Neurofeedback for Kids

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Neurofeedback for Kids Webinar Transcript

Introduction

Hi, I'm Natalie Baker and I'm giving a presentation on neurofeedback for kids. Thank you for joining! The inspiration for this webinar was really just to give parents an opportunity to have one place where they could come and gather more educational material about neurofeedback training for kids. About 50 to 60 percent of our home neurofeedback rentals are to families who are training children, or training the whole family. I know parents really like to get educated so in that spirit – let's begin!

Presentation Topics: Neurofeedback Training Safety, How NeurOptimal® Works and Best Practices

Just to talk a bit about what we will review in this presentation. The emphasis is going to be on explaining how neurofeedback, specifically NeurOptimal, is safe to use for children. I will start by talking a little bit about neurofeedback in general. We do have another webinar which is an overview of the NeurOptimal system and how it works, so I'm not going to get into a lot of detail. I'm just going to encourage you to watch this webinar for a deeper dive into how the system works. Next, we're going to talk about best practices on how to get the most out of your neurofeedback training when you're training kids, and then I'm going to address specific conditions. I had a lot of questions from parents who were asking about training for different conditions in children. S

What is neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a branch of biofeedback and it is specifically giving the system our automatic functioning brain system feedback about Its behavior specifically its electrical behavior. So, the brain communicates through chemicals and through electricity. With neurofeedback we are measuring and making meaning of the electrical communication of the brain. There are EEG sensors that are attached to the head and they take that electrical communication from the head and is sent into an amplifier which amplifies the communication. That information is sent to a computer which analyzes that data. Neurofeedback is taking that electrical communication and through auditory (or visual feedback) alerting the brain to its own activity so the brain can then change itself to optimize its functioning. The goal is that the brain then changes from maladaptive brain waves to adaptive or normative brain waves.  So symptoms we could say are reflected in the fact that the brain is functioning in a way that is producing brainwave patterns that are not appropriate for the here and now. So, for example, when we're going to sleep, we're supposed to create a lot of those slow-moving brain waves (delta waves), which is part of how we transition into sleep.

The broad field of neurofeedback 

So now I want to talk a little bit about neurofeedback as an industry. Neurofeedback is a process and it's an unregulated word so you're going to have a lot of different devices calling themselves neurofeedback and it does not mean they operate the same way.  So as an example, I've seen systems call themselves neurofeedback and they have no EEG sensors. These types of systems do not even measure brain waves. Then there are microcurrent stimulators that call themselves "neurofeedback." That's very different because you're actually adding a micro-current to the brain in order to change it.  You're actually adding something to the system!  With pure neurofeedback, and in particular NeurOptimal, the system I use, is the one I will be talking about. It is purely feedback for the brain, so it's non-invasive. That's just something to be aware of when a system calls itself 'neurofeedback.' Don't assume that all systems are the same or they're talking about the same kind of intervention.

Is neurofeedback safe? How does it work

Let's move on to our next slide. Safety is an important topic for parents. Parents are always very concerned about safety when they're looking for an intervention or a tool or treatment to help a child. The NeurOptimal system is safe to use at any age. I have seen it used on babies who've had brain aneurysms very effectively.

Why NeurOptimal is so safe

NeurOptimal is completely non-invasive. Those EEG sensors that are placed on the sides of the head and clipped to the ears are purely taking electrical information from the brain and being fed to the computer. The computer reads those electrical communications and looks for electrical shifting (called turbulence)  that happens when the brain is about to change states. Whenever it notices that – and it's checking 256 times per second so the brain is making a lot of decisions every second – the software is looking for that change. In the millisecond that it registers change,  it interrupts the music that the child is listening to. So auditory feedback is the way we cue the brain that something is changing, allowing it to pay attention! So in the same way, if you're lost in thought and somebody calls your name and you become aware in the present moment, in the same way, that automatic, unconscious brain becomes aware when the music stops it alerts it to pay attention. So it's going to see what it's doing that's maladaptive.  In particular that's what we wanted to see, so that it will then correct itself. We are not adding anything to the system. It's more like presenting a mirror to that brain so that it can see clearly what it's doing and then it can decide whether or not or not it wants to change anything. In the same way, if you show up in front of a mirror and your head is tilted you're gonna shift and align your head on your spine just naturally. So that's the type of intervention we're talking about. We're talking about an intervention that's non-invasive. It's purely information for the brain to see. We want it to see what it's doing habitually - that is maladaptive in particular. Then that brain will actually correct itself. 

