Author Archives: Tamera

News and Noteworty Articles No Comments

New research published in the journal Neuron explores a part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex and its potential role in learning. Science Daily published a summary of the article and its implications at:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170925151439.htm

Study Combines Music and Brain Stimulation to Test Memory Improvement

Posted on September 22, 2017by:

http://neurosciencenews.com/brain-stimulation-music-memory-7550/

A new study will look at whether music combined with a mild brain stimulation called tDCS may help those with mild cognitive impairment. The bottom of the page includes contact information for anyone who may be interested in participating in the study.

Rewards in Neurofeedback Training

Posted on September 19, 2017by:

Neurofeedback is a rewards-based system. The idea of rewarding the brain for making changes in the direction a person wants it to go can be a tough concept to grasp, but in practice, it’s pretty simple.

Our brains are designed to detect novelty in our environment. It’s a primitive survival mechanism, because we humans need to notices changes in the world that might endanger our lives—think of noticing the movement of a venomous snake or the driver who suddenly decides to cross four lanes of traffic to make a turn. It’s a part of our daily lives, and when it comes to noticing sound, I like to use the example of an ambulance siren. There is a fire station not too far from my office, and emergency vehicles drive down the street in front of my building every day. If I’m with a client, they continue to pay attention to our conversation or work, but a part of them notices the siren with an internal monologue that goes something along the lines of “Hey, what’s that? Oh, I bet it’s an ambulance. I wonder if there was a car accident? I hope everyone’s okay.”

Neurofeedback is a bit like the ambulance siren. We believe that the brain notices the reward tones that the computer sends the same way it notices the siren: as a novel change in the environment.

At the same time, we believe neurofeedback works much like the process of teaching a dog to sit. A puppy receives a reward in the form of a bit of tasty food every time its hind quarters go anywhere remotely in the right direction of a sitting position. Eventually, the dog doesn’t need the treat to be able to associate the command with sitting. Similarly, the brain gets the reward of novelty any time the sophisticated computer software determines that the brain is going anywhere remotely in the right direction of the electrical energy pattern the trainee hopes to achieve. Like the puppy, eventually the person doing brain training no longer needs the tones as a reward for going the right direction, and the brain can use that new pattern when appropriate.

I use the expression “we believe” because neuroscience researchers have not yet proven the theory that neurofeedback is education for the brain, but in real life, the explanation seems to fit: a person comes for training with goals to achieve, the computer rewards the brain for learning the pattern associated with the goal, and the brain eventually can do it on its own without rewards. It’s exciting every time I watch this pattern unfold, because it means that people are using technology to regulate their bodies by teaching themselves, all in a non-invasive and generally pleasurable way.

Why do Neurofeedback?

Posted on September 13, 2017by:

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Recently, I was asked about the reasons that people choose to do brain training using neurofeedback, and I thought my answer might be worth sharing here. Each person has her or her own reasons, of course, but these are some of the common ones I see:

School Stress. Life in Northern Virginia is stressful for high school students, and there is a tremendous amount of pressure on students to excel, regardless of academic ability. It doesn’t seem to matter whether one has learning challenges or is an exceptionally gifted student. Indeed, being a typical student seems to carry a special burden in such a competitive environment. It’s no wonder that many seek out tools to help them not just cope, but thrive, despite the pressure.

Feeling Stuck. Many people, including older adults, seek neurofeedback because they feel stuck in life and aren’t performing or feeling the way they’d like. Feeling overwhelmed, unhappy, anxious, and angry often come from the body overresponding to what life sends our way, and neurofeedback is great for helping self regulate.

Seeking the Best Tool. In the wake of the Decade of the Brain, there are many games and gimmicks for brain performance and brain health, and most are not really supported by science. Neurofeedback has been around for over 50 years, and when people realize how powerful such a gentle tool can be, they want to use it. This is especially true for older adults who want to recover or maintain cognitive function and for students who are wanting a boost or a leg up academically and emotionally.

Desperation. Frankly, many people come to try neurofeedback after they’ve tried everything else. It’s a shame, but neurofeedback becomes a last resort when it could have been a first resort.

Natural Enhancement. Neurofeedback is an interesting combination of exercise and teaching. It is non-invasive and creates long-lasting results without chemicals, without “zapping” the brain, and without harm.

Destressing and Coping Better. Some seek neurofeedback to cope in the wake of a major life challenge. I’ve had clients seek training after car accidents, peer suicides (especially among high-school students), and other types of trauma. Neurofeedback is no replacement for psychotherapy or medical treatment, but it’s an excellent way to calm the body’s nervous system.

