• Auditory Integration Training

    “My 10-year-old child stated after a couple of days into the AIT therapy: ‘The buzzing sound is gone!’. His reading and writing has improved. There has been a great decrease in anxiety.”

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  • Online Sessions

    “I have Rheumatoid Arthritis which is now in remission. I have a new flexibility and sleep very well. This has improved my quality of life.”
    – A 92 year old woman

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  • Neuroplasticity

    According to the ATEC scoring, my son does not qualify anymore for autism. Yes, I agree with Normand Doidge:

    “…many ‘circuits’ and even basic reflexes that we think are hardwired, are not.”
    The Brain That Changes Itself

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  • Assessment

    Analysing modes of physiological brain function and dysfunction

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  • Neurodevelopment Through Movement

    Giving the brain a “second chance” (Sally Goddard)

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  • An Efficient Brain

    Mental and emotional flexibility with stability
    “The constant busyness in my head, the constant shifting of tasks have all but stopped. I can focus more clearly…My listening skills have greatly increased. Highly recommend for anyone young or old.”

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  • Optimal Brain Function

    “NeuroMovement® was an integral part of my healing toolbox that helped me go from the couch with chronic daily pain to hiking a mountain.”

Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback

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What is Neurofeedback?

The term neurofeedback describes the feedback that the brain receives from the different frequencies emitted by the electric current in the brain. You can think of it as operant conditioning (a behavior learned by its consequences, reward or punishment) of the brain waves and as exercise for the brain. Neurofeedback provides moment-to-moment information to an individual on the state of his brain’s physiological functioning. It is like the brain watching himself in a mirror.

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How does Neurofeedback Training Work?

“When we provide feedback to the brain we are essentially, providing it with a mirror of its own function and inviting it to make more of some frequencies and less of others, that is, to oscillate differently. In neurofeedback, we seem to be nudging the brain to set up new oscillatory patterns that enhance both its natural complexity and its inherent and necessary bias toward self-regulation. In effect, we may be freeing up innate but stuck oscillatory properties in the brain and allowing new ones to propagate. In neurofeedback, you see an evolving presence and dimensionality of the person who is training. They expand their focus, think new thoughts about old problems, and typically their vocabulary grows and becomes more nuanced. They are able to escape the ruts of their narrative.”

– Sebern F. Fisher, (2014) Neurofeedback in the Treatment of Developmental Trauma

sebernfisher.com

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The brain operates by feedback

neurofeedback1“The best analogy to explain neurofeedback training is the traditional example, learning to ride a bicycle. We accomplish skill-learning in a predictive model, always playing off what actually happened against what we intended. The particular challenge here is maintaining balance, and that can also be a metaphor for what the brain has to learn with respect to its own regulatory burdens. Everywhere and at every level it is a matter of establishing and maintaining balance. And the brain cannot stop processing just as it cannot stop worrying about balancing the bicycle. So once the brain realizes that the signal on the neurofeedback screen is relevant to this issue of maintaining its own balance, the signal becomes a priority to the attention of the brain.”

– Siegfried Othmer, EEG Institute

neurofeedback2-201x300Here are some examples: when we walk, a very complex networking of brain cells are at work to receive information from the sensory channels (input), interpret, and react via motor channels (output). The ability of the brain to use this constant feedback allows us to produce the next steps while controling our actions with stability and flexibility. The first infant steps present a marvellevous image of these constant feedback loops to observe.

Another analogy comes from a dancer who dances for hours by herself. Without feedback, she builds muscles but improves little in her performance. However, when put in front of a mirror looking at herself, every small movement can be tuned, adjusted, and refined, leading to high performance with stability and flexibility.

In Neurofeedback Training the brain is looking at itself like in a mirror: every small movement (frequency and voltage of the brain waves) is recognized by the brain as its own activity then tuned, adjusted, and refined, leading to high performance with stability and flexibility in mental states of calmness and focus.

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The Procedure

pastedgraphic-1-1-300x169During training, sensors are placed on the scalp and then connected to sensitive electronics and computer software that detect, amplify, and record specific brain activity. Resulting information is fed back to the trainee virtually instantaneously.

When watching the video, the auditory feedback and the tactile vibration of the stuffed animal send rewarding messages back to the client’s brain, which encourages desired brain wave activity. When the brain sees its own activity, it drives the brain to self-regulation.

Supported by various principles of learning and the practitioner’s guidance, the feedback generates changes in brain wave patterns that are associated with improvement in physical, emotional and cognitive states. Although the trainee may not be consciously aware of the mechanism by which such changes are accomplished, people routinely report a “felt sense” of these positive changes and are able to access these states outside the feedback sessions.

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The Goal of Neurofeedback Training: Self-regulation

Let’s take the analogy of a car’s transmission that should allow the driver to “shift” gears at will. The car may have the potential to go on the highway at 100 kilometers per hour but a “broken” transmission will barely keep the car at 50 kilometers per hour.

A brain that is dis-regulated may have the “potential” to reach great success but having lost its “shifting” ability, it is limited in its ability to go from a calm mindset to a problem solving mindset. Neurofeedback reorganizes the brain’s “shifting” functions: calming when it is time to fall asleep and gearing into an activation mode when it is time to solve problems.

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