The "ADHD" Brain and Neurofeedback Sample

So let's use the example of an ADHD brain. The ADHD brain is habituated to being in scanning mode when we have work in front of us such as homework.  We then need our focusing brain waves. What happens when a child does a NeurOptimal session is that in the moment of training, it is going to shift based on what it sees that's maladaptive. But it's actually learning something over time. It's learning that all the good information is in the present moment. So I'm going to learn to practice coming into the present and gathering data because I'm going to make more efficient and more effective decisions. More efficient - I'm going to use less energy. More effective it's actually going to be a better decision based on the 'Here and Now 'needs so that scanning the brain, right, when it's brain training it's learning, "Wow, I'm constantly scanning the environment!" We are supposed to use our scanning brain when there's imminent danger, it's part of the stress response. The brain is then going: "Oh, but I got homework in front of me!" So it's now practicing, "But I've got to come into the present and see what my actual needs are! Well, I got homework in front of me!" So that the scanning brain will now shift and start using its focusing brain. That's why Johnny just started doing his math homework. So that's just an example of very sort of briefly how it works and how it is a safe product. Again I'm going to refer you to our other webinar for a longer explanation of how the system works. So there's also no such thing as over-training. What the brain does when it's tired is it ignores information. So if you're training regularly and that day the kids are tired and the brain is done, finished and you're doing a neurofeedback session. If it doesn't want to keep learning in that present moment it's just going to ignore the information. So there's no such thing as over-training.

No side effects and no overtraining

There's also no overtraining because with NeurOptimal the trainer is basically the individual's own brain, there is no external trainer who is setting protocols. Protocol neurofeedback is this type of neurofeedback where the trainer sets protocols based on either a diagnosis or a brain map (QEEG Map) which shows which brain regions have too much alpha or too little beta or whatever. Then the trainer will set the protocols to sort of nudge the brain out of the maladaptive and into the adaptive brain waves. That's the first generation of neurofeedback. It was created when computers didn't operate at the speed of the human brain so you had to take out some of the functioning. But with NeurOptimal because it was designed with current computer power in mind, it was designed to give real-time feedback. So it is a fully automated system and it's purely giving feedback about what is maladaptive in the present moment. So it makes it a much more precise system. That's also why you can do home training. It is because the system's fully automated, there are no protocols to set and there's no forcing of a state change. When you're doing protocol neurofeedback there is this principle called overtraining because it's it's an art rather than a science in terms of how much to train. That brain to go into Alpha for example and so people can report "Oh I'm feeling a little kind of hyper-focused!" and we call that over-training, it's not a problem. it's not permanent –the brain will adjust itself!  But that temporary side effect doesn't happen with the NeurOptimal system.

Read Also:

How to Monitor Progress 

Home neurofeedback 

The other thing is that the home system that you use. A lot of our families when they decide to do brain training with NeurOptimal, opt for home sessions rather than coming into the office because it's much easier and it's more affordable. Just also to know that it's the same technology we use in our office so you're getting the same quality training when you train at home versus in an office. Here are some images of a NeurOptimal session. The child on the left is playing a video game. That's my daughter when she was about 12.  She's now 18. And you can see in the background that the Microsoft Surface tablet runs the software and she's listening to the music through the speakers. Kids tend to prefer having the music in the environment rather than right in their ears. It doesn't have to be loud, it just has to be a volume that they can hear. We want that automatic brain to be able to listen to the music. She has the volume off on her video game. The amplifier is the little box in the background that changes that voltage into numbers, amplifying the brain waves and canceling out the 60 herz line noise that's in the environment. The girl on the right here is just demonstrating where the sensors go. They're roughly halfway between the top of the ears and the crown of the head (C3 and C4). It's a big area. You don't have to worry about being super precise but you do want the sensors to be firmly pressed against the head. Use EEG paste to do that. So one of the things that we recommend is if kids have a lot of hair, you can part the hair and put a clip or Barrette back, and then when you smush the sensor down on the head, it's not weighted down by the hair. Then the reference sensors are on the tops of the ears and then there's a grounding sensor here (on the right earlobe). With kids, they may move their heads around more so I always encourage parents to check and just make sure the sensors are firmly pressed about every 10-15 minutes. The NeurOptimal session length is 33 minutes. Because the feedback is auditory they can be doing something else visually. And because we are training that automatic functioning brain rather than the prefrontal cortex, conscious brain, kids can be doing other things while the sessions are going on. So that's why my daughter is playing a video game while she's doing her neurofeedback session.

Best neurofeedback training practices for parents

Let's talk about best practices when it comes to neurofeedback training. The #1 complaint that we get from people who train at home is that they absolutely love the training, however, they wish they had done it more often. The challenge is actually doing the sessions! Our biggest concern is making sure that parents are set up for success to actually run the sessions. Because NeurOptimal is fully automated, it's also easy to set up. It'll take you 15 minutes or less to learn how to run the sessions at home. The bigger challenge is getting those sessions to happen. So if you're a parent who is in charge of your household and also in charge of what your kids do, then I would say you can say as much as you think is helpful about it or as little as you think is helpful. Because they don't have to understand what is going on in order for it to be successful. I find with ADHD kids because so many kids' self-esteem is impacted by the fact that their brains aren't doing what they want them to do, and they blame it on themselves like their conscious selves,  it's a really great thing to tell those kids; "We're going to train your brain so that it learns to do the right thing! Which has nothing to do with what you're trying to make happen. It has everything to do with a part of your brain on autopilot."

Best strategies to schedule sessions with your child or teen

• Allow your kid to do something fun while in session
• Make it a reward. Especially if your kids are the decider. This will make it a lot easier.
• If you need your kids' buy-in, in order for the sessions to happen, then make them an offer they can't refuse. Whatever that is.  Whether you let them have their video game time or you know you give them some sort of reward for doing the session. Again, our number one goal is for the session to happen.
• Try not to make it a point of struggle. Think about what's going to get them to consent to doing it.
• What is the best time to train an adolescent? Anytime, any age is good.

Why neurofeedback training Is exercise for the brain

Kids understand that a healthy body, a strong body is a body that gets exercise. So in the same way a healthy brain is a brain that gets exercise and what we're doing with the neurofeedback is we're training the brain. We're training the brain to function at its best in the same way you see adults going for runs or you're playing soccer or you see people lifting weights. Right now we have this tool that helps our brain to get the exercise that it needs to function at its best. So again, your kids are best, in terms of what is going to help them to relax, to feel good about participating in this they don't need to understand it in order for it to work. My daughter had no clue about what this thing was that her mom made her do until she was about 13. So from the age of six when my daughter started until she was 13 she just like it when anybody would ask her what is that she's like I don't know that's my mom's brain thing. Also ,for those first six years whenever I would ask her do, you noticed anything from doing the brain training, she would say no I didn't notice anything. It wasn't until she was actually she was about 14 that she had an incident with nose bleeds and almost passed out. That set up a fear response to having nosebleeds. It was very interesting, she came to me and said, "Mom I want to do the brain-machine every day until I stop being afraid of getting nosebleeds!" I was shocked that she said this because up until this point we really didn't have any conversations about how it works or when you should use it. I really kind of understood this to be her own system communicating that it understood what it was good for and asking for it. To her credit. every day for 11 days she did the neurofeedback she asked for it. and on the 12th day she said, "Nope Mom, I'm good. I don't need it !" And true to form, she was not afraid of getting new nosebleeds after that point. 

