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Neurofeedback, like aerobics, weight training, walking, fast walking, etc., is simply a form of exercise using a biofeedback device like the fitbit to monitor and encourage progress. A neurofeedback therapist is simply a fitness coach with extensive knowledge of the brain and of self regulatory techniques. Neurofeedback addresses a large number of psychiatric and emotional issues, in the same way fitness training addresses a large number of physiological issues, simply by providing graded, monitored and behaviorally rewarded brain exercises that move the brain into a more centered, and regulated place, just the way physical fitness reduces cholesterol and blood pressure.

Because the brain is extremely sensitive, neuro providers have to know what they are doing. And because so many of our clients have psychiatric conditions, we need to be proficient in diagnosis and treatment of those conditions, or we’ll be in malpractice and harm patients

However neurofeedback, and all biofeedback, techniques, simply teach self regulation. Self regulation just happens to be at the root of many, many issues.

As far as ADHD research, if you look at ALL the literature (and I’ve looked at most of it), NFB outperforms stimulant medication in about 80 % of the cases studied only because the effects aren’t reversed when the nfb training stops. As you know, stimulant meds + CBT and parent training, out perform stimulalnt meds alone – and stimulant meds alone are effective in about 40% of treatment cases, but the gains are reversed when the stimulant meds are withdrawn. With nfb the treatment effects remain after 40 treatments in about 80% of all clients treated. When we did the demonstration project at TIFFE (with protocols I disagreed with), we got 75%. That’s not a placebo effect. (if I remember correctly that’s about 30%) And it’s way better than stimulant meds.

It’s been a year – and our results adding brain mapping to existing protocols have been phenomenal. Now we understand how to work with a person showing signs of dyslexia, for example. We’re so pleased!

Aloha – we are also proud to announce that 4 channel training is now available at Windward Biofeedback Associates.  4 channel training means that 4 times the amount of training can be provided within the clinical hour.  Now, this is not for everyone!  A client needs to build up capacity to train, otherwise sleep is the order of the following hours.  However when a client is ready for it, the results are amazing!

Aloha – the American Pediatric Association has announced that Neurofeedback is an “Evidenced Based Best Practice” to help remediate ADHD symptoms.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “Evidence-
Based Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Interventions”
tool is created twice each year and posted on the
AAP Web site at www.aap.org/mentalhealth, using
data from the PracticeWise Evidence-Based Services
Database, available at www.practicewise.com.”

We’re so proud that this evidence based grid was in fact based on the Hawaii State Child and Adolescent Mental Health Best Practice Grid posted in 2004. We remain first in the nation on child’s health.

This article comes thanks to LA Times Blog

Biofeedback technique eases musicians’ anxiety

June 17, 2010 |  7:00 am

If you’ve ever sat down at the piano to play a Mozart sonata and couldn’t find middle C, you know the feeling of performance anxiety. The condition, often called stage fright, is anxiety that is so severe it can impede performance. As many as three-quarters of musicians have musical performance anxiety. Thus, for serious students, learning to master this condition may be as important as learning all the scales.

A new study shows that a specific biofeedback technique is highly effective in decreasing stage fright. Researchers studied 14 college-age musicians. The musicians’ tendency to have stage fright was estimated in a performance before an audience at the start of the study (with questionnaires and heart rate measurements). Half of the musicians repeated the performance four weeks later. The other half received training in biofeedback that was designed to teach them how to control their heart rate through thoughts and emotions. These students also performed again after four weeks.

The study showed a 71% decrease in performance anxiety in the biofeedback group compared with the control group. The biofeedback group had a 62% improvement in performance. The musicians in the biofeedback group also said they had an overall increased sense of calmness, slept better, were more relaxed and had less anger in their everyday lives.

Biofeedback helps coordinate the brain-heart-body processes, the authors wrote. This synchronicity defeats performance anxiety and gives musicians a feeling of “flow,” the authors said, which they defined as “when a person is functioning at peak capacity, including mind, body and energy.”

The study appears in the current [June 2010] issue of Biofeedback, published by the Assn. for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.