Level 1: Foundations of Unfoldment
With Level 1 of the Advanced Coaching Program, you can learn the foundation for next-generation coaching mastery. Whether you’re new to coaching or an experienced practitioner seeking to elevate your craft, Aletheia Coaching offers a transformational, Presence-based approach designed for our complex and rapidly changing world.
This isn’t just another coaching method—it’s a revolutionary way of working with clients that integrates scientifically proven techniques with timeless wisdom to create lasting, meaningful transformation. Aletheia Coaching helps clients navigate their inner worlds, uncovering their innate resourcefulness, creativity, and wisdom and opening pathways to navigate life’s challenges with greater effectiveness and fulfillment.
“When people ask me which coach training I recommend, I immediately point them to Steve March’s cutting-edge Aletheia Coaching. It has brought considerable depth to my coaching and is perfectly suited to our complex, uncertain times. ”
Are you ready to take the first step?
What You Will Learn in Level 1
session 1: The POETIC ATTUNEMENT AND core principle of unfolding
We begin with the heart of Aletheia Coaching: the distinction between self-improvement and unfoldment. While self-improvement focuses on fixing problems, unfoldment is about tapping into the natural emergence of your clients’ innate wholeness. This session introduces the poetic attunement to Truth, Beauty, and Goodness and the core principle of Letting Be / Letting Unfold.
You’ll explore how these principles help clients navigate complexity with ease, unfolding through a dance of inner work and Grace. This session will also introduce somatic practices you’ll use throughout the course to deepen your own Presence and practice.
“I feel like Aletheia Coaching has given me a magic wand. My clients are constantly amazed at the power of the method. I am constantly amazed by the ease of the method.”
Session 2: Creating a Safe and Brave Enough Space for Unfoldment
True transformation happens in the present moment, but past experiences—especially traumatic ones—often keep us from fully engaging with it. This session teaches you how to create a safe and brave enough space for your clients by anchoring the coaching relationship in Presence.
You’ll learn how to:
Establish a Presence anchor for yourself and your clients.
Practice pendulation and titration to help your clients expand their window of tolerance for experience.
Help clients feel safe enough to explore what’s unfolding.
Deepen trust in the coaching process and in life itself.
This practice is transformational for your clients and for your own development as a coach.
“Life is an ever-deepening and unfolding journey. So is a coaching engagement. Unfolding requires the coach and client to work with exactly what is arising in the present moment as it is arising. It is a dance of work and Grace that requires the coach and client to trust that what is arising in the present moment is exactly what to work with.”
session 3: The view and the method
Every coaching approach is based on an interpretation of what it means to be human. This session introduces Aletheia’s Four Depths of Cosmos, Psyche, and Soma:
Parts: Constellations of egoic Parts.
Process: The flow of relatedness felt through the body and the imaginal.
Presence & Absence: The embodiment of innate wholeness.
Nondual Presence: The ultimate ground of Being.
You’ll learn the Three Gestures of Aletheia Coaching—Inquiring, Unfolding, and Enacting—and how to practice core techniques like Feeling-Saying and Tracking-Contacting to access deeper layers of your client’s experience.
“The Aletheia Coaching methodology weaves together multiple modalities and schools of thought to support human beauty and potential. Personally, the practices with Parts, Process, and Presence provided a unique, deeper self-awareness and, more importantly, increased self-leadership. Steve uses the word ‘unfoldment’ and after several months, one feels what it means to live in such a state of acceptance, grace and joy.”
Session 4: Working with protector parts
In this session, you’ll learn the fundamentals of Parts Work, learning how to:
Recognize Parts by noticing reactivity, avoidance, indulgence, or the delusion of deficiency.
Help clients disidentify from their Parts and practice radical acceptance of them.
Fulfill the normal psychological needs of Parts.
When Parts feel truly seen and accepted exactly as they are, something magical happens—they melt, relax, and release, allowing clients to spontaneously deepen unfoldment and tap into their natural resourcefulness. This process is a gateway to deeper transformation through Process Work and Presence Work.
““A part is not just a temporary emotional state or habitual thought pattern. Instead, it is a discrete and autonomous mental system that has an idiosyncratic range of emotion, style of expression, set of abilities, desires, and view of the world. In other words, it is as if we each contain a society of people, each of whom is at a different age and has different interests, talents, and temperaments.”
