Bill Harris is Director of The Holosync Research Institute. He is a graduate of Portland State University and also has three years of graduate study in music, studying with world-renowned Czech composer Tomas Svoboda and Spanish composer Salvador Brotons. He is a Certified Trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programming and is trained in Ericksonian Hypnosis. He is a long time student of contemporary psychology, quantum mechanical physics, the evolution of non-linear systems (chaos theory) and the effects of a wide range of neurotechnologies on human change, evolution and healing. He is known for his ability to explain difficult subjects in a way that makes them easy to understand. Bill is frequently invited to speak at scientific and transformational forums and conferences across the U.S., and over the years has taught a wide range of workshops and seminars. In the past he has conducted his own private therapy practice utilizing cognitive psychology and Neuro Linguistic Programming. Bill is currently President and Director of Centerpointe Research Institute. Bill started Centerpointe Research Institute in 1989 with borrowed recording equipment set up on his kitchen table. As of 2007, hundreds of thousands of people in over 172 countries on six continents had used Centerpointe programs to improve their lives. In his role as Director of Centerpointe Research Institute, Bill is the creator of The Holosync Solution™ program and The Life Principles Integration Process™. The Holosync Solution program utilizes Centerpointe’s proprietary Holosync sound technology, embedded beneath soothing music and environmental sounds, to induce deep meditative states, causing the brain to reorganize at higher levels of functioning. The Life Principles Integration Process is designed to help people discover how they unconsciously create their internal states and external results, and show them how to take control of these internal processes to create whatever they want in life. Bill is a member of the Advisory Board of Self Enhancement, Inc., an organization helping inner city young people. He is also a founding member of the Transformational Leadership Council started by best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul author Jack Canfield. Bill is a private pilot and CEO of Mercury Aviation, LLC. He has played saxophone, flute, clarinet, and piano professionally for over 40 years. He lives in Hillsboro, Oregon.
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Dr. Dave,
I first learned of HoloSync by listening to show #193 on Holistic Psychology. I was intrigued with Ms. Radcliffe’s description of the program so I ordered the free demo cd. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and even after listening to it, I couldn’t say for sure what I had experienced. I think I felt the same as before.
I also tried a demo CD from a competitor called HoloThink. I had a similar experience with that product. So far, I have not decided to purchase either one.
I was interested to hear Bill Harris and see if he would say anything to prompt further exploration of his product. I don’t know how to say this politely, but I didn’t enjoy listening to him. It’s not what he said, but his nonstop, rambling delivery that I found difficult. It seemed at times that your patience was being taxed by his tendency for promotion of himself and his product. I can understand that he’d like to have people purchase the program, but in a setting like this I would prefer to have him provide more objective information and then let me decide if I’m interested. Frankly, after what I heard, I’m probably still not too inclined to pursue it.
I agree with the previous comment, and I’ll add that for someone who claims that they USED to be an angry, mean person, I found he came across quite angry and mean spirited… and it’s not just his cursing but his general nature that causes me to question the effectiveness of his wares.
I hoped David would have called him out on this but he didn’t. It also would have been nice if he had asked if the program has ever been improved upon over the years. With so much research published every day, some of it discussed on these great podcasts, it’s hard to imagine that program has no room for improvement.
I really have to agree with the earlier comments. Before hearing this interview, I ordered the free demo (also because of the show w/ Sara Chana Radcliffe), but have not received it yet. I was turned off by Mr. Harris, especially when Dr. Dave asked him about similar cds/programs that are much cheaper. He sounded really angry and defensive.