My daughter was the one who really taught me that you don't have to use words for kids to understand what something does. Through their own felt experience they can learn and they can appreciate it. So don't worry if your kids aren't giving you any feedback about how much better they feel. Really trusting that this system is always about helping that brain optimize itself through giving it that mirror, over and over again. To understand what it's doing that's habitual and maladaptive as opposed to habitual and adaptive or appropriate for the 'Here and Now.'

Watch a teen testimonial;

My results after years of neurofeedback sessions

Watch also on YouTube

Why families training together see greater results

The other big factor in success for children is when a parent a primary caregiver also does the neurofeedback sessions. That's part of why we encourage parents to rent a system because it's easier for multiple people to train at home. The reason for that is because nervous systems are connected. We are survival animals at our core and this is our survival brain that produces a lot of the symptoms that we find in anxiety, ADHD, midnight terrors, PTSD, depression, etc.

So it works in a family system because the nervous systems are connected and the child's nervous system is connected to the parent's nervous system. So when a child is doing their brain training, they're going to want to come...let me just show my little graph 

here... So here is my stress response right?  So right here is a regulated brain. It's in a state of calm – it's open, it's creative, it's relaxed. The brain perceives safety in the present moment. 

Hyper arousal, that's the fight-flight. Hypo-arousal, that's the depressive collapsed response. Those two zones are when the brain is mistakingly thinking that there is danger in the "Here and Now." So that primitive brain is using that fight-flight freeze energy, right? So, the hyper-vigilant scanning of the ADHD brain is part of the hypo-hyper-risk response. So that kid, when they're doing neurofeedback, is automatically that nervous system, is going to check in with the parent nervous system as it wants to go into regulation out of dysregulation;  "Ooh, but is it safe? Is it okay?" And if the parent is also doing the neurofeedback, even though they may not have some mental health condition, or something diagnosable, they do have stress right, so we all know that we can hover around that fight-flight energy of that freeze response energy. So the parent's brain is going to get more regulated because when the brain comes into the present moment, it sees safety. "There's no danger! Why am I doing a stress response? I'm only supposed to do that when there's imminent danger!" It takes a lot of energy to do a stress response. So that brain is naturally going to become regulated. So when a child's nervous system feels into the parent's nervous system and the parent is regulated, which means safety, then the child's nervous system is more confident, and also being regulated. That's how those nervous systems support each other. I just listened to a really great interview with a psychiatrist who is an expert in addictions and trauma because most addictions are born out of traumatic experiences, unfortunately. And he talked about how parent and child nervous systems are connected. In our follow-up email, I'll send a link to that so you can if you're interested in learning more about that. That interview was a good one so  

Why it's beneficial if the parent also trains

if parents train along with the kids that's a super helpful thing. When we are more regulated, our communication style becomes more responsive and less reactive. That is another reason why things work better when parents are training as well. When we're calmer, we're also much more organized or it's much more easy to be organized. So parents who are also training, it becomes much easier to know and figure out how to schedule everybody's sessions, because we're not in reactive mode. So those are other reasons why it's beneficial if the parent also trains.

Holistic living for better brain health

Another really important thing is to think about this as a holistic process of brain health rather than a medical intervention. to fix a mental health condition. We've all been conditioned by the western medical model and the pharmaceutical industry to think about the "one-pill wonder." That one thing that is going to fix it. This is really about understanding how we help optimize brain health. Symptoms are born in part out of not being in a state of health. So really thinking about what are all the pieces that come together to create optimal brain health rather than thinking we're just going to do one thing, and that one thing should be enough for the results we want to see.

The components that help our brains function at their best

1. Get Enough Sleep!

One of the biggest things in our current culture is that children don't sleep enough. Children need 10 to 12 hours a night and 10 hours for adolescents. 

As many of you know, who have adolescents, the school systems have started being more responsive and moving up the start time for high school because the research shows if kids sleep more, they perform better at school. They have better mental health. It's just a win-win-win. So think about the best sleep practices for your kids.