One thing people do not come to my practice for is treatment of a specific diagnosis. I am quite clear that my paradigm is one of optimizing brain performance through training, however that looks for the individual client, and not one of treating for brokenness. And, frankly, the brain does not really subscribe to the diagnostic manual for mental health disorders.

If you see yourself or a family member in this post, call for a consultation to learn more in a no-pressure environment about how neurofeedback can help you.

Don’t Play Name That Tune

Posted on September 8, 2017by:

Name That Tune was a television game show from the 1950s in which contestants competed to see who could identify pieces of music in the shortest time possible. A catchphrase from the show was “I can name that tune in X notes,” and the best among them would attempt to name a song in just three or four notes.

Sometimes, it feels like some neurofeedback practitioners are engaged in their own version of Name That Tune, only instead of playing with songs, they claim they can Cure That Disorder in X sessions. The result of this rather absurd game is that some people start to believe that neurofeedback normally only takes as few as, say, six sessions. Another reaction is that people who hear these stories begin to think that the field of neurofeedback is full of snake oil salesmen who peddle in false promises.

Neither is true. What may occur during a controlled experiment may, indeed, be faster than what happens in the real world, but the truth is that for most of us who live outside the research world, making significant and long-lasting changes to our bodies takes time and doesn’t involve curing anything. And, despite sometimes too-good-to-be-true claims, most neurofeedback practitioners who do not engage in invasive techniques agree that anywhere between 20 and 60 sessions is a reasonable number.

The goal for most of us is not to play Name That Tune and go with the least number of sessions possible. Taking that path is likely to result in disappointment. It is far better to find a practitioner who can come close to finding the sweet spot that lies between doing too few sessions, which can result in backsliding, and too many sessions, which is just a waste of time and money. It takes an experienced and intuitive practitioner to find that balance, but it can be done.

Timing Your Training

Posted on May 9, 2017by:

Now that we’re getting close to the end of the school year, I anticipate receiving the calls I usually get in late spring from parents who are planning ahead and trying to squeeze in neurofeedback training for their student over the summer, before school starts again in the fall. This makes it a good time to explain the timing of how I practice neurofeedback.

The usual format is twice weekly training sessions that start with whatever number of minutes the trainee can tolerate and work up to an hour-long session that includes about 40 minutes of brain training. This is because with once a week sessions, it often takes too long to start seeing results, and with more sessions, it gets difficult to schedule them into busy lives. For those who I think would benefit from jump-starting their success and who can manage it, I suggest three sessions a week for the first several weeks, then scale back into twice weekly sessions. Regardless of how the training regime is customized, however, a regular training program includes days that are not back-to-back, so that the results of training can be spread out better.

Some people don’t like this evenly spaced program and want a more intense training program. Fortunately, it IS possible to accelerate results if one is in a hurry or has a deadline to meet. For example, I have on more than one occasion conducted 90-minute training sessions twice a day, five days in a row, for two or three weeks. I also know trainers who have had people fly in from out-of-state to conduct accelerated training programs like this—generally because no trainers are available in their geographic area. Condensed training programs are often quite tiring for the trainee, and it requires clearing one’s schedule to the point of perhaps taking a vacation from work to do training, but it has been effective in my experience and satisfying for the person who needs to get it done asap.

The flip side of this is the person who is seeking to do fewer sessions than the norm. Often, this is someone who has read claims online that a full course of neurofeedback can be conducted in six or eight sessions and is therefore suspicious of anyone who conducts more sessions. I will not agree to work with someone fewer than 20 sessions. This is because although I have in the past had trainees who achieved their results and had them stick in as few as 25 sessions, their rapid success has not been the norm. Often, someone who achieves results rapidly is someone who is integrating multiple self-improvement or healing modalities at once. The last person who finished in 25 sessions was someone who was simultaneously switching to a clean eating diet and receiving both acupuncture and chiropractic care at the same time as doing neurofeedback. It was a lot of work for that person, but in the end it was a cost saving and speedy way to get to a point of living better and feeling better. Such individuals are my favorite clients, but they are uncommon.

If you’re interested in getting started with neurofeedback, give me a call, and we can discuss what timing works best for you and your situation.

