An Introduction to Neurofeedback
by Sarah Wood Vallely
On March 18th at 4:30 in the afternoon, I kissed my two children and husband goodbye, got into my Jetta and rolled down my driveway. I was eager to arrive at my daughter’s preschool where I would attend a presentation about neurofeedback and children. As a former hypnotherapist and currently a meditation teacher, I have been aware of neurofeedback but I hadn’t delved into the subject long enough to truly understand it. The closest I came was a biofeedback device called a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR). This device measures slight changes in skin pore size and sweat gland activity, which indicates whether we are tense or relaxed. I often brought this two inch by two inch gadget to expos and fairs where I asked attendees to place two fingers into its cradles. A tone spewed from a small speaker. Usually high at first and then after my volunteer relaxed the tone would fall down in pitch. This proved to be a wonderful way to show potential clients and students how meditating or other calming activity changes what goes on in our bodies.
I arrived at my daughter’s preschool to find that myself and the school director were the only attendees. Excited about this intimate meeting, I sat down to listen and eventually asked many questions, apparently jumping ahead. Patiently, I learned the basics of neurofeedback and how children benefit from it. Dr. Phillip Ellis, the psychologist and presenter suggested I read A Symphony in the Brain: The Evolution of the New Brain Wave Biofeedback by Jim Robbins. I ordered the book from Amazon the following day and read the book cover to cover.
My first question was, what is the difference between biofeedback and neurofeedback? During a biofeedback session the practitioner uses devices to measure either blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, sweat gland activity, muscle tension or other physiological activity. The equipment also indicates to the client or patient moment by moment what their level of these functions are. What is important to know about biofeedback is that we have the power to control these, otherwise thought of, autonomic nervous system functions. Most scientists cannot explain how we control these functions but when most people witness some type of feedback, letting them know moment by moment what their blood pressure is for example, they can lower it.
Neurofeedback is a specific type of biofeedback which measures our brainwave activity. Sensors are attached to our scalp, which lets us know how fast our neurons are firing. Neurofeedback training is a process we use to train our neurons to fire at a different speed than they are currently firing. Essentially, this training is a video game but instead of using a joystick the software uses the sensors on our scalp and our brainwave activity levels to make an object move on a video screen. For example, a child hooked up to the technology is told to make a rocket ship fire up and blast off. Then the mysterious intuitive process begins. Probably through a subconscious course of trial and error, the child gets the rocket to fire up. With more concentration the ship begins to move upward. Then the child might lose concentration and the rocket descends. With returned focus the child moves the ship upward and manages to make it fly through space.
Leaders in the field who have been working with clients for years have discovered that many intellectual, emotional and even physical challenges people face can be identified by observing brain activity and healed through training. That is, their brain waves are either too slow, too fast or their speed jumps back and forth between too fast and too slow. Some of these conditions include epilepsy, autism, brain injuries, ADD, addictions and depression.
I find this discovery fascinating because I teach meditation and know that meditation brings us into balance, including bringing our brainwaves to more healthy speeds. I was curious if there were any meditation teachers or therapists hooking their clients up to neurofeedback equipment while they meditate. I thought, wouldn't it be interesting if a therapist could receive feedback about a child's brainwaves while he or she meditates. And then lead the child through meditations that help the child either slow down or speed up his or her brainwaves.
I found Anna Wise’s web site. Anna has a masters in Humanistic Psychology and uses a device called a mind mirror. Although she does not work specifically with children, she leads clients through meditation while the mind mirror records and displays their brain wave activity. After hooking up spiritual masters to her neurological equipment Wise found a consistent pattern she calls the Awakened Mind state. You can learn more about her work at www.annawise.com. Anna trains practitioners how to use this technique with their clients.
Dr. Ellis, Licensed psychologist in North Carolina, Certified in EEG Biofeedback, and the founder of Focus Centers and his associate Jackie Williams, former school administrator, opened up a lab in Evergreen Community Charter School in Asheville, NC. Dr. Ellis started working with a few Evergreen students about four years ago. After a few years, he had enough students to bring him there three days a week. Eventually, the school bought the equipment and two special education teachers were trained to provide neurofeedback to students with special needs in addition to the sessions Dr. Ellis provided.
Dr. Ellis also encouraged faculty at Christ School to open a neurofeedback program and are planning to place another lab inside a drug and alcohol program later this year; both in Asheville. Typically school counselors approach parents about permitting their children to take advantage of the lab. Information about the lab is also sent out in school newsletters and periodically parent seminars are offered to explain more about the service. Dr. Ellis tells me young children “eagerly greet me at the door of their classrooms when it is their turn. The older kids, middle school and older, prefer to have an appointment to keep their sessions more private."
Ellis and Williams help children change neural activity in a specific location on their cortex. For example, children who experience symptoms associated with ADD/ADHD, anxiety, stress, depression and autism generally have brain wave activity that is too slow. After a child enjoys a few sessions mastering their video game without joysticks, the child's brain eventually incorporates the new frequency the therapist and child are working towards. This training leads to subtle changes over time or the results can be dramatic and immediate. In either case, 85% of the children Dr. Ellis and Williams work with, experience their symptoms improve greatly or disappear all together. "Neurofeedback has been one of the most powerful and important interventions that I’ve seen in my 32 years as an educational administrator and special education teacher,"
Williams says. "Medication is an option, but it doesn’t work for every child and it can have some terrible side effects. The benefits from medication are temporary—it only works as long as you take it. Neurofeedback is long-term learning," Williams adds.
