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Martha Gillis Delafield, LCSW
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I'm excited to be offering neurofeedback as an additional tool for extraordinary living.Neurofeedback is one of the more powerful transformative technologies available today. It is a gentle, noninvasive process that utilizes information about your brainwaves to facilitate better mental performance, mental health, and well-being. It's like exercise for you brain -- gently challenging it to develop the pathways it needs for better balance and functioning. What can it be used for?Neurofeedback is perhaps best known for its help with symptoms of ADD and ADHD. In many cases, symptoms are resolved to such an extent that medications can be dramatically reduced or eliminated. And because it helps train the brain to work more effectively and efficiently, people have reported increased test scores and higher grades. Kids often feel better and happier. And because they are better able to perform at the level they're capable of, they're more successful, which feels great. The benefits spill over into other areas of life. Neurofeedback is also helpful for a wide range of other issues:
Using neurofeedback in combination with the energy psychotherapy techniques I use is an even more powerful combination than either methods alone, and gives even greater hope to those who feel helplessly stuck in chronic conditions. How does it work?The particular neurofeedback program I use "feeds back" to your brain information about the signal variability it's picking up. The feedback triggers your brain's own orienting response that occurs whenever any of its self-regulatory mechanisms go offline. The brain checks out what the problem is within itself, and begins to self-correct. It's the "self-correction" that is what creates the improvement and strengthening. What happens in a neurofeedback session?You sit in an easy chair, and I put a couple of clips on each ear that look like really long dangly earrings. I also put two sensors the size of a pencil eraser on the top sides of your head. You put on headphones. Then I do a 30-second baseline reading, when you look at a flower on the computer monitor. For the next 30-45 minutes, you either listen to music or watch a movie of your choice. It's during that time that the "brain-training" happens. At the end, I do another baseline reading, and that's it. It's very easy -- you can't "try hard" to make it work faster or better. Your brain knows exactly what to do. I monitor what's happening and make sure that the level of feedback is enough to stimulate growth, but not too much to just be irritating. From your perspective, what happens during the "feedback" is that as the program picks up a variability in your brain signal, it triggers a brief pause, almost like a stutter, in the movie or music. The unexpected break in the rhythm then triggers your brain to scan itself to see what's going on and what needs to be done. It makes whatever correction is necessary to smooth things out again, and the movie or music starts again. This all happens in a second or two. When I can I expect to see results?Of course, this will vary from person to person, depending on the severity and complexity of the symptoms. You wouldn't go to a gym being overweight and out of shape, and expect to walk out after one session in perfect condition, though that's often the fantasy! Likewise, it takes a while for your brain to develop the right "muscles" in order for you to feel noticeably better. Nevertheless, improvements can often be felt after a few sessions. Very often, people will report feeling relaxed even after the first session. In order to give it a reasonable trial, though, it's necessary to give it at least 5-10 sessions. After that, it's best to continue for a few months more. The rule of thumb is to continue for 5 or so sessions after you've stopped noticing improvements. The extra sessions give you the opportunity to notice changes that are emerging, but not yet fully realized. With more complicated issues like a severe ADHD/learning disability problem or Asperger's syndrome, it's often necessary to continue longer -- closer to a year or two. But again, given the alternatives, and given the payoffs for the rest of your life, it's usually an investment well worth making. Are the results long-lasting?Unlike medications, which wear off after you stop taking them, the results from neurofeedback are stable over time. It's like learning to ride a bike -- once your brain has developed the pathways that correctly interpret and manage all the signals concerning the balance and movement on the bike, those pathways are there for good. That's why, although the initial time and cost commitment may seem like a lot, it's cheaper and easier than taking medications over the long run. And in the end, you have a brain that works a lot better than it did before! That being said, oftentimes it's helpful to come in occasionally for "tune-ups" after the main training has been accomplished. Life gets complicated and stressful, or new developmental milestones are reached, and we might need a little help to get our brain caught up with it all. But the tune-ups can be just a session or two. And some people like to continue on a regular basis over a longer term, because they feel better with it. Side effects?There really aren't any, especially as compared with medication. You might feel a little tired, or "brain tired," but it goes away after a good night's sleep. In rare instances, you might feel a little spacey, but -- just like if you overdo it at the gym -- the best thing to do is another round of neurofeedback, at a gentler pace. How do I sign up?Just email or call me, and we'll talk about what is going on with you, and what might be the best course of action. Once we decide that, we just set up an appointment and take it from there!
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mgdelafield@aol.com with questions or
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