Neurofeedback and Cancer

Posted on March 6, 2017by:

Science Daily shared a University of Texas study showing that neurofeedback helped reduce neuropathy in chemotherapy-induced neuropathy. I’ve seen neurofeedback increase brainwave coherence, thereby reducing brain fog or “chemo brain,” but this is a new and exciting development. Read a summary of the study at:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170303102858.htm

“A type of functional brain training known as neurofeedback shows promise in reducing symptoms of chemotherapy-induced nerve damage, or neuropathy, in cancer survivors, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The pilot study, published in the journal Cancer, is the largest, to date, to determine the benefits of neurofeedback in cancer survivors.”

Practical Wisdom–Reacting to Change

Posted on January 25, 2017by:

This is the time of year when many of us slow to take stock in our lives and make changes, including New Year’s resolutions. Many experts advise us that we fail to follow through on the changes we want to make due to a lack of willpower, but I wonder if it’s the change itself that slows us down.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

Attributed to Maya Angelou

I have always thought of myself as open to change and as one who’s not especially attached to material things. That changed a bit when we learned we needed to replace our washing machine.

Before it broke down completely, I researched new machines and sought the advice of our repairman. My husband and I decided on a particular make and model that we thought would perform well, meet our family’s needs, and be water/electricity efficient. We were satisfied with our decision, but when we went to purchase our selection, we learned that the charcoal gray color cost significantly more than the white. Because it felt foolish to pay so much extra just for color, we bought the model in white.

Leaving the store, I felt pleased by our choice, with the exception of one thing: the color. I still wanted the charcoal gray, even though it wasn’t a sensible choice. Over the next several hours, I realized that I was actually mourning the loss of what I thought was a pretty appliance, and those feelings of sadness and loss caught me by surprise. After all, I don’t consider myself especially materialistic, and the machine is not ugly; it’s just white. I spent time just sitting with those upset feelings and wondering about them.

The next day, I realized that it was all about change. I have had a charcoal gray washing machine in one form or another for almost 20 years. Plus, my old machine had served my family well, and I’d never had to think much about it. It was just there, ready and waiting every time I needed it. I hadn’t realized the comfort that came with that trustworthiness. I could be on auto pilot and not think about the machine at all; I could just use it.

Recognizing that I wasn’t attached to the machine itself but instead was attached to the comfort and aesthetics it provided was liberating. I realized that I could change because the new machine will be just as reliable and perhaps even more so. I realized that I could make it seem pretty and please my sense of aesthetics by painting the laundry room. I can adapt and make the best of this change even after close to 20 years of things being the same.

I felt silly in the wake of my brief washing machine upset, but I think I learned a few things about change and me.

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

Where in your life has a change upset you or caught you by surprise?

When in your life have you resisted change?

Are you facing or perhaps denying the need for change in your life right now?

Are there minor tweaks, such as repainting the laundry room is for my situation, that you can make in your life to allow yourself to be more fully open to change?

No, It’s Not a Cult Thing

Posted on January 16, 2017by:

An acquaintance of mine shocked me a few days ago by asking me if neurofeedback is related to a well-known cult. He wasn’t joking and was genuinely curious, which made me realize that many people have misconceptions about what neurofeedback really is, how it works, and who uses it. As someone who uses neurofeedback on an almost daily basis, it seems perfectly mainstream to me, but I realized that perhaps additional clarification would be useful.

Neurofeedback is the use of EEG devices and audio-visual rewards that come from sophisticated software programs for the purpose of changing electrical patterns in the brain, which in turn improves the quality of peoples’ lives. As with most things, the use of neurofeedback is part art, but it is a science-based tool at its core. It came out of a serendipitous combination of a UCLA neuroscientist’s work and NASA’s needs in the late 1960s, and there are hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles that address its benefits for many applications. It may not yet be a household word, but the popularity of neurofeedback spread with increasing speed once personal computers and their speed increased dramatically in the 1990s. It is now researched in several major universities both in the United States and abroad, and just within the past few years, more universities have been offering formal coursework in neurofeedback, making it possible to learn how to use it outside private sector training.

Neurofeedback is an interdisciplinary tool and not a field of endeavor in itself, which means that people from many walks of life use neurofeedback for themselves or perhaps to apply it in their professional lives. Because it deals with the brain, some of the more visible users are in the field of mental health, often clinical psychologists or, on more rare occasion, psychiatrists. A few neurologists and chiropractors use it in their practices, yet physicians as a whole generally are not avid users. Many others, such as educators and tutors, use it in their work, and there are also people like me, who focus almost exclusively on neurofeedback. Then, there are people who are not professionals at all but are using it for their own purposes, at home, and people who use neurofeedback to enhance their spiritual well-being. Despite this diversity of users, backgrounds, and purposes, I have never met a cultist using neurofeedback. So, as long as you find a skilled, ethical, and decent practitioner to teach you or train you, I think you’ll be just fine.