Dr. Dave,
Just thought I would give my perspective on the Holosync system. I too, ordered the Holosync CDs like one of your other listeners at about the same time as he. And also, like him, I had been doing my own meditation practice for about a year. My practice was going very well and combined with mindfulness throughout each day I was feeling like I had found my path. Then I heard about Holosync a couple times on your podcast and decided it was worth a try. I did it for about 2 months. It did everything Bill Harris said it would. It was great. I felt more calm (if that’s possible), clear minded and less stress. The meditation sessions were just as Bill and all the documentation described. I started thinking about the next level and where that might take me. Then I read an unrelated quote by Brad Warner (modern day Zen monk). Can’t remember word for word now but it was something about Zen not being about zoning out on some alpha brain wave meditation trip. There was more to it than that but it triggered thoughts I had been having over the past few weeks. In the back of my mind during my Holosync days, I felt like it was slightly artificial. Like it was getting me to a meditative state I wanted to be at but that something was missing. I remembered by girlfriend making a few comments that she had noticed a difference in me but that she didn’t like it. She wasn’t sure what it was but I wasn’t the same. As I thought about what she said and remembering my feelings during those 2 months, I began to realize it wasn’t really what I wanted out of my meditation practice. The headphones for an hour of total isolation was definitely having an effect but after taking a step back and looking at what was happening, I could see I was feeling disconnected. The “Oneness” was slipping away. I felt less a part of the universe and more of an observer. Being the observer is all well and good but the “awareness” that Bill speaks of needs to be from the perspective of a participant in life. I took a few days off. No meditation at all. Then I went back to my standard 30 minute sitting sessions without Holosync. Almost instantly I realized the difference. Sure, I wasn’t slipping in to an altered brainwave experience but was that what I REALLY wanted? No. I could hear the sounds I used to hear during my previous year of meditation. The birds, the cars, sounds of other people in the house and everything going on in the world around me even though it was so subtle. I had been disconnected from all of that using Holosync and now that I have gone back to the more traditional meditation practice, I see and hear things I didn’t even notice before. So, in a way, Holosync has helped with my more “traditional” meditation in that I now notice or am more “aware” of my being here. And that’s what I want from meditation. To be here now with everything going on all at the same time, to be in the middle of the universe, smiling at the fact that I’m alive and that I am the universe. I don’t want to be consciously asleep. I’m sure Holosync will do exactly what Bill says it will and what most people expect from it. It’s just not my cup of tea. I’m the kind of guy who’ll try anything once. I tried it. I liked it. But I like this other thing I got going on better.
Hi Gary,
Thanks for sharing this very thoughtful analysis. Personally, although I have rejected the fundamentalist Christianity of my youth, it still informs me to some degree and I recall the Bible verse that says, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” So, for me, the test of spiritual practices is do they result in greater compassion and kindness? I agree with you that we can get too caught up in the pyrotechnics of our own consciousness and lose sight of the larger purpose.
Thanks for listening and participating!
I have to say I feel kind of badly that the comments above are so negative about Bill’s interview and about the holosync product itself – especially since I had given holosync such a positive endorsement here on shrinkrap radio. So I’d like to make two comments:
1) Bill Harris is NOT holosync. One would have to have known the man before he did holosync to grasp whether or not the product did him any good. I didn’t and don’t know him, so I can’t pass any judgment. He says it helped him and I believe him. However, I have to say that I never appreciate having to listen to bad language (swear words) and I really wish he would have expressed his thoughts without using it. I thought he diminished himself and the product by talking the way he did.
2) Holosync technology creates changes over the LONG RUN, not the immediate short run. Although some people may notice immediate positive effects like having more energy or experiencing less stress, others may have no short term effects and still others actually feel worse – more irritated, more compulsive and so on as their subconscious feelings are being released. However, after doing holosync for a couple of years or longer, people will generally notice that their “background” feeling has improved, they have less or no mind chatter going on, they have more confidence and many other profound, positive changes. Holosync may not cure everything that ails them – and certainly won’t do so quickly or all at once – but it is a big help along life’s journey. Are there other ways to gain these benefits? Yes – regular meditation being one of them. However, as one who has used many types of meditiation regularly throughout adulthood, I can tell you that Holosync is a different kettle of fish altogether. I still use “regular” meditation and many other growth modalities, but holosync is in a league of its own. I absolutely love it and I know that thousands of other users feel the same way. Since there is no end to our growth process, there is no need to limit our tools for personal development. Each can contribute in its own way. I wanted people to know about holosync because I know that many will prosper from its use. Although it won’t be the right venue for everyone, it will certainly help some people. Ironically, Bill Harris may not be the best advertisement for his product but holosync has sold itself. Even though many people complain about the centerpointe web site, about the constant overload of advertisements and promotions and everything to do with Bill Harris, they are still HAPPILY using holosync because it is working for them. Therefore, my recommendation, as I stated on the show, is that people try the product for themselves for a year (for free!) and base their decision on their own experience.
I’d like to second the above comments on Bill and his program. I have nothing against him but more then anything question his intentions behind his program. I enjoyed using Holosync for a while and even went to the extent of purchasing more levels, however once I did things changed. I stopped recieving updated emails and was never reminded up until this day ( more then a year later) that I still had higher levels that I could recieve from the program I now have been waiting for a reply back on getting them. It seems they took the money and ran. Its unfortunate that such a potentially beneficial program seems to be run by someone who doesn’t seemed interested in any benefit but his own.
