An interesting look at hypnosis to view altered, or what Ronald A Havens classes as cosmic states. The author justified his choice of words on a regular basis, which was a little off putting, yet his comparison of the conscious mind being "like a ten-story bank of television sets" really struck a cord with me. I do feel that the reader needs some understanding or experience of hypnosis and energies to get the best out of this book. I found the authors views on the conscious mind and unconscious mind very easy to understand and enjoyed his descriptions of the feelings of oneness during these cosmic consciousness states and how they can be used to help clients in a very practical way. He has included some experiences that his clients have had and how it's helped them. The hypnosis scripts at the end of the book were intriguing and 1 could see how you could personalise them, although you would need to either put them down on a tape/CD for self hypnosis or enlist someone to read them for you. On the whole an interesting read for anyone wishing to have a down to earth look at the conscious and unconscious mind and looking at alternative language to achieve altered states.

Havens (psychology, U. of Illinois-Springfield) offers simple instructions for creating spiritual, religious, or mystical experiences - along with verbatim examples of hypnotic procedures that were specifically designed to precipitate such life-changing events. The scripts, he says, are only suggestions and guidelines that can and should be adapted or replaced to accommodate personal preferences, subjective reactions, and individual differences. He does not provide an index.

Even if you don't combine therapy with spirituality and have no desire to help your clients attain Cosmic Consciousness, this book can still be of tremendous help to those of you who admire Milton Erickson's work but, like me, have no aptitude for writing the kind of scripts associated with him.

The latter part of this book consists of some nineteen such scripts written in the kind of short line form (similar to verse) which makes sure it can't be paced wrongly. I spent an entire afternoon reading these scripts, emerging at the other end in a complete altered state and wishing I had the author's ability with words. If you don't buy this book for the wealth of other information contained in the first part, buy it for these wonderful scripts -you won't regret it!

I find the title of this book a little offputting - too “new age” for me - but the author is a respected hypnotherapy author (with fine works on Milton Erickson) and there is nothing of the psychedelic about it. This is a serious hypnotherapy book, by a serious hypnotherapy author, for serious hypnotherapists. In it Ronald Havens presents the benefits of an empowering approach to hypnotherapy. Instead of inductions with embedded suggestions for wellness etc (which Mr Havens argues are of mixed effectiveness), he offers a grander canvas. He offers inductions bathed in healing light, rich sounds or empowering energy. It is a metaphorical approach. Although no clinical evidence is presented of the effectiveness of this approach, I recommend that hypnotherapists do study this work - it seems an enlightening and empowering route for clients and therapists. One thing, however, that I do think would enhance the book's value is an audio CD of the inductions. An idea for the next edition perhaps.

Cosmic consciousness is an altered, mystical state of peace, awe, enlightenment and clarity of awareness that creates new understandings, insights, and attitudes about life, self, love, truth, beauty, and spirituality. All cultures have stories of individuals who have experienced cosmic consciousness spontaneously, others who sought it, and those who could induce such a state in oneself and others. In Self Hypnosis for Cosmic Consciousness psychology professor Ronald A. Havens explores how cosmic consciousness can be achieved via Ericksonian Hypnosis. This is Haven's fourth book on hypnotherapy as practiced by the late Dr. Milton H. Erickson, and it is, by far, his best.

Cosmic conscious can be life-changing for some, and simply pleasant for others. The therapeutic value lies in the way it changes thinking, beliefs, and perceptions. According to Havens, it can,

“allow people to start over without all of their old cares, concerns, explanations, and evaluative attitudes. It can allow them to momentarily forget the past and to return to their original way of being, to look at the world anew from an unconditioned, unbiased, and more liberated perspective. It can allow people to revert to their “original simplicity', to reverentially perceive the wonder of the moment, and thus, to stop wanting to be other than what they can be.”

Cosmic consciousness consists of sensations, perceptions, and cognitions associated with “peak”, “mystical” or “spiritual” experiences. While some believe that these experiences can occur only through elaborate rituals, or via drugs, or by way of disciplined study and practice, Havens points out that people with no preparation whatsoever have had such moments. He believes that hypnosis can be used to bring about the same sensations, perceptions and cognitions of these experiences.

The ingredients of cosmic consciousness are:
While the experience is often hard to describe, those who have been there realize it as extraordinary and different from ordinary wakefulness. The aftereffects often include gratitude, reverence, and inner peace. The long-term effects can be life-changing, as individuals report that they feel less judgmental, driven, lonely, anxious and fearful. They feel more creative, interconnected with others, liberated from past limitations, self-assured, and “life begins to seem beautiful and perfect, just the way it is.” The humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, wrote that such peak experiences often occur in self-actualizing people, although people from all walks of life have reported such experiences, sometimes occurring even in moments of tragedy or desperation.

• Intense and often overwhelming sensations; visions of light, musical sounds, a surge of energy, and a feeling of floating, flying, disorientation, or being out of the body.


• A powerful and deep appreciation of beauty, order and perfection and the interrelationships among all things.


• Awe, transcendence or wonder.


• Changed awareness, understanding or insight.


• A non-judgmental, accepting, non-evaluative point of view that seems to dissolve boundaries and categories.


• An experience of revelation.