Practical Wisdom–Your Inner Compass

Posted on January 5, 2017by:

Every man has to learn the points of compass again as often as he awakes…Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves.

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American author, philosopher, and transcendentalist whose most famous work, Walden, continues to influence lives today.

When I was nine years old, my parents divorced and I had to attend a new school in a new, small town. I was shown the way to get there when my mother registered me, and the next school day, I headed out the door with some trepidation about what the other kids in my class would be like but completely confident that I could find my way to school without a problem.

The fact that there was a heavy, pea-soup fog that kept me from seeing more than a few feet in front of me wasn’t a worry. I knew the school was only a short walk away and trusted myself to get there. Then, as I reached an intersection, the nature of the pavement changed from asphalt to a gravelly aggregate. The many pebbles and bits of gravel in the road made me worried I had reached the end of town—my new house was only a couple of blocks from a corn field, after all—and I was stopped cold. I thought the right way to school was directly in front of me, but the road change made me think that if I kept going straight, I’d end up out in the country and hopelessly lost.

I peered intensely into the fog but could see nothing in any direction. My choices were to turn around and go home, where I knew I’d receive a scolding, keep going straight and potentially end up hopelessly lost out in the country, or turn to the left, which I knew would take me further in to town but would not necessarily get me to school. To be late on my first day would have been an utter disaster and embarrassment, I was certain. It was all just too much, and I froze, paralyzed by my inability to see combined with not trusting my inner compass because it conflicted with the more tangible gravelly road.

Within a couple of minutes, I saw a dark shadow off to my left. Another kid was walking in the fog, and he or she boldly strode into the gray mist, apparently unaware of the gravel on the road that portended disappearance into the freshly harvested corn rows. It occurred to me that if that person was walking into the fog without fear, then maybe it was the right way to go.

I walked after this person into the fog. The road remained a weird, pebbly aggregate and never turned to actual gravel. And then, not long after I could no longer see the intersection behind me, I began to make out the black shadows of the two-story tall evergreens that lined the playground of the elementary school. I still couldn’t see the school, but I knew the trees would help me find my way; I was going to be okay.

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

Journal or sketch your reactions to the quote and the reflection on it. Then, consider the following questions:

Starting a new calendar year means that many of us are striving to start new things and head down new paths. Where are you headed? Do you have a clear map of how to get there?

What tools will you take along so that when the path forward gets foggy and unclear, you’ll discern what to do next?

What will you do if you get lost in the fog?

Trust is a huge factor in starting new adventures, whether your goals are large or modest. What do you trust yourself to do when the next steps aren’t clear? What signs and messages from within yourself will you trust?

What can you do to remember to be kind to yourself and engage in second-guessing when you feel confused?

Practical Wisdom–Getting Your Needs Met

Posted on December 22, 2016by:

Nothing, I am sure, calls forth the faculties so much as the being obliged to struggle with the world.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was an English scholar, philosopher, writer, and women’s rights activist who was a champion for giving women access to education. Her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, wrote Frankenstein.

Once a week, I do volunteer work that involves sitting at the information desk of a local church. Although what I do is unaffiliated with the church, I am asked many questions related to the church and try to help when I can. One afternoon, a man strode purposefully into the lobby and up to the desk. Catching my eye, he tapped his index finger to his head multiple times and informed me that he had memory problems and needed help getting back to a shelter. He repeated his sentence in a rote manner until I was able to interrupt and promise to help.

I managed to identify the shelter he told me to find and make contact with a social worker who promised to send a van to get “Mike” and expressed astonishment that he had wandered so far. Mike sat with me while awaiting his ride, and the next thing I knew, he’d told me many significant, tragic stories about his life. In fact, he repeated each of his stories at least half a dozen times, breaking my heart as I realized how awful much of his life had been and the extent of his memory problems. Reading in between the lines of his stories, I realized that multiple traumas had set him up in such a way that it was practically impossible to make healthy decisions, and I felt as if it was easy to see how he’d ended up as he had, finally sober but brain-damaged and homeless.

He remained on my mind and even kept me awake that evening as I wondered what I could do to be beneficial in his life beyond helping him get back where he belonged. The next day, I called the shelter, and it turned out that he wasn’t truly homeless; he’d become lost walking out the door of the home he’d just moved into, and he couldn’t recall that he had a place to live. He also had an incredible network of support around him that was providing for his basic needs as a result of the social worker who obviously cared profoundly about his well-being.

