Neurofeedback

As a parent, you know when something isn't right, but sometimes you struggle to figure out what is "off" and how to deal with it. Our daughters are only 14 months apart so my husband and I kept noticing diffrences between the two girls. Our youngest, Addison, picked up things very quickly and she actually potty trained our oldest, Isabella. With Isabella, we realized that if you sang things to her she could remember things better. When Isabella entered 4K, we could see she was struggling to keep up with her peers. 5K was worse and we tried tutoring and extra summer reading to catch her up to no avail. By 1st grade she had developed anxiety and a dislike of school to the point it had disrupted our family dynamic significantly. I was being questioned if she had "ADHD" and I had her tested twice once by a pediatric pyschologist and a neuro psychologist and this is not the diagnosis she received, however, as a parent I can now understand how kids get this label and are misdiagnosed easily and are medicated. Let me just say that as a parent, we are our children's voice and I am so grateful that I did not give up on Isabella and that we got the proper diagnosis and are now getting the approriate treatment, neurofeedback.

Isabella was diagnosed with anxiety, severe visual dyslexia, moderate auditory dyslexia, and dyscalculia. My husband and I researched the most effective treatments and we chose neurofeedback. Neurofeedback works for many things like anxiety, dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, other learning disabilities, short term memory issues, addictions, athletes and business folks are using to improve their peformance and have a competitive edge, and more. We have been very grateful to have Mike Cohen (The Brain Center in Jupiter, FL) and Dr. Brian Coben (www.amazingbrains.com) who are treating Isabella with remarkable success. Both her reading and her grades are improving...this journey has not been overnight and it is not easy, but I can say that we are getting our little girl back day by day. She is regaining her confidence, not compaining about going to school, and her reading and grades are improving.

So what is neurofeedback? Is it safe and effective? These were all questions that I had as a mother. To answer this simply, neurofeedback it exercise for the brain and it takes the circuits that should be speaking and makes them speak to each other properly and the brain is energy...we have four brain waves and it makes them work at the frequency that they should be so there is balance. So yes, it is safe and we have witnessed first hand that it is effective. According to Dr. Robert Coben, neurofeedback therapy is a natural process that uses our ability to measure your brain waves to help you regulate undesirable brain activity and enhance desirable brain activity, without medication. Using real-time qEEG displays, we illustrate brain activity and teach self-regulation. Ordinarily, a person cannot influence brain wave patterns because they lack awareness of them. We help you see what’s happening so you can recondition and retrain the brain back to balance.It’s not futuristic. It’s not magic. It’s not experimental.The natural electrical activity in the brain directly affects the chemistry. The chemistry affects our moods and attitudes. Neurofeedback therapy, developed in 1968 out of UCLA, has substantial research proving that it is a safe and effective method.

It was once believed that our brains static...and could not create neurons, but science has proven those orignal theories wrongs. According to Dr. Robert Coben, neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. It allows neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury, disease, and adjust in response to new situations or changes in the environment.Did you know that IQ isn’t actually a set number? We used to think it was. IQ is set by how many roadblocks (or lack there of) we have set up in the brain – how much is our brain allowing us to solve? Neurofeedback can typically lead to a 9-11 IQ point gain because of the brain’s neuroplasticity. The brain you’re born with isn’t the brain you have now. It changes as you change, and we know exactly what to change to help regulate natural processes. The ‘plasticity’ of the brain is how we progress and grow. Brain waves occur at various frequencies. Some are fast, and some are quite slow. There is no bad or good wave. But, if we have too much of one or the other, the imbalance can negatively affect us. We look at four different waves, Delta, Theta, Alpha, and Beta, and we use neurofeedback therapy to create balance.

I wanted to share our journey and experience with neurofeedback in hopes that it helps more parents with their struggling child. I challenge you all to do your own research and due diligence. I will keep you all posted on Isabella's progress as we just began a new neurofeedback treatment plan and the research behind this treatment was mind blowing, therefore we knew we had to do this with Isabella. I never do a treatment that has not been scientifically researched with published results. Dr. Coben's latest research will be published soon and I will share as soon as it is available. Don't give up, there is help for your child no matter what issue you face, and when in doubt reach out. Don't suffer in silence, I got connected with experts in the field, and I asked many questions, and this persistence has led me to answers which are giving my daughter results.