding of the hypnotic state as a “band” on the natural spectrum of human consciousness… what Dr. Erickson called “the common, everyday trance”.
After over 4 decades as an award-winning hypnotherapist and pioneer in the field of sound healing, Peter has developed a way of integrating these two in his practice with individuals and groups.
space is limited!
pre registration is necessary!
friday 6-10
saturday 10-6
sunday 10-6
$450 (payment options available)
RSVP (text) 347 491 9068 or
email svahagong@gmail.com subject TRANCE SONICS
venmo : @Svaha-Gong
paypal paypal.me/gong108
Traditional healers of all cultures have used vibrations - specifically the audible vibrations of sound and music, to induce and enhance states of healing, vision and creativity. Hypnotherapy typically employs primarily spoken language to make suggestions to induce change in an individual. We will be addressing two questions: How can today’s healers and therapists better utilize music and soundhealing practices; and how can those who are following the path of soundhealing learn to incorporate spoken “hypnotic” language and an understanding of the “structure” of trancing, into their existing practice?
Sound is a carrier wave of information. When we speak of “Sound Healing” what we are really talking about is how to shape and direct that carrier wave, and what are the effects on those receiving it. As our species has evolved, words and languages developed - specific sounds that are a “subset” of all human-created sounds. In the act of speaking, singing, or chanting, we are intentionally creating sounds to communicate ideas and feelings. On an esoteric level, we are using audible frequencies to shift energy - our own and that of others.
After over 4 decades as an award-winning hypnotherapist and pioneer in the field of sound healing, Peter has developed a way of integrating these two in his practice with individuals and groups. In this intensive overview, students will learn about theories, and be introduced to practices for personal and professional use. However, what will be emphasized at this retreat is the relational aspect of the work. “Intra” and “inter” personal aspect will be examined. Students will learn in a highly interactive environment with supervision and feedback, how to work with themselves and others.
These include:
• Developing sensory acuity - how to know when someone is changing state
• “Deep Listening” as defined and taught by Pauline Oliveros
• Vowel sounds practice and meaning, taken from the work of Beautiful Painted Arrow
• Concepts of rapport, pacing and leading
• Some basic hypnotic language patterns (implied directives, “artfully vague”)
• Use of drones as foundation (tamboura, shruti box)
• Tuning fork protocol as taught by John Beaulieu (Body tuners and “Brain” tuners)
• Framing and pre-framing, the importance of the “set-up” (creating expectation)
• Tibetan singing bowls - brief history and debunking myths
• Brief overview of mantra - specifically as a self-hypnotic practice
• Ga Ma La Ta Ki rhythm patterns as taught by Dr. Karl Berger at Creative Music Studio
• Storytelling - the brain’s “default” setting. The hypnotic power of the story of the sound and the sound of the story.
• Entrainment - what is it and how does it work?
• Shamanic Journeying w/drum & rattle a la Michael Harner
• “Magical Voice”, aka Harmonic or Overtone singing, as taught by Timothy Hill
According to Wikipedia, “There is a belief that hypnosis is a form of unconsciousness, resembling sleep, but contemporary research suggests that hypnotic subjects are fully awake and are focusing attention, with a corresponding decrease in their peripheral awareness”.
space is limited!
pre registration is necessary!
friday 6-10
saturday 10-6
sunday 10-6
$450 (payment options available!)
RSVP (text) 347 491 9068 or
email svahagong@gmail.com subject TRANCE SONICS
venmo : @Svaha-Gong
paypal paypal.me/gong108
Peter Blum has studied music and sound healing with Dr. Karl Berger, Ustad Jamaluddin Bhartiya, Beautiful Painted Arrow (Joseph Rael), Pauline Oliveros, Fabian Mamman, John Beaulieu, and Don Conreaux. He has given workshops and soundhealing concerts at Omega Institute, Abode of the Message, The Intʼl Hypnosis Federation, Menla Retreat Center, The Graduate Institute, and, most recently, the United Nations. He is an ordained Interfaith Minister and multiple award winning hypnotherapist who has trained and certified hundreds in the spiritual art form of hypnosis. In 2015 he was recognized as Hypnotist of the Year by The Int’l Assoc. of Counselors and Therapists, and in 2018 was awarded “Life Fellow in Hypnotherapy” by The Int’l Medical & Dental Hypnosis Assoc. Most recently, in 2021 he was inducted into the Hypnosis Hall of Fame. Peter is the author of “Trance Sonics - The Vital Link Between Hypnosis and Sound Healing” (2018) and is deeply interested in the effects of music and sound on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
“Essentially, the task, as worked out, was comparable to that of composing music intended to produce a certain effect upon the listener. Words and ideas, rather than notes of music, were employed in selected sequences, patterns, rhythms, and other relationships, and by this composition it was hoped to evoke profound responses in the subject, not only in terms of what the story could mean but which would be in accord with the established patterns of behavior deriving from his experiential past.”—Collected Writings of Milton Erickson, Vol III, pg. 388, Irvington Press
“‘Everything is music’, John Cage once said. If ‘everything is music,’ then we are dealing with metaphor, which is a perfectly legitimate way of using words, and doubtlessly as old as the world.... What will the word ‘music’ mean in this book? Given its context, that of trance, the word music will be used to signify any sonic event that is linked with this state, that cannot be reduced to language - since we would then have to speak of words, not music - and that displays a certain degree of rhythmic or melodic organization.”
— Gilbert Rouget, Music and Trance - A Theory of the Relations between Music and Possession, pg. 63, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1985