In the end, I realized that Mike’s ability to reach out for what he needed in life went far beyond his ability to find a church to help and recite a script when he got lost; he knew how to touch people’s hearts and receive care and love in return.

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

Journal or sketch your responses to Wollstonecraft’s words and the reflection. Then, consider the following questions.

Where in life do you struggle with the world? How do you rise to the challenge? What is your experience of how the world responds?

How have your struggles shaped your skills and mental abilities? What have you been called upon to do that you have not yet mastered?

Where do your needs remain unmet? What faculties do you need to call forth to get them met?

When have you been called upon to help meet someone else’s needs and ease their struggles with the world? How have you responded?

Practical Wisdom–Observing the Rules

Posted on December 13, 2016by:

This is the first of what I intend to be weekly posts that use quotes as a jumping-off point for self awareness and personal growth. Grab a journal or sketch pad to record your responses and reactions to the questions at the end. See my post from August 30th for more information.

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

One of the finest writers of his times, American poet and author Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was also a physician, lecturer, university dean, and law student.

A young woman practically leapt out at me as I pulled into a pharmacy parking lot one afternoon a few months ago, because she seemed not to belong in the setting. Pretty to the point of being striking and perhaps not much more than 20 years old, she was sitting all folded up along the curb, with a heartbroken, almost forlorn look in her eyes and on her face. Her face haunted me as I did my shopping. I knew she was no midday drunk—in an instant, I had considered and dismissed the idea that her pained look had anything to do with substance abuse. My thoughts had moved on to awful possibilities, such as the idea that she might be a victim of human trafficking, which has become a big problem in our area, and I knew I’d continue to ruminate and worry about her if I drove off without checking on her. So, when I was finished shopping, I decided to drive by the place where the girl had been sitting, just to see if she was okay.

The girl was still folded up in the same position I’d first seen her, so I rolled my car window down to ask if she was okay. She replied that she had gotten to the pharmacy by bus and now wasn’t sure how to get home, because she’d waited over an hour, and no bus had come. I explained that I didn’t know much about the bus schedule except that it didn’t run as frequently in the middle of the day as it did in rush how. I asked where she was trying to go and what she needed, and she told me she could get home if she could only make her way to the metro.

I happened to be planning to drive right past the nearest Metro station. I knew intuitively that she was no threat, and so I mustered up my courage. I told her I’d never given a ride to a stranger before, but that if she wanted a ride, I was willing to take her to the Metro.

I could see her sizing me up, and then a look of relief crossed her face. Charmingly, she informed me that she’d be a safe passenger. “I’m not going to kill you or anything,“ she informed me earnestly.

On the ride to the subway, significant pieces of her life story poured out. She told me she’d recently moved to the area from out-of-state because her fiancé had died, and she’d decided to move home with her mother. She told me many other private things that out of respect for her I will not share, but I got stuck on the idea of what it must be like to grieve when one doesn’t have society’s stamp of legally being a widow, especially at such a young age. It also clarified for me why she looked so lost and forlorn when I first noticed her.

After I dropped her off, I called my husband to tell him what I’d done, not because I believed I had been in any danger, but because I felt guilty about breaking the safety rule of never giving a ride to a stranger. He was unsurprised that the young woman had shared so much of her life story with me, because people randomly share so much with me. He also thought it was no coincidence we’d been thrown briefly together. I agree.

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

We all have rules of life we follow, most of which become automatic and receive no thought from us. Consider your rules of life. What are the significant ones? Why do you follow them? What has been the outcome of breaking one or more of them? What did you learn? Do you have regrets?

The young woman I met was grieving the loss of her fiancé. Would you feel differently about her and her loss if she’d been a newlywed? What if she’d been slightly older and married several years? What if the fiancé’s death had been from something like a drug overdose rather than disease or an accident? How would that change your reaction?

How do your unspoken rules of life serve you? Have they kept you safe, perhaps? How have they harmed or hindered you?

Holding Space for Letting Go

Posted on November 15, 2016by:

Stress Management No Comments

There are many people for whom the presidential election has triggered great worry, fear, sadness, and a whole host of concerns about what the future political situation might bring. If you or someone you know needs a place to sort things out for themselves, please give them my name and contact information. For the next several weeks, I am offering one-time sessions during which they can unburden themselves in an accepting and safe environment. It is not psychotherapy–I come from a spiritual perspective–but it is confidential. Suggested payment is $50 for a one-hour session plus optional meditation and mindfulness guidance..

Hyperactive Default Mode Network Behind Many Emotional Disorders

Posted on October 21, 2016by: