Sound Therapy Capstone: 6

Robert Monroe: The Binaural Beat Guru

Robert Monroe (1915-1995) is one of the most important names in the sound therapy movement. He was incredibly innovative in utilizing the power of binaural beats for his own technology, known as Hemi-Sync.  Monroe created many recordings for treating everything from sleep to side effects from chemotherapy.  He is not only known for his work with sound, but also for his work in exploring the depths of consciousness.  In his book Journeys Out of the Body, published in 1971, he wrote about Outer Body Experiences, also known as Astral Projection.  He started the Monroe Institute, which to this day continues to contribute immensely to the research of altered states of consciousness using binaural beats.  I have attached a video interview with Robert Monroe describing his first accounts of using sound to improve sleep, as well as his first Outer Body Experience.

When I first began exploring binaural beats a year ago, Robert Monroe was the first person I discovered.  I have thought of him to be the father of binaural beat therapy and he has been a major influence on my own work.



Robert Monroe Interview:


The Monroe Institute: https://www.monroeinstitute.org/



Outsider response to Session 3 audio:

I was really surprised by the patient's response to the previous session's audio.  The fact that he was struck with fear throughout the experience was fascinating to me, as it was such a different reaction to what I had.  I was anxious to know how he would respond to this session.  As I watched him while he was listening he seemed to feel uncomfortable, and that something was clearly bothering him. Once the session was over, he told me that he did indeed experience major discomfort.  He told me that the track triggered the same type of anxiety he has before going into surgery.  I presume this might be anxiety due to a fear of losing control of one's body, such as going under anesthesia.  It terms of physical responses he told me that initially he felt chills going up and down his arms.  The chills later creeped down to both of his legs as well.  At the end of our discussion, he summed up his experience to be one of feeling helpless in an emergency situation. I found it interesting that he felt affected throughout most of his body by the audio, as I had the same experience.