Session 5: working with hurt parts
Building on the skills from Session 4, this session focuses on working with Hurt Parts—those that carry unresolved pain. You’ll learn how to help clients:
Contact and hold their Hurt Parts with love and compassion.
Discover the sensitivity and wisdom hidden within those Parts.
Rediscover creativity, resilience, and wisdom through the healing that unfolds.
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
Session 6: working with inner critic constellations
The Inner Critic is one of the most common barriers to development. You’ll learn how to identify and work with Inner Critic Constellations, which typically involve:
The Critical Part that attacks you through judgement and criticism.
The Criticized Part that feels inadequate, guilty, and ashamed.
The Cheerleading Parts that try to boost your self-esteem. Often polarized with Critical Parts.
This session provides a powerful method for shifting your relationship with these Parts, creating the freedom to be yourself, and helping your clients do the same. Sooner or later, every coaching engagement must include working with the client’s Inner Critic to open new ways of being.
“In Level 1, I deepened my ability to trust what is coming up in the present moment, both personally and as a coach. I have learned how to relax and let coaching sessions unfold. I am now more comfortable and skillful coaching across different depths of experience. Aletheia Coaching is particularly useful in these dynamic and challenging times where the client’s world can dramatically change from one coaching session to the next.”
Session 7: working with polarizations
Nothing makes clients feel more stuck than a Polarization, where two Parts pull in opposite directions. These inner conflicts—such as “This job is toxic, I have to quit now” vs. “I can’t afford to quit now” or “This relationship isn’t work, I must break it off now” vs. "I don’t want to be single and alone right now”—create immense tension and suffering.
You’ll learn how to:
Diffuse the tension in polarized Parts.
Reveal hidden resources and creative solutions.
Unlock new transformative possibilities for action.
“When a client is really stuck, the cause is usually a polarization.”
Session 8: working with process
When Parts soften, the flow of relatedness becomes more accessible. Using Process Work, you will be able to help clients:
Contact the flow of bodily felt senses and imaginal felt images.
Follow threads of deepening unfoldment in the present moment.
Learn to participate with what is felt in a way that more unfolds.
Integrate felt experiences into the process of sense-making as a support for navigating complexity.
Leverage neuroplasticity to crystallize transformation.
“You can have lots of feelings and have the same feelings over and over again. It isn’t the recognizable feelings that make so much difference. It is sensing the edge, the unclear, what you don’t recognize, but it is there, the bodily discomfort that the problem makes, which has meaning; it has its own peculiar quality, implicity, it is complex, it has in it everything that relates to that problem, but not in a way you can say.”
Session 9: working with presence and absence
In this session, you’ll explore how Presence catalyzes unfolding, transforming feelings of deficiency into innate wholeness. Through the practice of Presence Work, you’ll also begin to explore the primary qualities of Presence, such as Trust, Love, Value, Strength, Knowing, Will, Joy, Passion, and Peace, which are covered more deeply in Level 2.
You will learn how the embodiment of qualities of Presence offers a complete unburdening of egoic Parts.
“The Advanced Coaching Program Level 1 has been a major help in deepening and integrating previously held knowledge about Parts Work and Focusing. This is proving super helpful both in my own personal development and growth and in my work with clients. A much appreciated gift!”
Session 10: working with Horizontal and vertical threads
Recurring issues signal an unexplored vertical thread of transformation. You’ll learn how to:
Identify historical patterns of difficulty and breakdown and shift into vertical unfolding.
Address the root cause of recurring challenges for lasting change.
“Presence is an intelligent, luminous, self-aware medium that knows itself by being itself. Presence is not known by the mind; it is actually the source of the mind.”
session 11: Working Flexibly and The Nine Integrating Focuses
Every coaching engagement requires flexibility. This session introduces the Nine Integrating Focuses, teaching you how to integrate the practice of unfoldment to enable and support the kind of change and transformation the client is trying to make in their life.
“The primary job of a developmental coach is to help their clients find the unexplored vertical thread of unfoldment driving the string of recurring issues throughout their life and follow it to unconceal and embody innate resourcefulness, creativity, and wisdom.”
session 12: The Three kinds of coaching & structuring coaching engagements
In this session, we’ll dive into the bigger picture of practicing Aletheia Coaching—how to structure and navigate a coaching engagement for maximum benefit. Whether you’re working within a traditional, time-limited framework or fostering open-ended coaching relationships, you’ll learn the practices needed to create a deeply transformative experience for your clients.
You’ll learn how to skillfully approach every stage of the coaching process, including:
Initial Meetings: Building trust and establishing a powerful connection with potential clients.
Intake Sessions: Crafting a Developmental Container rooted in your client’s deepest intentions, goals, and desires.
Coaching Conversations: Guiding clients to dissolve the barriers that stand in the way of their effectiveness and fulfillment.
Completion Conversations: Concluding the coaching engagement in a way that honors their transformation and empowers their continued success.
You’ll learn how to structure coaching engagements for:
Behavior change
Building competencies
Self-development
Level 1 is more than professional training—it’s a profound life-changing experience. As both a coach and a human being navigating the complexities of today’s world, you’ll leave this course with a next-generation methodology that equips you to meet these challenges with confidence, clarity, and purpose.
This is your opportunity to step into a new horizon of possibility for your own development—and to empower your clients to do the same.
““Over the last eight years I’ve explored and practiced a number of transformational coaching modalities. I really like the multi-level integrated approach in Aletheia Coaching. It allows great versatility to move through a range of depths to meet the client exactly where they are in their developmental journey. The training Steve has put together is well researched, comprehensive, and tested. What’s more, I have found Steve to be an excellent and supportive teacher.”
The Advanced Coaching Program: A Comprehensive Introduction to Professional Coaching
Level 1 is the starting point of a professional coach training program that focuses on both personal development and mastering the skills needed to provide powerful coaching for others. This program is not just about learning concepts—it's about becoming a professional coach.
In all of our courses you'll engage in a wide range of activities, including:
Reading course materials
Watching recorded lectures and demonstrations
Participating in live teaching sessions
Practicing coaching with peers and receiving coaching from them
Solo practice and self-reflection
Engaging in discussions about what you're learning
Asking questions and collaborating with faculty and fellow participants
Being coached by faculty on real-life topics and issues
Throughout the program, there will always be opportunities to actively participate in your learning and development—often daily or every other day.
A Different Kind of Learning
Becoming a professional coach involves a type of learning that goes far beyond traditional education, such as university studies. While university learning often focuses on acquiring knowledge and technical skills, the Advanced Coaching Program emphasizes personal transformation alongside knowledge and skill.
To become an effective coach, you’ll need to:
Deeply explore human experience—your own and others'
Learn to notice and understand what blocks or disrupts unfoldment
Identify opportunities for unfoldment
Learn how to create the conditions that foster unfoldment
Develop emotional awareness and learn to work with your client’s emotional states
Skillfully work with psychological defenses in a loving and appreciative way
Cultivate your ability to be with the suffering of your client in a compassionate way
Build your capacity to stay present, grounded, and connected
Strengthen your ability to self-regulate and co-regulate with others
Learn to embrace and cherish the differences between people
This kind of learning cannot happen through passive activities like reading content and watching videos alone. Instead, it requires full immersion in the practice of coaching—as a coach, a client, and an observer. It also involves engaging with a supportive learning community, reflecting on your own personal growth, and embracing the differences that exist between people.
An Immersive Experience, Not a Content Course
Many people today are used to self-paced online courses, where they can simply consume content at their convenience. The Advanced Coaching Program is not that kind of course. This is not a "content course" where you can learn everything by reading materials or watching videos. Instead, the Advanced Coaching Program is an immersion course designed to fully engage, challenge, and support you in the process of becoming a professional coach.
To grow into a skilled coach, you must actively participate, practice, and immerse yourself in the learning journey. This program is about transformation—both for you and for the clients you will one day serve.
FAQ
Is this program for beginner coaches?
Yes! The Advanced Coaching Program offers a leading-edge methodology. New coaches can start their coaching careers by learning to practice one of the most advanced and comprehensive coaching methods currently available. There is no prerequisite for Level 1. However, everyone must apply and be accepted into the program to participate.
