Neurofeedback Techniques Can Help you Cope With and Overcome PTSD and Trauma, Adult ADD, Anxiety and Depression, and Sleep Disturbances

PTSD and Trauma

Neurofeedback (NF) works directly with the source of trauma and helps the brain quiet fear. When we experience trauma, the brain has to cope with startle responses it wasn't prepared for. Instead of being calm, the brain regulates itself to an alert state, one in which it is constantly trying to be ready, and where it is constantly seeking peace and quiet.

Many of us experienced harmful, painful, or hurtful environments as children. Brain waves develop just as our personalities develop. The brains and personalities of children who've survived traumatic experiences develop to manage the hurt and pain they experienced long ago.

Habits form in order to cope with pain. While behavioral habits are worked with in therapy sessions, brain wave habits can be improved with neurofeedback sessions. One of the beauties of working directly with brain waves is that problems can be addressed and healed at the core level where they were formed. We can open up new ways of being in the world that may not have been available before. NF is one of the best tools to calm fear, cope with PTSD and traumatic memories, and move forward in our lives.

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Adult ADD

Several million adults (1-2% of the total population) suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder. The hyperactivity from childhood ADHD usually disappears, leaving what is often the worst part of the disorder to be dealt with in adulthood. The ADD component of ADHD can cause difficulties in the workplace as well as in relationships.

If it seems your work-life and home-life suffer in ways that you can't seem to help, even when you try, you may be one of the many people experiencing Adult ADD.

ADD adults often find that staying on task at work is as frustrating, if not more so, than schoolwork was as a child. But few things in life are black and white, all bad or all good. People with ADD bring many gifts to the workplace, including being inventive, enthusiastic and focused at the beginning of a project. They are often the "idea" people.

Work-related problems for adults with ADD usually begin with follow-through, the completion of a given task. These bright and talented people may change jobs often or feel criticized for mistakes that they feel are not their fault. They may perceive the job as more difficult or frustrating than non-ADD adults, and so quit or get fired more frequently. Tardiness may also be a problem.

Very often, difficulty concentrating is the primary impediment to success for people with ADD. It may be hard to remember what they read, or to stay focused long enough to absorb new material. Neurofeedback can help train the brain to be more alert and focused. This in turn enhances memory, concentration, and decision making, thereby reducing impulsivity and the influence of distractions.

For adults with ADD, forgetfulness, disorganization, messiness, and tardiness may annoy relationship partners as well as co-workers. Partners may feel they have to carry most of the load, that they can't depend on the person with ADD. Some ADD adults become depressed, beaten down, quiet and withdrawn, which only compounds their inefficiency, inattentiveness, and forgetfulness. NF helps resolve ADD-based relationship problems by attending to social cues, empathy, and emotional balance.

People with ADD are like radio receivers with all channels open. They hear and see everything, paying attention to all stimuli in their environment. This causes a tremendous overload on their nervous system. NF trains the areas of the brain most affected by ADD, allowing individuals to be able to discriminate which stimuli are most important at any given time.

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Depression or Lack of Motivation

What my clients actually feel is of the utmost significance to me. By listening to you fully describe how you feel, I get a total picture of you in your life. Every problem, symptom, and experience you describe adds to my understanding of your discomfort, the specific and unique ways you're hurting.

It is my belief that one purpose of existence in general is to maintain harmonious living. Most of us want to feel happy, full of life, peaceful and positive, both when alone and in our connections with others. But our ability to connect with others is hampered when we are anxious or depressed.

If you are depressed, or down, it can be hard to find pleasure in your day to day activities. Life may begin to feel meaningless, your happiness being drained out of you. Often, depression is experienced as loneliness, helplessness, sadness, or self-doubt. You may feel unable to pull yourself out of your slump as most things feel overwhelming. You may sleep a lot more than usual or feel fearful. We can explore your beliefs about your life and find ways to shift your perspective.

One aspect of well-being is characterized by the flexible flow of energy and information. We want to be able to adjust and regulate our emotional and cognitive states as we receive information from our bodies and our environment.

When we feel anxious or depressed, our outlook on life is not filled with harmony. A disregulated brain produces excesses and deficiencies in energy. Brain wave training restores health. Thus, one very important purpose of NF is to restore and maintain harmony in our physical and emotional lives.

Your patterns of symptoms will indicate whether there are deficiencies that may need replenishing, or excesses that need to be toned down. We all have the capacity for self-healing. And neurofeedback techniques can help you achieve it.

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Anxiety/Panic/Rage

What my clients actually feel is of the utmost significance to me. By listening to you fully describe how you feel, I get a total picture of you in your life. Every problem, symptom, and experience you describe adds to my understanding of your discomfort, the specific and unique ways you're hurting.

It is my belief that one purpose of existence in general is to maintain harmonious living. Most of us want to feel happy, full of life, peaceful and positive, both when alone and in our connections with others. But our ability to connect with others is hampered when we are anxious or depressed.

If you are anxious, life may feel overwhelming. You may find yourself withdrawing out of fear, or feeling agitated and fretful in your activities. The physical sensations of fear can stop you in your tracks, as happens with panic attacks. You may find yourself narrowing your horizon, engaging only in things that feel safe.

If you find yourself feeling anger and rage, you may feel out of control. Rage is essentially a fear response, coming from the experience of threat. When you feel threatened, there can be this very basic primal part of you that leaps out to protect you. You become enraged and lash out. If this happens to you, we can explore how you come to feel threatened and take steps to heal.

One aspect of well-being is characterized by the flexible flow of energy and information. We want to be able to adjust and regulate our emotional and cognitive states as we receive information from our bodies and our environment.

When we feel anxious or depressed, our outlook on life is not filled with harmony. A disregulated brain produces excesses and deficiencies in energy. Brain wave training restores health. Thus, one very important purpose of NF is to restore and maintain harmony in our physical and emotional lives.

Your patterns of symptoms will indicate whether there are deficiencies that may need replenishing, or excesses that need to be toned down. We all have the capacity for self-healing. And neurofeedback techniques can help you achieve it.

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Sleep Disturbances

If you suffer from sleeping problems, you know how frustrating they can be. And there is no shortage of negative consequences for a lack of regular sleep. You likely feel tired during the day, inattentive, a lack of energy. Your mood may be affected. You may be using sleep aids, which come with their own side effects, not to mention the risk of addiction.

NF can help you develop healthy and regular sleeping patterns, so you can fall asleep more easily, stay asleep, and wake up refreshed, rested and ready for the day ahead.

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