Conditions We Treat
Anxiety
Anxiety manifests differently for everybody. It can appear as excessive worrying, a fear of terrible things happening, racing negative thoughts and nagging doubts that won’t go away. The National Institute for Mental Health defines Anxiety Disorders as anxiety that “does not go away and can get worse over time. Feelings can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work and relationships.”
The early investigation into Neurofeedback found that correcting areas in the brain that work too fast or too slow decreased feelings of stress and anxiety. Today, there is more science showing the particular areas that need re-regulating to correct and remove anxiety from the brain.
Neurofeedback uses the brain’s own resources to re-train the areas that control the stress and anxiety response. Neurofeedback measures the rhythms of the brain and gently and effectively, through repetition and reinforcement, gets the brain to do what is naturally intended.
Depression
Depression robs sufferers of life’s joys and creates the experience of feeling trapped inside of one’s self. The feelings of loneliness and sadness can become overwhelming. Medication can help but is often accompanied by unpleasant side effects. Medication can also become less effective over time. Whether the depression is from a genetic predisposition, trauma related or situational, Neurofeedback can be helpful.
By examining a qEEG, patterns in the brain waves related to mood and mood regulation usually show the depression. Teaching the brain, through repetition and reinforcement, to better modulate these brainwave patterns can decrease depression.
Click here to view research on depression and Neurofeedback →
ADHD
When it becomes difficult or almost impossible to concentrate, make good decisions, complete tasks – all characteristics of ADHD – then there are areas of the brain whose wave function is out of balance. Whether the waves are too fast or too slow, too many or too few in an area, all can cause multiple symptoms that are very disturbing and disruptive to the person and those in the sphere of influence.
Neurofeedback research into ADHD in both children and adults is clear to prove effectiveness of the treatment. By getting the areas of the brain back “on-line” with Neurofeedback, focus, attention, emotional stability and other beneficial effects follow. The financial cost to a family of four with one child with ADHD has been estimated at over $4,700.00 annually (via NCBI). These include costs for doctors, medicine, missed work for the parent and other treatments. Neurofeedback is a safe, non-medicated method that can alleviate symptoms with little to no side effects.
Migraines
Migraine sufferers know that when the migraine comes, the pain is all consuming. Headache pain, often accompanied by nausea or vomiting and light sensitivity, becomes the only thing to think about until the migraine leaves. And even after the headache ends, the “fogginess’ or “post migraine head” can continue for up to a day.
Neurofeedback can help reduce, and sometimes eliminate, the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches. After examining the qEEG test, brain waves can be identified that may be at the root cause. Although the technology is quite sophisticated, the process is simple, painless, and non-invasive.
It is just learning. Neurofeedback can help to teach the brain to better modulate those brain waves. By working in the frontal and temporal, or side region, of the brain especially, the frequency and intensity of migraines can diminish. This often results in a lessening of or ridding post migraine symptoms
Click here to view research on migraines and Neurofeedback →
Peak Performance
Most of us wish we could perform at the level of an Olympic athlete or a top producer or a member of the 1%. We want to be at our best and work hard to be successful. To maintain that level, there is a cost to the body and the brain. The stress builds up and affects function.
We want our bodies to respond calmly and efficiently especially under great stress. For most of us, this challenge is very difficult. Clarity, productivity, flexibililty, focus, confidence and more all come together with Neurofeedback geared to improving performance.
Click here to view research on peak performance and Neurofeedback →
Sleep Disorders
How well you sleep, how long you sleep, how you fall asleep, how you feel when you wake up…. Answers to these questions may indicate the possibility of a sleep disorder. More than 40 million Americans struggle with chronic sleep difficulties. A great deal of work and repair throughout the body, especially in the brain, occurs during the deep periods of sleep. If you cannot get good quality sleep, the problems for the entire body and mind are numerous.
Neurofeedback can help by resetting the regulatory mechanisms necessary for deep and restful sleep. After a qEEG, Neurofeedback protocols can be determined to help your brain waves become better regulated. An assessment a of other factors in your life that can contribute to disturbed sleep will also be done. Perhaps diet and activity changes need to be added. With Neurofeedback, through repetition and reinforcement, your brain can better modulate and your sleep can greatly improve.
Click here to view research on sleep disorders and Neurofeedback →
Autism (ASD)
Research shows that Neurofeedback can reduce symptoms traditionally associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Some behavior changes noted in the literature include initiation of touch, better focusing and attentiveness, more tolerance for change and a improved comfortability in their own skin.
An early pioneer of Neurofeedback, Susan Othmer, writes about autism as a mixture of both brain function and emotional effects. She points out that, as a result of this blend, a general over activation of the brain occurs that is very responsive to Neurofeedback. She relates that the brain stays in the “fight or flight" mode and by using Neurofeedback to calm things, there is easier emotional regulation as well as better internal communication of the brain. Helping the different parts of the brain communicating better at a more moderate pacing should create positive processing changes and improvements in emotional states.
Neurofeedback, through repetition and reinforcement, works to help the brain produce healthier brain wave patterns. This, in turn, can translate into change in the person.
Traumatic Brain Injury
The Mayo Clinic writes that TBI occurs when an external mechanical force causes brain dysfunction. The brain sits inside the skull suspended. When there is a simple slip and fall, hit in the head from sports or any kind of jerking injury, the brain actually bounces around in the skull. Surprisingly, unexpected symptoms like heightened emotions or memory problems can occur immediately or months after the injury.
Unlike a bruise on the outside of the body, there is no space for the brain to swell. Even after healing there seems to be occurring, a residual inflammation is left in the brain tissue; sometimes localized, sometimes throughout the brain. This inflammation shows numerous ways and may not always be visible in an MRI. The inflammation can be a result of numerous small injuries, some so small as to go unnoticed. By taking a qEEG, there is the opportunity to view these changes from a brain wave level. Sometimes the brainwaves look like a stress and anxiety pattern. There can also be difficulty in one part of the brain communicating with another.
Neurofeedback can work to repair the inflammation and diminish the problems associated such as fogginess, difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly, headaches and more. Through repetition and reinforcement, over time, Neurofeedback can bring the brain back in to balance. Even if the injury was long ago, Neurofeedback works to moderate and regulate the unbalanced area.