I was so excited when I heard about the holosync program through your podcast. I immediately ordered the demo CD. I had to wait over a week and was impatient, so I downloaded a free demo from LifeFlow. Wow! The first try with it and I had an amazing experience. I had a whole vision of being an acolyte in a Buddhist temple. I was instantly sold. I figured holosync must be better since it’s been around and is bigger. However, when I did get the demo CD, I was so disappointed because you can’t do any sort of decent meditation with it to try it out. Then I got all of this advertising hype. That always makes me wonder, “Is the product bad–is that why it need a lot of hype?” Now I’m not sure what to think. I might just go with LifeFlow as I liked the 14-minute demo that I got (though I do like the bowls in the holosync CD). With Life Flow at least I have some idea of what I’m getting and it’s less expensive. Maybe the difference is just a lot of hype. I don’t know since I’m new to all of this.
No matter what, I’m so glad to have hear the podcast with Bill Harris. Otherwise I wouldn’t have heard of any of this in the first place.
I decided to get the LifeFlow CD. I have been using it for about 10 days or so–a 40 minute session with nature sounds on it along with binaural, isochronic and monaural beats. I have actually managed to have sessions almost every day. I find that my insight is shifting. Somehow I am able to own more about myself, perhaps because I am becoming more aware of all kinds of resources inside.
There are a lot of programs out there, it seems–Hemisync, LifeFlow, etc. I think probably what stage you are at in your own journey and how you respond to what happens in your mind as you listen to the program you have chosen is really going to be a major factor in your experience. I decided not to go with Holosync because I felt such negative vibes from the advertising. I didn’t want that on my mind as I was trying to listen to myself .
I guess I’m rather surprised, though, that Bill Harris either doesn’t care or is out of touch with how his advertising affects so many people negatively. It seems to contradict the whole idea that Holosync works for him in making him more aware. (Maybe he’s aware in other areas of his life, but we the public don’t see those…)
I wonder if even though he has a good product, now that he has a lot of competition, he’s trying to beat them to the punch…something he has to do since his course is SO expensive. Still, I’m just guessing as to his motives.
I also tried the Holosync demo disk and was able to tune out Bill Harris’s voice while listening for several days and I decided to order the first set of disks and give them a try – I can always get my money back so thats a bonus.
I feel that some comments have been a little harsh about Bill Harris. His advertisement of Holosync and his research does not seem innapropriate but more like he is taking advantage of getting the word out about his product and ideas. In today’s market there is an abundance of products that are similar in nature. One really needs to advertise the heck out of their company or product to draw and maintain attention – I have seen the same amount of information and advertising on a jewelry making website which charges $8.95 month for unlimited online classes so I do not feel Bill Harris has gone overboard with his advertisement although I can understand why it can be seen as frustrating or irritating but that is way many companies try to get their poducts out to the public.
Finally as for the cost of the program I think that the price is fair. If you compare it to the cost of LifeFLow that others have mentioned the average disk price for LifeFlow is $97.50 based on their 10 disk program and the average cost for per Holosync disk is $57.30 the main difference being that LifeFlow offers the ability to purchase each disk one at a time (the first one being $67). I have paid more than this to attend a couple hour jewelry making class so having a disk that can be used again and again for the same or cheaper amount does not seem like too much of a leap for me. But you will never please everyone and each perons has their own needs, expectations, and finances to consider so I guess to each their own but I do not think Bill Harris should be attacked for his product when in the end it is an individiaul choice – you do not need to listen to him or purchase his product. I hope I do not come off as harsh here to comment of others but I do not feel all the attacks on Mr. Harris/ Holosync were fair.
Aloha and Mahalo
I am hearing a lot of unhappy people on this site. That makes me sad because information and technology that improves life should really be free. Anybody that will meditate and try to “rise above” the worlds current mental state should not be at liberty to sell any healing product. That being said, after much research, I developed a mellow hip hop beat using binaural audio techniques that stimulated my theta waves. It works simply by alternating a steady beat in each ear to syncronize your left and right brain. The pulses pan at a rate of approximately 7 hertz. When listening to it myself, I found it really calmed me. After a few listens in headphones I found that just thinking about the beat and the neural association that it brought along with it would calm me down. I also went to a professional friend (not the kind your thinking dirty kids!! j/k) who has a bio feedback machine. When listening to the song in headphones, my brainwaves from 0 – 15 hertz were stimulated off the charts and my higher brain waves (15htz – 42htz) were unresponsive. They were totally calm. Now heres the catch; I have posted this song on my artists site, it’s called let the music heal me. Please listen to it headphones once a day for 3 – 4 days, at the end of the night or whenever you are comfortable. Then if it does anything for you, please let me know. The song is a free download or stream. It is free as any healing should be, and I would like to make sure i am not just feeling a placebo effect. I swear and curse too (not in the song!), but I am a pretty mellow and chill guy and would really like to see if my music could help anybody else calm their mind.
Thanks,
Dubgee
http://www.reverbnation.com/dubgee
Bill is his own worst enemy, that much is clear.
SO many contradictions – he claims that his product works FAST – yet he demands at least one hour every day of your time – for months on end. (How is that \’fast\’?)
He claims that he\’s been meditating for 40 years but when you listen to him talk, he constantly interrupts Dave & never provides any hard science or evidence, but instead just salesy \"I\’ve got a secret that I\’ll sell you\" jargon. So I\’m just left wondering whether this is just another internet scam….and not a very convincing one at that!
Sorry Bill, but we\’re more discriminating consumers these days – \’testemonials\’ just don\’t cut it. Go visit http://www.monroeinstitute.org/ if you want to see what a REAL binaural website looks like.
Bill should do himself a favour and get some-one else to promote his Product (which in the final analysis is just yet another binaural beat CD – nothing more, nothing less). There is NO evidence that his \"Level 4\" CD (ie L440Hz R435Hz) is any \"deeper\" than his \"Level 1\" CD (L840Hz R835Hz).
Like so many others before me, I have too much difficulty with nasty grumpy information-devoid \"angry-shit\" Bill to invest big $ in his wares.
On the positive, I have investigated his CD\’s and at least they DO contain binaural beats.
Ofcourse whether you get any added benefit from listening to them for an hour each day compared to sitting quietly for an hour each day…..well that is up for conjecture….
Dr.Dave, methinks you let him off FAR too easily.
Thanks for all these comments. Dr. Dave, didn’t you mention that someone was blogging about their experiences with holosync? Is it on this site?
I do enjoy doing the hour. Have only just started. I must say that it is Sarah’s passion for the product that will keep me going. Seems almost too good to be true. I do enjoy it. Can’t say I have lots of extra energy (got up early this morning to fit it in) but I’ll keep with it. Anyone try to return it, was there any problem with that?
Never thought I would go in to bat for Bill Harris, but here goes!
I thought this was a great interview apart from the rambling style that another commented on. That is just how Bill is, he doesn\’t have a great presentation style, although I\’m sure he would disagree!
I truly understand everyone\’s complaints about him, as I\’ve struggled myself with his arrogance and his pressured marketing techniques over the years. It\’s a shame that he can\’t seem to get it into his head that the product is so good that it doesn\’t need the kind of tactics he uses to sell it. Maybe it\’s a case of once a salesman always a salesman.
I have been using HS for 7 1/2 years and am just starting the last 1/3rd of the program. One difficulty I have had with assessing it\’s efficacy is that I have done a lot of other work as well – regular therapy, intensive dreamwork, A Course in Miracles, EFT and as of 2 years ago – zazen.
I have come to the conclusion that I have had a lot of resistance (i.e. fear) due to unresolved childhood trauma which had been reinforced in adulthood and gradually become more and more consolidated. I was in my 50\’s when I started HS.
I still have doubts from time to time about whether it is actually working or not but those doubts usually pass and I am committed to seeing the program through.
The zazen has been very helpful. I struggled with why I would need to do it if HS is so effective, but I think that is the nature of transformational work – it\’s like having a varied diet rather than just eating rice all day, every day. You can survive on rice every day – many people do – but how much healthier is it to have a varied diet?
Another gripe which I have never understood is the cost. HS is costly but it\’s peanuts compared to psychotherapy and there are many other things I could compare it to.
I have learned a lot from Bill Harris over the years – both directly from his teachings, (which are very sound) and from working honestly with my own negative reactions to his personality and marketing ploys.
Successful people will always come in for criticism and there is no doubt that Bill is both hugely successful and talented, notwithstanding his personality style.
