The Neuroscience of Enduring Transformation

Largely speaking, mainstream culture only recognizes the Depth of Parts and remains unaware of deeper depths and therefore of the phenomenon of depth itself. However, these depths are empirically observable in various brain wave patterns using an electroencephalogram (EEG) (Wise, 2002). According to tests conducted using an EEG machine called the Mind Mirror 6.0:

1. The Depth of Parts corresponds to high amplitude beta waves.
2. The Depth of Process corresponds to high amplitude theta waves.
3. The Depth of Presence corresponds to high amplitude and hemispherically synchronized gamma waves.
4. The Depth of Nonduality corresponds to high amplitude delta waves.

Alpha waves act to relax ego parts and form a bridge from the Depth of Parts into the Depth of Process.

Psychological and spiritual development is not a journey from the shallows to the depths. Rather, it is a journey of consciously inhabiting more and more of one’s depth. Initial EEG studies have indicated that Aletheia Coaching supports clients in cultivating what Anna Wise (2002) calls the “awakened mind” brain wave pattern which offers synergistic access to all four depths simultaneously.

Four Methods Integrated into One Method

With the Four Depths as an integrative framework, I began to experiment with ways of integrating the methods I had learned. To start with, I named exemplars for the development work at each depth from the methods that I knew, as follows:

1. Parts Work – Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy (Schwartz & Sweezy, 2019).
2. Process Work – Focusing (Gendlin, 2007).
3. Presence Work – The Diamond Approach[1] (Almaas, 2008).
4. Nondual Work – Vajrayana Buddhism, especially Mahamudra (Brown, 2006) and contemporary non-affiliated nondual teachings (Fenner, 2007; Blackstone, 2007).

In their original forms, these methods were framed using different ontological commitments, different languages, and divergent practices. To create Aletheia Coaching, I had to integrate these exemplars into a unified view and a unified method or practice.