Article written by Sarah Wood Vallely. Information for this article was found in The Symphony in the Brain by Jim Robbins, www.wikipedia.org and interviews with Dr. Phillip Ellis and Jackie Williams of Focus Centers
On March 18th at 4:30 in the afternoon, I kissed my two children and husband goodbye, got into my Jetta and rolled down my driveway. I was eager to arrive at my daughter’s preschool where I would attend a presentation about neurofeedback and children. As a former hypnotherapist and currently a meditation teacher, I have been aware of neurofeedback but I hadn’t delved into the subject long enough to truly understand it. The closest I came was a biofeedback device called a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR). This device measures slight changes in skin pore size and sweat gland activity, which indicates whether we are tense or relaxed. I often brought this two inch by two inch gadget to expos and fairs where I asked attendees to place two fingers into its cradles. A tone spewed from a small speaker. Usually high at first and then after my volunteer relaxed the tone would fall down in pitch. This proved to be a wonderful way to show potential clients and students how meditating or other calming activity changes what goes on in our bodies.
I arrived at my daughter’s preschool to find that myself and the school director were the only attendees. Excited about this intimate meeting, I sat down to listen and eventually asked many questions, apparently jumping ahead. Patiently, I learned the basics of neurofeedback and how children benefit from it. Dr. Phillip Ellis, the psychologist and presenter suggested I read A Symphony in the Brain: The Evolution of the New Brain Wave Biofeedback by Jim Robbins. I ordered the book from Amazon the following day and read the book cover to cover.
My first question was, what is the difference between biofeedback and neurofeedback? During a biofeedback session the practitioner uses devices to measure either blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, sweat gland activity, muscle tension or other physiological activity. The equipment also indicates to the client or patient moment by moment what their level of these functions are. What is important to know about biofeedback is that we have the power to control these, otherwise thought of, autonomic nervous system functions. Most scientists cannot explain how we control these functions but when most people witness some type of feedback, letting them know moment by moment what their blood pressure is for example, they can lower it.
Neurofeedback is a specific type of biofeedback which measures our brainwave activity. Sensors are attached to our scalp, which lets us know how fast our neurons are firing. Neurofeedback training is a process we use to train our neurons to fire at a different speed than they are currently firing. Essentially, this training is a video game but instead of using a joystick the software uses the sensors on our scalp and our brainwave activity levels to make an object move on a video screen. For example, a child hooked up to the technology is told to make a rocket ship fire up and blast off. Then the mysterious intuitive process begins. Probably through a subconscious course of trial and error, the child gets the rocket to fire up. With more concentration the ship begins to move upward. Then the child might lose concentration and the rocket descends. With returned focus the child moves the ship upward and manages to make it fly through space.
Leaders in the field who have been working with clients for years have discovered that many intellectual, emotional and even physical challenges people face can be identified by observing brain activity and healed through training. That is, their brain waves are either too slow, too fast or their speed jumps back and forth between too fast and too slow. Some of these conditions include epilepsy, autism, brain injuries, ADD, addictions and depression.
I find this discovery fascinating because I teach meditation and know that meditation brings us into balance, including bringing our brainwaves to more healthy speeds. I was curious if there were any meditation teachers or therapists hooking their clients up to neurofeedback equipment while they meditate. I thought, wouldn't it be interesting if a therapist could receive feedback about a child's brainwaves while he or she meditates. And then lead the child through meditations that help the child either slow down or speed up his or her brainwaves.
I found Anna Wise’s web site. Anna has a masters in Humanistic Psychology and uses a device called a mind mirror. Although she does not work specifically with children, she leads clients through meditation while the mind mirror records and displays their brain wave activity. After hooking up spiritual masters to her neurological equipment Wise found a consistent pattern she calls the Awakened Mind state. You can learn more about her work at www.annawise.com. Anna trains practitioners how to use this technique with their clients.
Dr. Ellis, Licensed psychologist in North Carolina, Certified in EEG Biofeedback, and the founder of Focus Centers and his associate Jackie Williams, former school administrator, opened up a lab in Evergreen Community Charter School in Asheville, NC. Dr. Ellis started working with a few Evergreen students about four years ago. After a few years, he had enough students to bring him there three days a week. Eventually, the school bought the equipment and two special education teachers were trained to provide neurofeedback to students with special needs in addition to the sessions Dr. Ellis provided.
Dr. Ellis also encouraged faculty at Christ School to open a neurofeedback program and are planning to place another lab inside a drug and alcohol program later this year; both in Asheville. Typically school counselors approach parents about permitting their children to take advantage of the lab. Information about the lab is also sent out in school newsletters and periodically parent seminars are offered to explain more about the service. Dr. Ellis tells me young children “eagerly greet me at the door of their classrooms when it is their turn. The older kids, middle school and older, prefer to have an appointment to keep their sessions more private."
Ellis and Williams help children change neural activity in a specific location on their cortex. For example, children who experience symptoms associated with ADD/ADHD, anxiety, stress, depression and autism generally have brain wave activity that is too slow. After a child enjoys a few sessions mastering their video game without joysticks, the child's brain eventually incorporates the new frequency the therapist and child are working towards. This training leads to subtle changes over time or the results can be dramatic and immediate. In either case, 85% of the children Dr. Ellis and Williams work with, experience their symptoms improve greatly or disappear all together. "Neurofeedback has been one of the most powerful and important interventions that I’ve seen in my 32 years as an educational administrator and special education teacher,"
Williams says. "Medication is an option, but it doesn’t work for every child and it can have some terrible side effects. The benefits from medication are temporary—it only works as long as you take it. Neurofeedback is long-term learning," Williams adds.
Article written by Sarah Wood Vallely. Information for this article was found in The Symphony in the Brain by Jim Robbins, www.wikipedia.org and interviews with Dr. Phillip Ellis and Jackie Williams of Focus Centers
