Self-Transformation and Healing through Neurotherapy

By Arlene Martin, Ed.D and Swami Allan Ajaya, Ph.D.

With the pace and demands of life today, many of us feel under stress.  We attempt to alleviate the effects of this stress by taking time for physical recreation, yoga, massage, meditation or whatever renews us. However, when you or a family member has difficulties with sleep, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or suffers from ADD/ADHD or Autism, activities such as these may not be enough to lead you into a place of abiding ease.

Now it is possible to free your self from mental, behavioral and emotional imbalances and to experience ease of being through an innovative technology, neurofeedback.  Neurofeedback is a technique used to teach self-regulation of internal states.  It helps clients achieve improved alertness, attention, emotional balance, relaxation, and success in school, work and relationships.   

Using neurofeedback, we are able to go right to the source of many of our difficulties: disequilibrium in the brain.  After years of research, we now know what specific areas of the brain regulate various behaviors, thoughts, emotions and perceptual sensitivity.  Based on this knowledge, neurofeedback has been developed to change brain patterns at these sites thereby reducing dysfunctional behavior and enhancing overall wellness.
Brain inflexibility or dysregulation results in behavioral and emotional disturbance.  For example, it may lead one to be hypervigilant in all circumstances even when the situation calls for a relaxed way of being, or to be lyconic in settings where alertness and focused attention is needed to complete a task or solve a problem.  Through neurofeedback, the brain that has formed rigid patterns of functioning relearns flexibility so that it can perform optimally in a variety of situations. 

Our brains have an extraordinary capacity to respond to each circumstance in an optimal way so that we can cope successfully. This is called “state flexibility”.  A flexible brain is able to lead us to sleep when we are tired, concentrate while learning and to calm down after being angry or excited.  Neurofeedback allows us to learn state flexibility.  When our brain is adaptable, many things fall into place such as sleep patterns, focus, sensory organization and the ability to reduce anxiety, anger and dysfunctional reactions to stress or trauma.  Through neurofeedback training, we can teach our brain to respond successfully to attain our goals.

Although the underlying technology is sophisticated, what the client sees and responds to in a neurofeedback session is simple and easy to follow. He attends to a changing computer graphic that gives his brain sound or visual feedback when responses in a particular area of the brain indicate flexibility.  During a session, the client does not intentionally try to achieve a goal or improve himself; he simply relaxes and watches the screen.  The brain learns on its own by being rewarded for optimal functioning.  The neurotherapist sets an initial treatment plan with the client and places sensors on specific areas of the brain training one to two areas at a time.  The client follows the auditory and visual feedback on his computer screen. The neurotherapist seated at a second computer, observes the client’s real time brainwave patterns across a wide spectrum of frequencies, adjusting the settings of the feedback process as needed. 

Brainwaves of a particular range of frequencies may be under-represented or over-represented at specific locations in the brain.  This can lead to dysfunctional reactions and behaviors.  The brain has been stuck in a single and limited way of functioning at that site.  With neurofeedback, the brain learns new possibilities and becomes more flexible in the sites that are being addressed.  Positive change in attention, emotional states and behavior are often seen after a few sessions.  With further training the brain learns to maintain these changes and new possibilities for taking in information and responding emerge. 
Neurofeedback works on the principle of harm reduction. It is non-invasive. It simply provides information to the brain so that the brain can regulate itself, shifting to brainwave patterns that minimize harming oneself or others. Many clients have chosen neurofeedback for themselves or their child when medications have either not worked as intended or have caused undesirable side effects.  As neurotherapy progresses, the client’s physician may find that he is able to reduce or eliminate the need for medication.

Neurofeedback training has been effective in the treatment of symptoms of ADD/ADHD, Autism, and learning disabilities.  It is also used to regulate anxiety, depression, disturbed sleep, agitation, anger, eating disorders, migraines and addictive behaviors. It has been used to enhance peak performance, and to induce meditative states.

Clients with a variety of symptoms are candidates for neurofeedback.  We have worked with clients from age four to eighty. Freedom from chronic conditions is possible.  Neurofeedback may be right for you and for your family members!

Dr. Arlene Martin is a former professor of child development and family studies.  She is a neurotherapist and director of Wellness Unlimited.  Offices are located in the Quarry Arts Building 715 Hill Street Madison, WI 53558 or phone us at 608-232-0210.

Swami Allan Ajaya, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist at Wellness Unlimited and in private practice as well.  For further information about Dr. Ajaya and his work visit his website:  http://www.beingawareness.org.