• A flood of pleasurable emotions.


• A total immersion in the experience


• A loss of a clear sense of time


• Passive or detached observation of experience


• A loss of awareness of “Self.”

Havens makes the point that moments of cosmic consciousness could alleviate the kinds of suffering and emotional pain that often bring people into therapy. He begins with the premise that people suffer, emotionally and often physically because “their ordinary way of looking at or thinking about themselves, their experiences, and the world around them is limited, distorted, biased, prejudiced, and judgmental.” People want reality to conform to the way they wish it to be, instead of the way it is. To eliminate suffering, people must overcome their ordinary ways of thinking. During a cosmic experience, judgments and assumptions become irrelevant and immaterial. The individual, thus enlightened, develops “a pluripotential state of mind,” meaning that he or she is open, accepting and non-judgmental of the world, and thus, less likely to suffer. This alteration of the mind is accomplished by a flood of images, ambiguous suggestions, and associations that cause “an explosion of neural activity throughout the brain.”

For those uninitiated in the workings of the conscious mind, the unconscious mind, and hypnosis, Havens give a basic primer on these topics, so that even novices can understand the process of hypnosis and self-hypnosis, and the nature of hypnotic suggestions. He then provides a number of hypnotic scripts that are designed to appeal to the senses and suggest various ways of conceptualizing the cosmic consciousness state. The script topics are:
The scripts contain references to stars and suns, light and illumination, flame and darkness, energy, vibration, electricity, child-like wonder, animals, natural settings and events in nature, body sensations and emotions, music, angels, purification, beauty and perfection, memories and awareness, creation, love, unity, and connection. In the manner of Erickson, the wording is client-oriented, permissive, optimistic, often vague and indirect, and suggestive of many possibilities. The analogies and metaphors are woven from supernatural events as well as common, everyday experiences in nature and human life that somehow seem magnified in intensity. The scripts are inspiring, encouraging, and suggest to the listener that something exists beyond the mundane-”-something mystical, transforming, and sacred.

• Immersion in light


• Surges of Energy


• Reverberations of Sound


• Awareness of Perfection


• Immersions in Universal Love


• Oneness with the Cosmos

My own experience with this book

For people who want to use hypnosis to expand their potential, this is the book"not just to read, but to experience. That said, while completing this review I asked a colleague to read one of the scripts to me while I relaxed and listened. I chose the script entitled “Cosmic Connections” from among those written for “hypnotic oneness with the Cosmos.” I chose this script because on this given day, I was interested in expanding my awareness of the possible.

Upon hearing the sheer poetry of this script I felt relaxed and entered a dream-like state. The words and concepts evoked images and memories that were both trance-inducing and transcendental. I was aware of very pleasant thoughts in the meanings and associations I attached to the words. I heard references to childhood play and amusements, clouds, puzzles, patterns, light, flowing water, the sun, moon, and stars, and the body-self. At some point I lost conscious awareness of what the speaker was saying, almost as though falling asleep, but still hearing the lull of the voice in the background. The immediate environment became irrelevant and seemed non-existent. When I reoriented, I honestly could not remember most of what I had heard, as though the message had slipped past me, disappearing into the nether regions of my inner mind, before my conscious mind could register what had transpired.

This was one of the deeper, more complete trance experiences I have had. Whether there will be any profound and lasting effect, I really can't say at this point. I think, with this kind of hypnosis, the kind of change one can expect is a not a clearly noticeable, immediate behavioral-emotional change, but a subtle, slowly expanding sense of potential, intuition, wisdom, and inner harmony that invites additional exploration and learning.



Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D. is a licensed counselor, psychotherapist and life coach practicing in Springfield, Virginia. She is certified in hypnotherapy, and is a Master Practitioner/Trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She is Executive Director of the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists. She has recently published The Weight, Hypnotherapy, and You Weight Reduction Program: An NLP and Hypnotherapy Practitioner Manual. Her web site is www.engagethepower.com

In this worthy and enlightening book the author gives every reader the opportunity and skills needed to find that inner sense of peace, joy and one-ness with the world, which many people seek. The actual scripts are easy to follow and amazingly effective.

When I saw the title I have to say that I assumed it was one of those “New Age' hippy books that I hate, full of past lives, channelling etc. How wrong I was.

There is no lotus position sitting, chanting or incense burning in this book. Far from it, in fact. just a very practical, down to earth exploration into the power of the mind and the unlimited potential that is within each of us. Ronald Havens delves into many different ways to reach new levels of understanding. His no nonsense explanations and insights into this higher level of awareness are absorbing and intriguing.

The second section of the book contain many practical scripts that can be used ” either personally, or with clients, to elicit these highly resourceful states.

This book isn't about becoming one with the Universe, but is all about becoming more accepting of yourself, more authentic and in-tune with the core “you' in a very “feet on the ground” way.

I like it very much and would recommend it.



“”” (3 out of 5)

Ronald Havens has written a most interesting book. His delineation of the essential characteristics of "cosmic consciousness" experiences-intense light, body energies, feelings of oneness, etc.--followed by practical hypnotic communications for experientially eliciting them. are exceptionally helpful resources for those seriously interested in exploring enhanced states of consciousness.