THEY say it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind, but now there’s a therapy that can help all of us to do just that — with some excellent results. Neuro-feedback, or neurotherapy, can literally change the way our brains work, and sort out a host of emotional and psychological problems, say the experts. It may even help with stress, insomnia and epilepsy.
Justine Loewenthal is a neuro- feedback therapist at the Bella Vida Therapy Centre in Johannesburg. She says while neuro-feedback is not a new intervention, the field has expanded dramatically since the first research was conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1968, especially in the last decade. It has been available in SA for nine years.
“Neuro-feedback is brainwave biofeedback,” says Loewenthal. “It uses a process of operant conditioning to allow people to change their own brainwave patterns by being constantly fed back information regarding the state of their brain. This is auditory and visual feedback. The brain is rewarded every time it makes more of certain types of brainwave activity and less of others.”
Essentially, she says, neuro-feedback training is like taking your brain to gym. However, instead of exercising muscles, the client exercises the pathways involved in sleep, cognition, attention, learning, mood and behaviour. When these areas of the brain and the intricate pathways that connect them function the way they should, the symptoms improve or disappear.
Cape Town practitioner Kerry Swarts of Brain Harmonics says: “It’s a process of showing your brain real-time information which tells your brain how fast or slow it is pulsing and what kind of patterns you are stuck in.
“Most people can learn to change brainwave patterns with neuro-feedback equipment. Many conditions respond well to treatment,” says Swarts.
These include stress, sleep problems, depression, anxiety and attention and hyperactivity deficit disorders, brain injury, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain, depression, eating disorders, epilepsy, low energy, low immune system, memory problems, obsessive thinking, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder and unresolved emotional issues (for example, anger, unhappiness).
The therapy is run via quantitative EEGs (qEEGs), which Loewenthal says have revolutionised the practice of neuro- feedback. Electrodes are placed on the client’s head to read the electrical activity produced in the area being monitored, held in place with paste to conduct the electrical signal. This information is fed into a brainwave amplifier connected to the therapist’s computer.
On the therapist’s computer, the client’s EEG is displayed. Frequencies are distinguished from one another so that the force of each frequency may be easily tracked over a period of time. The therapist’s computer is connected to another computer which displays the client’s EEG in the form of games. The client “plays” these games solely with their brainwaves — their attentiveness controls what happens on the screen.
“The better the attention, the more rewards will be earned and the faster the activity on the screen,” says Loewenthal. “In this way, the client constantly receives information about what is happening in their brain and can change it. After practising this over a period of time, the computer feedback is no longer needed.”
Says Swarts: “Your brain doesn’t want to be stuck in patterns that don’t serve you, and your brain then balances itself. It learns to shift from slow to fast states smoothly and easily and stay in each as long as is needed.”
As the brain practises the tasks set for it, it grows stronger, in the same way that an exercised muscle grows stronger, she says. This enhanced brain now has the ability to react more quickly and appropriately to a given situation.
“There are no tricks or techniques, no subliminal messages and no input — your brain simply changes itself. You don’t have to think about it or try. Your brain gets the feedback and moves in the desired direction itself.”
A typical session takes 30 minutes, although for young children it may be substantially shorter. Even after the first session, both therapists say that many clients report effects such as improved anxiety, better quality sleep, lighter mood and reduced somatic complaints such as headaches.
“The number of sessions is worked out depending on what we need to achieve, but on average 12 to 18 hours is enough time for most people to develop new neural pathways and make them strong enough to not go back to old patterning,” says Swarts.
“About 70% of my clients have been happy with 12 hours.”
The brain training needs enough hours to create new neural pathways and consolidate so that the brain will not go back to old patterning, says Loewenthal.
“Once this new patterning is retained, this then becomes normal. Each client presents with a different case and the exact number of sessions cannot be predicted. For there to be consistent and lasting change, the brain needs to learn and relearn the new patterns of brainwaves.
“A mild sleep disorder may be resolved in 20 sessions, whereas epilepsy may take in excess of 100 sessions to bring it under control.”
Loewenthal stresses that it’s important to check a practitioner’s credentials.
“Unfortunately, some neurotherapy equipment is available over the internet and neuro-therapy is being practised by ‘housewives’ with no knowledge of the brain or insight into the potential damage they can do without the proper training and knowledge about neurotherapy,” she says.
Only properly qualified professionals who are registered with the Health Professions Council of SA are allowed to practise neuro-feedback. They include psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and medical doctors, Loewenthal says. They may only practise within the scope of their registration.
Properly trained and qualified practitioners belong to the Neurotherapy Association of Africa (NAA). The NAA is dedicated to professionalism and growth within this field and arranges for some of the well-respected experts in the field to come to SA says Loewenthal. Courses are also presented abroads.
She says some of the practitioners registered with the NAA are also affiliates of EEG Spectrum International and receive daily updates regarding cutting- edge research and case discussions. Some therapists are also trained in peak-performance training and assist top sports people and business people.
You may be clearly aware of the need to train our bodies for peak performance, but now may be the time to put some effort into training your brain. The possibilities, it seems, are endless.
- To check a neurotherapy practitioner, contact the Neurotherapy Association of Africa’s secretary on traceyleed@gmail.com.