2. Diet

Another big contributor is diet. Busy life-style, and the food industry that loves to put sugar in everything, is really not good for the brain. So this is a bigger topic and something that maybe over time you can just take a look at and think about how do we help transition from highly processed foods, high sugar, high refined grain diet, to a whole foods diet, with less sugar. There's lots and lots of research coming out about inflammation and how brain inflammation impacts mental health symptoms. Also, research on ADHD symptoms and anxiety in children actually really being about food additives food dyes and food allergies.  So just a topic to think about. I know it's a hard one for some families but we've definitely had instances where parents have not seen results from the neurofeedback after a month and that's typically when we ask the question; "tell me about Sarah's diet. How are you feeding your kids? What are they eating?" Because that can be a significant contributor to what we call "mental health symptoms." I put it in quotes because it's not necessarily born out of issues having to do with what we consider to be typical for being anxious or having ADHD.

3. Exercise

 Exercise is so important for brain health and for mood.  If you ask any honest psychiatrist they will tell you exercise is the number one antidepressant out there. Think about exercise in terms of overall health – how are we doing with exercise?

4. Playfulness

Are we as a family having enough fun? Is there enough affection within the family? Those are things that are key for our overall health. A brain that's stuck in that hyper-vigilant, hyperarousal or hypo-arousal is not a brain that is having fun. The fun happens when we're regulated. So if we create the conditions for fun, then it helps the brain come out of those dysregulated states and come into a state of regulation.

3. Parenting Style

The last thing is our parenting style. If you find that you are like many of us quick to react, with irritation and so on. If your parenting style is a little chaotic, if there's a little too much anger in the household, that will absolutely impact the child. Because that communicates that they were in an unsafe environment. So the best thing for shifting your parenting is to do the NeurOptimal as that brain re-regulates and calms down.  Then we are able to be more responsive in our parenting style. So being able to be calm and be collaborative when appropriate sets healthy expectations, things like that...

So those are some of the things that create a holistic set of resources for children to be able to shift out of what's maladaptive and into what's adaptive.

Can Neurofeedback help alleviate a condition?

So now let's really go into specific conditions.  Because most parents come to exploring neurofeedback training because they're either doing kind of armchair diagnosing of their kids, or they have a a real diagnosis from a health care provider and they're looking for the support or interventions to help. So one of the things I want to just reiterate is that this is helping the brain to learn how to function at its best. When you teach the brain to function differently symptoms shift. We don't think about this as treatment for conditions we think about this as brain training for optimal health. When you optimize health symptoms shift.

The anxious brain and the stress response

Zone Number 1: Anxious Energy

Zone number one in the stress response chart is anxiety. That's that fight-flight energy right so what's happening there is the brain is stuck in a habit of thinking that the environment is unsafe again the stress response is that that automatic functioning brains strategy for resolving an eminently dangerous situation so the brain defines danger as in less than a minute and so that's why it's it works independent of our our our contemplative brain which is our prefrontal cortex which goes oh should I do this or should I do this right it's our planning brain when it comes to the eminent danger we don't have time right to consult with the prefrontal cortex so this part of the brain's on autopilot and so it gets a simple cue from the environment and it goes we're in danger and it does that unconsciously it's not a conscious decision and then it just uses simple cues to reinforce that patterning and keep it going.

