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400 Orchard Road #09-01 Singapore 238875
Neurofeedback, a brain exercising technique, can help with symptoms related to developmental and learning disorders such as ADD/ADHD, Asperger’s Autism, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety and Depression.
Neurofeedback is also called “EEG Biofeedback” and “Neurotherapy.”
Neurofeedback is a technique of brain exercise. It involves helping a person learn how to modify his or her brainwave activity so that this gradual learning process can train the brain to function with better control and stability.
A stable brain state can improve attention, reduce impulsivity, control hyperactive behaviors, improve sleep pattern and lead to better emotional wellness.
Neurofeedback is a painless, non-invasive treatment approach that allows the individual to gain information about his or her brainwave activity and use that information to produce changes in brainwave activity.
The EEG Biofeedback equipment is connected to the individual with sensors that are attached on the scalp and ears. The sensors are safe, do not prick the skin and painless. They do not involve the application of any voltage or current to the brain.
It’s entirely non-invasive. Neurofeedback practitioners will help the client learn to change his or her brainwave activity.
The client does not need to know a lot about EEG or biofeedback to be effectively trained. Clients are taught to play computerized games using their brainwave activity.
Changes in client brainwave activity are fed back to the individual through visual and/or auditory information by the computer.
The specific brain wave frequencies we reward and the sensors locations on the scalp are unique to each individual.
By this method, clients learn to change brainwave activity. Clients also practice maintaining learned brainwave states when engaged in school- or work-related tasks (e.g. reading, writing).
This will help them use what they learned in Neurofeedback in their daily activities.
Neurofeedback is training in self-regulation. And good self-regulation is necessary for optimal brain function.
Self-regulation training enhances the function of the central nervous system and thereby improves mental performance, emotional control and physiological stability.
Trainees have also reported improvements in school or work performance, social relationships and self-esteem as well as reduction in irritability and oppositional behavior.
While you should not experience negative side-effects, you may experience additional benefits. Some individuals report increased relaxation, reduced stress, and a heightened sense of control over their bodies, thoughts, and feelings during or immediately after treatment sessions.
Some clinicians and researchers have reported remarkable success in the treatment of ADD/ADHD with Neurofeedback.
Others still consider Neurotherapy to be an experimental procedure.
Several research studies reporting successful treatment outcomes with ADD/ADHD have been published over the last 20 years. In addition, there are increasing numbers of clinical reports being added to computerized data bases that attest to the effectiveness of Neurofeedback as a treatment for ADD/ADHD.
The client should know in advance that, as with all treatments, positive results (i.e. reductions in ADD/ADHD symptoms) cannot be guaranteed.
Some major reasons why practitioners are committed to providing Neurofeedback are:
The American Academy of Pediatrics placed neurofeedback as a Level 1 “Best Support” Intervention for ADHD (Attention and Hyperactivity Behaviors). The National Institute of Health lists more than 8,500 peer-reviewed publications in biofeedback, 450 in neurofeedback, and 130, 000 scientific publication on EEG.
“The literature, which lacks any negative study of substance, suggests that EEG biofeedback (neurofeedback) therapy should play a major therapeutic role in many difficult areas. In my opinion, if any medication had demonstrated such a wide spectrum of efficacy, it would be universally accepted and widely used.”
Frank Duffy, MD, Neurologist
Head of the Neuroimaging Department and of
Neuroimaging Research at Boston Children’s Hospital,
and Harvard Medical School Professor
Unlike the use of medications, Neurofeedback rarely produces negative side-effects. In fact, lack of side-effects is a major reason for the use of Neurofeedback.
Some potential side effects are discussed below:
During Neurotherapy, you or your family member will be learning to change and control brainwave patterns. This learning process takes time.
The length of treatment varies between individuals. Many individuals report initial progress after ten sessions, but effective treatment usually requires between 20 and 40 sessions.
Clients will be asked to participate in enough sessions to ensure that treatment produces the desired changes in behavior or to make clear that the intervention does not seem to be working for a particular client.
The number of sessions of treatment received per week varies, depending on the time available, transportation issues, finances, progress, and individual preferences.
In the initial stages of training, many practitioners prefer that sessions occur two to three times per week. As learning and progress take place, sessions are usually reduced to once per week and finally to one or two sessions per month.
To begin, you will need to find a practitioner competent to provide Neurofeedback services.
Care should be taken in selecting a practitioner. The two most commonly used criteria for finding a competent practitioner are to look for someone who is certified in the use of EEG Biofeedback and someone who is trained as a practitioner of Neurofeedback.
During the first appointment, the practitioner will conduct a background interview to ascertain the history of the person.
During the first or second appointment(s), the practitioner may also conduct an evaluation of the client. The evaluation will have a number of purposes, including:
After the evaluation, the Neurofeedback sessions begin. After the Neurofeedback sessions have ended, a final evaluation will occur.
The reason for periodic evaluations of the client during the Neurofeedback process is to determine whether improvement is occurring in important areas of the client’s life and to adjust the treatment programme as appropriate.
You may be asked to sign a consent form to allow the practitioner to use the data collected during the Neurofeedback process for research purposes.
The name of the client and / or parents will remain confidential. The data collected from the individual will only be reported in relationship to data collected from other individuals. No names will ever be mentioned in reporting research data.
The correct dosage of stimulant medications (e.g. Ritalin, Adderall, Dexedrine, or Cylert) can, when effective, produce a rapid reduction in the frequency of impulsive and hyperactive behaviors.
As such, many patients will start a trial of medications or be on medications when they start receiving Neurofeedback.
Over the course of treatment, individuals using medications may be able to reduce or terminate the use of these medications while maintaining control over disruptive behaviors.
However, any changes in medications must be discussed with the prescribing physician. The physician and family together will decide whether a reduction in medications is appropriate.
By scheduling an appointment with you, a practitioner has reserved for you a room, computerized equipment and a staff professional’s time.
Please come to sessions on time. We suggest that you arrive five to 10 minutes early to avoid the rush of finding a parking space.
Should you need to cancel an appointment, please give the practitioner as much notice as you can and no less than a 24-hour notice, as most practitioners can fill a canceled appointment in less than that amount of time.
Your practitioner should explain his or her cancellation policy to you.
At your first appointment, the practitioner will probably ask you to sign a number of forms which will allow her or him to provide the best possible services to you.
You will have the opportunity to review these forms and the practitioner should be available to answer any questions that you might have.
In the case of organic brain disorders, it can only be a matter of having the brain to function better rather than curing the condition.
When it comes to problems of deregulation, it is that there is not a disease to be cured. When the problem is with deregulation, self-regulation may very well be the remedy. But again the word cure would not apply.
Neurofeedback is not yet taught in most medical schools or psychology graduate programmes. Many professionals are therefore not aware of the power of the technique.
Neurofeedback training is contraindicated in individuals with the following conditions:
Certain individuals may be unable to learn to control the EEG through Neurofeedback.
Therapy should be discontinued if periodic monitoring of therapeutic progress indicates that the individual is not learning despite adequate review of instructions for feedback.