Chapter 24 - Contributions of Elmer and Alyce Green to Neurofeedback and the Science of Human Consciousness

Abstract

Dr. Elmer and Alyce Green were dedicated to a methodologically grounded exploration of human consciousness. Their contributions to the Science of Human Consciousness grew out of a wholistic, transpersonal perspective - – in stark contrast to the science of Newtonian physics and its reductionistic philosophical frame. They developed biofeedback training and neurofeedback tools focused on learning volitional control of phychophysiologic processes. Psychophysiologic self-awareness was seen as a first step in the journey toward physical wellbeing and inner exploration. The Greens observed and documented physiologic self-awareness processes and their propensity to open doors to the inward journey of personal and transpersonal self-discovery. The Greens developed the States of Consciousness diagram which provided a model for exploration of personal (i.e., physical, emotional, mental) and transpersonal (e.g., intuitive) domains of human existence. They explained how balancing of personal domains offered a reliable path for accessing the transpersonal realm. By proposing the SOC model as an overarching theoretical perspective for the development of testable hypotheses, they were working to ground the emerging Science of Human Consciousness in a wholistic frame. In this way, they were trailblazing a path pointing toward a Science of Human Consciousness attuned to the interactive nature of mind and matter.