Is this program for experienced coaches?
Yes! The Advanced Coaching Program offers a next-generation methodology. Coaches with experience can also benefit from learning to practice this advanced method, up-leveling their skills and deepening their development. We regularly have coaches in Level 1 who have 5, 10, 15, and 20+ years of experience and are amazed at this approach's freshness, breadth, and depth. Since Aletheia Coaching is a next-generation approach, even experienced coaches can benefit from this training.
What is the structure of Level 1?
Level 1 is composed of:
Twelve Sessions: Each 2-hour session, held approximately every three weeks, includes teaching, practice, demonstration, and discussion. Many sessions also include pre-recorded lectures that prepare participants for the experiential exercises in the live session or help deepen their learning afterward.
Twelve Exercises: Between sessions, you will work with practice partners, share experience reports, and participate in discussions online.
Five Home Group Meetings: These 2-hour meetings with other participants are designed to deepen the sense of community and customize the course to fit your learning style and needs.
Three Private Coaching Supervision Calls with Faculty: These occur at scheduled intervals throughout the course to support your integration of the teachings and the deepening of your development.
What is the cost of Level 1?
The fee for this course is $3,599 USD, which can be paid in full or via an 8-month installment plan.
Additional coaching sessions with faculty are available for a fee. If you are interested, contact your course faculty for availability and fees.
When does the next Level 1 cohort start?
Please review the schedule for the next cohort session dates and application deadlines. We launch a new Level 1 cohort approximately every 4-6 months.
What time of day are the sessions held?
Each cohort is offered in two sections (10 AM-Noon and 4-6 PM Pacific), allowing participation from around the world in different time zones. A typical Level 1 cohort will include people from Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe.
How large are the cohorts?
The cohorts typically consist of 50-70+ people. Because the sessions are held in two sections, a typical call is attended by about half of the participants.
You will be assigned to a Home Group of about 8 people, which you will meet five times during the course. You will get to know the others in your home group more deeply than the rest of the cohort.
what is the time commitment of level 1?
The typical time commitment during the course is ~ five hours per week. This time is spent preparing for online sessions by watching video lectures, participating in online sessions, doing self and group practices, and studying materials.
what if I need to miss a session?
We encourage you to make every effort to attend each session live. However, there may be times when you need to miss a session. All sessions are recorded on video. If you can’t be there in person, you can catch up at your convenience by watching the video.
When will I be able to start applying this approach with private coaching clients?
In Level 1, you will practice coaching with practice partners. You are not yet required to practice Aletheia Coaching with private coaching clients. If you are new to coaching, we recommend completing Level 1 before you take on private coaching clients. When you take this step, we recommend starting with no more than three clients. In Level 2, you are required to take on private coaching clients and are provided with supportive group coaching supervision.
Of course, many participants in Level 1 are already certified coaches in practice. Given your experience, you can use your own discretion about when you feel confident enough to apply this method. Aletheia Coaching can be integrated with other coaching approaches in complementary ways. Experienced coaches often start to apply what they are learning with clients as early as Session 3 or 4.
“I find it remarkable that I can confidently coach after Level 1 starting from not knowing anything about the coaching world. The depth and breadth of the Aletheia methodology enables me to have extraordinary conversations with my clients where not only do they have their day-to-day difficulties resolved, they see themselves tangibly developing as human beings. ”
What’s next after Level 1?
Each level of the Advanced Coaching Program teaches a different approach to unfolding through The Four Depths. By covering the same territory from new angles, your development deepens, your understanding becomes enriched, and you develop greater flexibility and mastery as a coach.
In Level 1, you learn about the views and methods of Aletheia Coaching. To this, Level 2 adds wisdom. You will learn how to realize and embody the primary qualities of Presence. Presence is the catalyst for all unfolding. The more your coaching conversations are Presence-centered, the more powerful they will be. In Level 2, you will learn how to practice Aletheia Somatic Work.
The Advanced Coaching Program offers a unique and comprehensive path toward coaching mastery. We don’t know of another coach training program offering anything of comparable span, depth, or power. Aletheia Coaching's potency will enable you to distinguish and differentiate your coaching offer. Its spaciousness and flexibility will enable you to find and express your voice as a coach more easily and effectively.