Here in Australia it\’s called the \’Tall Poppy Syndrome.\’ In the name of fairness and equality we \’cut down\’ the tall poppies. Another name for it is jealousy.
Ultimately, the only way to assess anything is to \’suck it and see.\’ I deliberated for over a year before committing to trying it and it was about 3 years before I opted for the whole program option but I am very glad I did.
Hello Dr.Dave,
I would like to ask you the name (how do we spell it ) of Jim Heart? and his program?
Thank you very much!
Best regards
Okay, Bill uses some edgy words in this interview, and I agree it gives a bad impression if you’ve never heard any of his lectures, read his book, let alone try the program.
I think by stating in the beginning that he was an angry person in his early years, set the mood for some of the listeners into thinking he’s mean-spirited.
Bill doesn’t strike me as such in his book, nor his lectures.
The bottom line for me is it works just as they say IF you can discipline yourself to stick with the program.
I’m surprised at the negativity of the comments above. I really enjoyed listening to this interview, and especially was impressed with the profound yet unassuming, realistic and down to earth way harris talked about himself, his music, and spirituality. I really liked that he talk like a regular person, and not some airy-fairy pc guru. It’s been a pleasure to finally hear the man behind the music, and i was very moved to hear harris describe himself as an angry little shit. Anyway, i’m a healer and have been using some of harris’ music for 8 months now, in healing sessions and for massage therapy sessions and the effects are obvious. I love it, People love it, they relax deeply, experience healing, and many slip spontaneously into meditation for the first time, or see colours, or connect to their soul for the first time in their lives. Hundreds of peoples lives have been enhanced by harris music, and that’s just in my little corner of the world. Surely it must be tens of thousands worldwide. Not bad for an angry little shit 😉
i used Holosync for over two years. I paid a good sum for each level. After two years I realized and others close to me. The program did nothing for me. It was a total waste of money and time. In comparison, I leaned TM in the seventies for seventy dollars at the time. That helped me and others noticed it too. Still kind of annoyed I spent hard earned cash on the nonsense. Live and learn. If one wants a easy way to relax. Buy a Jeffrey Thompson CD for 12 bucks, it works. TM is over a grand now. Times change.
I used Holosync for over two years. Before that I had been meditating about 45 minutes a day. I added Holosync into my regular meditation practice. Where previously I was having magical and transformative experiences and feeling closer to my goal of enlightenment, with the addition of Holosync those things went away. I called Centerpointe asking about it and they told me I was in “overwhelm.”I told them that it was more like “underwhelm,” since nothing was happening except losing what I had gained. Then they decided I was in “resistance.” I had just begun Level 3 when a friend of mine who had been involved with Bill Harris on a professional level advised me not to use Holosync. Bill had apparently laughed and told him there was nothing on the CDs except pretty sounds, and he “had a pocket of gold coins.” I immediately stopped using the program. A few later I had symptoms I can only classify as withdrawal: neck spasms, headaches, diarreah, anxiety, stress and being unable to focus. That lasted nearly a week and now I am back to normal. As far as others who have been helped by the program, I can only say that the placebo effect is very powerful. If sugar pills can heal cancer, pretty sounds on CDs can do the things they are suggested to do.
Hi,I am a holosyncer of nearly 10 years,and I can tell you that Holosync is a great program,an no,I’m not saying that it’s the only way,or the end all and be all,but yes,it has helped me immensely,but you gotta stick with it through thick and thin to get the most out of it.For those hung up on Bill’s swearing,I say really? I find it refreshing that he keeps it real,not holy.
Hi Dr Dave. That’s a very nice summation of Bill Harris and The Holosync Solution. I used it for quite a while and got great benefits but then I lapsed after moving on to Purification Level 3 due to severe emotional overwhelm. This could have been primarily due to lifestyle choices but I think that Holosync use tipped me over the edge. I now use OmHarmonics but I think it’s a bit weak in comparison. It’s hard to find a balance between power and safety.
Bill Harris is a delight. I enjoy his personality and based on that and his interview by The Urban Monk, Pedram Shojai, on YouTube, I bought the program and began it. I love it. I think the organization of the sounds is very conducive to relaxation and that in itself is a first step to recovering from this culture of stress. The competitors may have something for others, but the gentleness and thought that went into the Holosync program appeals to me, and I am able to perceive the good effects it is having on me. Not everyone is ready for this type of program, but for those who are, it is great and it is not expensive, either. Thank you, shrinkradio, for bringing Bill Harris on your channel.