Children’s corner
Posted on 03/24/2010 09:32 pm by davidNeurofeedback meets the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s criteria for ‘Clinical Guidelines’ for treatment of ADHD, seizure disorders, depression, reading disabilities, addictive disorders, and anxiety (e.g., obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, phobias).
Many parents bring their children to receive neurofeedback training. They usually come because of someself-regulation issue and often that issue is causing a problem in school. ADD/ADHD, defiant behavior, anger issues, depression or anxiety are common reasons from bringing a child for training.
Teachers and administration officials are pressuring the parent to get a ‘diagnosis’ and perhaps even have the child put on some medication to ‘change’ their behavior. And this is understandable if you have a class full of other children and a child is disrupting the learning atmosphere or that the child is suffering and cannot stop their behavior even when they are told to (which is because there is a biological imbalance- it’s not that they are simply being ‘defiant’)
The problem is that these children cannot change their behaviors because the behavior is only a relief valve for something deeper that needs addressing. When any human takes on more pressure than she/he can deal with, there are compensatory behaviors that will happen as an means of coping. What do you think over-exertion is? Why do you think that some folks go and go until they exhaust themselves or become ill. They can’t help it because the overload in their psyche causes the ‘relief valve effect’ in order to attempt to resolve the pressure or the system burns itself out.
The other concern for me is children and medication. There are really few test trials of medication and children from what I can see. Your children may not react well to medications as many parents tell me; some do, some don’t, although we don’t know how they will fare in the long run. I am seeing a 15 year old now who had an allergic reaction to medication. And the side effects can be daunting as well as the fact that medications consume large quantities of our biological energy in order to make them work. So you really don’t know what how a particular child will respond.
With NeurOPTIMAL neurofeedback training, we never diagnose because a single diagnosis puts an individual in a box and humans are much more complex then one diagnosis; and often the belief that they are that diagnosis is a self fulfilling prophecy. Since all brains function in exactly the same way, by providing feedback to that individuals brain about how it is behaving, that brain can make its own changes because that is how it is designed; self regulating and completely adaptable via direct experience, or simply said, neuroplasticity.
Other neurofeedback approaches diagnose as well, and then try to push or inhibit the brain and this can bring about side-effects which everyone is aware of. NeurOPTIMAL never pushes the brain. We simply give it feedback every time it loses present moment contact and begins to produce what is called in physics a ‘wobble’ which is an over expenditure of energy (called a phase shift or perturbation in physics), and it stops producing that event, and comes back to the present moment to assess if there is an actual threat or not, all instinctively. Our brain is designed to learn and thus evolve from experience and learn it will. This is called the Orienting Response and is a survival response that we use all the time, but since it is instinctual, we are mostly unaware of it.
The times that we did not see obvious and dramatic benefits with children I have worked with is that there was something preventing the brain from changing; either dietary, unresolves medical issues, relationship oriented, or environmental. This is called an ‘external constraint’, and again, a physics term. Our brain is designed to change based on direct experience. So it is rare that we do not see positive change; but it can take time. Generally we see the child’s system improve its behavior emotionally, physically and cognitively. In the case where something is preventing the brain from changing, once we determine that and intervene appropriately, the brain adapts beautifully.
The other thing I need to mention is that since we don’t push or inhibit a person’s brain, if we do see what appears to be a side effect is 99% of the time already in that individuals repertoire of psycho-physiological behaviors. Since we know that the brain can mature itself, as it were, based on direct feedback about how it is behaving, all outcomes of the session are that systems ‘working through’ a block (unresolved stress or called trauma) assimilate it (or digest it) and integrate it into its experience. There is no ‘bad’ experience; just experience.
A recent family discontinued training sessions that their son was receiving with me because he had a ‘reaction’. I can fully understand their reaction to their son’s healing crisis (since our brains are social in nature and families are affected by one anothers reactions). Another family found their 8 year old daughter crying one night in her room because she was afraid Mom was going to die. Mom knew enough to help her quiet down and the girl fell fast asleep quickly. The next day she had an unusually successful day at school; again, working through. But we wouldn’t be upset if it rained tonight; Nature does what is necessary to maintain a balance of forces as does our brain. So although we hardly ever see these healing effects, they can happen and they will not loop over and over again. They resolve themselves because neuroplasticity is a reorganizing of brain functioning; it’s an energy saving system and matures based on its direct experience
Call me to speak further to see if this approach can help your child to function better and really, be happier in his/her life. A brain that can stay relaxed and come back to relaxation faster is going to experience more ongoing satisfaction, more resilience in the face of stressors, and happiness in daily life. And see what parents say about their experience of NeurOPTIMAL in the What Clients Say section.
After an initial assesment session, I might recommend that Mom or Dad come for some sessions while their child is receiving training sessions. Since our brains are so social in nature (current research), your imbalances are being transmitted to your children through your interactions with them. If you don’t receive some training, your child’s benefits might be inhibited.
A NOTE OF CAUTION:
I have been receiving calls from Parents who have children with intense conditions and they are looking for quick solutions. If you feel that you are unwilling to commit to this course of training, which might take 20 or more sessions, then it might be bests to look for other solutions. If you feel strongly that this might help your child with the issue(s) that are causing them and you difficulty, then I am happy to work with you. And please understand that I might recommend a physical exam, family therapy, or dietary changes in order to help you child benefit from the training since only a healthy and secure person can adapt well.
NeurOPTIMAL has proven over the course of one million two hundred thousand hours of training time to be highly effective across many conditions. Download the 2008 Independent Survey .
