Personal Resources Exploration Program (PREP)
The Personal Resources Exploration Program, or PREP, is a personalized auditory-guidance session conducted in a specially designed, secluded cubical. The PREP session is introduced as an aspect of the Guidelines® program. Graduates of the Guidelines program are eligible to participate in additional PREP sessions at a later time. Although PREP sessions have gained a reputation over the last twenty years for providing intense personal experiences, they should not be thought of as a shortcut or as a means to an experience that has not otherwise been available to you. Stated another way, if you are already experiential using the Monroe audio-guidance technology, the PREP session is your next step.
How does a PREP session work?
A participant is supported throughout the uniquely personalized session with customized, computer-generated sounds and verbal guidance provided by a trained facilitator.
The sessions consist of three parts:
First, you will spend some time talking with your facilitator, gaining clarity on your goals and objectives for the session. You may wish to give some thought to what you would like to accomplish and explore prior to arriving for your session. Goals have ranged broadly from the more general, "I would like to be more consciously aware of the energies/guidance around me" to working with very specific personal issues. External electrodes will be attached to several of your fingers enabling the monitoring and recording of physiological measurements of your skin temperature, galvanic skin response, and skin potential voltage. Then you will be assisted to lie comfortably on the special dry-flotation system in the booth and then put on the headphones. A microphone in the booth allows for two-way communication between you and the facilitator at all times and for recording your narrative of the events of your experience.
Second, the facilitator will remain outside of the booth at the control station. When you are ready, the audio-guidance will be introduced to you through the headphones, and the facilitator will begin to guide you on a journey. As your personal exploration unfolds, adjustments in the audio-guidance signals will be made in order to facilitate and enhance your experience.
Third, at the conclusion of your guided exploration, you will be assisted from the booth for a debriefing. At this time, you may gain further understanding and integration of your experience and continue the grounding process. A CD of the narrative of your session and printouts of your physiological responses will be given to you before your departure. The entire session, including your intake interview, guided exploration, and debriefing, will take approximately two hours.
PREP sessions, for graduates of the Guidelines program, may be arranged by calling (434) 361-1252 for an appointment or contact TMI. Cost of the session is $250.00.
PREP Session Physiological Monitoring
A Personal Resources Exploration Program (PREP) session is a uniquely personalized audio-guidance process. We use a J&J I-300-C2 Physiological Monitoring System during PREP sessions to monitor skin potential voltage (SPV), peripheral skin temperature (TEMP), and galvanic skin response (GSR).
The following explanations describe these measurements and illustrate how we interpret and use them during PREP sessions. The graphs illustrate general tendencies and should not be held as goals for an “ideal" session. Highly individualized patterns are interpreted on a case-by-case basis using established parameters.
Electrical activity on the skin has two origins: that due to sweat gland activity (sudorific) and that due to other causes (non-sudorific). It is important to discriminate between the two origins. Sudorific skin potentials (see Figure 3 – GSR) have long been associated with levels of anxiety, mental arousal, and emotional reactivity. Non-sudorific skin potentials (see Figure 1 – SPV) have been associated with ovulation, tissue regeneration and atypical growth, as well as changes in consciousness.
SPV: The direct current voltage between two electrodes on the fingers is measured. Voltage differences of relative short duration are referred to as skin-potential responses. Voltage differences of long duration are referred to as skin-potential levels. Records of both of these non-sudorific electric variables are called skin potential voltage (SPV) measurements. Independent SPV response variations or waveforms indicate subjective mental activity. Changes in consciousness are indicated by substantial changes in SPV levels. Occasionally, SPV levels reverse polarity. These polarity reversals indicate changes in the participant's perspective or venue. Figure 1 – SPV shows changes in skin-potential levels during a PREP session. In this illustration, a polarity reversal (+ to -) is recorded early into the session.
Figure 1 – SPV
TEMP: Warming of the extremities (hands and feet) is a strong indicator of physical relaxation. This peripheral warming is due to increased blood flow through the capillaries as a result of muscular relaxation. This natural warming is sometimes referred to as the relaxation response. Peripheral warming is also a reliable indication associated with theta brainwave states. Individuals have been known to move into a theta brainwave rhythm during peripheral warming to 95oF for a few minutes. During PREP sessions, hand and finger temperature generally rises as states of consciousness favorable to perceptual experiences arise. Figure 2 – TEMP shows typical warming during a PREP session.
Figure 2 – TEMP
GSR: In the case of sudorific activity, skin resistance or its inverse, skin conductance, is measured by applying a small, constant current through two electrodes placed on the fingers. Changes in resistance of short duration typically reach a peak in about one or two seconds and are referred to as galvanic skin responses (GSR). The general amount of resistance that changes slowly is called the skin-resistance level. As GSR conductance decreases, an individual becomes less anxious, mentally calm, and emotionally passive. Figure 3 – GSR illustrates the changing skin-conductance level during a PREP session.
Figure 3 – GSR
The use of physiological monitoring is especially beneficial to real-time facilitation of PREP sessions. Monitors can tell when an individual is relaxed, when that individual "moves" from experience to experience, and when to inquire about their perceptions and understandings. After a PREP session, the participants are provided a complete report of their physiological changes during their session.