Zone Number Three: Depressive Energy

Zone number three is the depressive energy. Number one is more what you see with ADHD, and anxiety, OCD (which is technically an anxiety condition but it's interesting it's actually a different part of the brain that is active in an OCD person than like a generalized anxiety or phobias and I have found that it is longer to train so whereas when a parent comes to me and says you know my kid has night terrors or you know got bit by a dog and is afraid of dogs now or you know over covet it's just created you know stranger danger and is very anxious about leaving the house. Typically with those kids,  assuming again that we have a relatively healthy lifestyle, those kids train two to three to four times a week for two months to three months and usually they're really good to go and symptoms resolve and in a good place. With OCD it takes longer. In my experience it's about three to six months of regular training with some Behavior Cognitive Modification Training as well. It's a good to start with the NeurOptimal. Let that brain get a little bit more regulated and then add the behavioral piece. Because a reactive brain is not a brain that easily learns. First we want to bring it more into regulation then add the cognitive behavior or the behavioral piece. Secondarily if it's not too intense, you can do both at the same time, but OCD takes a little longer. I have ASD instead of as.....that's right autism spectrum disorder ... so this is one where one of the things that we see change pretty quickly when autism spectrum kids do NeurOptimal, assuming that well let me start with this ,which is that for some kids who are very sensitive to to sensory experiences  the training starts slowly and builds up. So first they have to get comfortable with the sensors and often that could be like putting the sensors on a teddy bear or just clipping them on their hands or clipping them on their parents. And then gradually working up to having them on their heads and start with short sessions. So you can change the length of the neurofeedback session. So you can start with a five minute session, and some parents who have very sensitive kids will train them when they're sleeping. Again, the brain listens even when it's asleep. So it's effective training to do it when they're sleeping. Some parents opt to do that in the beginning and then they can transition to the kids tolerating it. The reason for that is because what we see in this sensitivity is that part of the very important function of the brain is it's supposed to only send enough sensory data into conscious awareness that we need to be able to be responsive to the information that's coming through those sense perceptions but for whatever reason with autism spectrum kids a lot of them their gateway is not closed enough and so too much sensory data floods them, so they can't make eye contact, they don't like things on their skin, and so when they do the NeurOptimal training the brain sees that it's doing that and that it's maladaptive and it starts to function much better at keeping sensory information out of awareness, so then they're not flooded. Then there's all sorts of other things that can happen because that data isn't front and center for them and then can transition to tolerating doing the sessions and having the sensors on. So it helps with that aspect of autism spectrum and health food that stress response specifically mood regulation, so there aren't the highs and the lows. They're much better able to be regulated less reactive. For those  families I encourage them if they can afford it to actually buy a system and train consistently throughout child development because there are more stressors and certainly the parents could benefit as well because  it's a stressful situation at times. So ADHD or ADD. The families who rent systems for that typically again.. we Sorry season has a no a question here but I'll I'll answer that in a second –– So with ADHD, again if a parent also trains super helpful there is not always but often a more chaotic family system connected to ADHD. So what we find is that  chaos of the family system becomes more organized when we have a parent also training. But it's not always the case. It's just sometimes but then, also the child's brain obviously trains and does well and typically for those families kids train three to four times a week  for two to three months.. They're usually pretty pretty happy with the results. We do have tracking tools so we use self-reporting checklists and you rate symptoms on a scale of one to ten. You fill them out once a month so with kids with ADHD, you know you can let teachers know. You can ask teachers to fill out the checklists.  I was talking to a mom a couple weeks ago and she said: "I knew when it was really working because the school stopped calling me!" So for some families those are really the signs that the neurofeedback is helping. And for families where they're not seeing shifting happening in the first month, so after one month we should see some of those tens becoming eights or sevenths on the Checklist form. That's usually when we start asking questions about diet, articularly in ADHD. That's just something to keep in mind is that there are lots of co-factors. While NeurOptimal can help that brain to reset itself. If they're underlying biological issues, toxicity. Heavy metal toxicity is something that can can produce what looks like an anxiety disorder. If that heavy metal isn't detox that anxiety is probably not going to go away despite the NeurOptimal so when there is biologically based reasons, those still also need to be addressed. But he nice thing is if we don't see the shifting, that we would expect from a month of training, we should start to see numbers changing there, then we know there's probably some organic biological contributor. So we get to do some digging and exploring what else could be going on here. So let's see somebody had a question. Let me just see if I can yeah hold that up here uh. "Do you offer people cognitive behavioral therapy online? My child have OCD. She's been using NeurOptimal for a month and a half. She needs more support." So we don't offer the cognitive behavioral therapy to go alongside the OCD that would be something that I would encourage you to look for locally or the Psychology Today website. If you're looking for a referral source, they have a find a a therapist feature and you can search for someone who specializes in OCD and children. That's the the best thing. It's great that you're recognizing that she needs that extra support! So thanks Michelle. Your daughter is very lucky to have you there.. Let's see any...where are we at here...we're at the end in terms of what I wanted to say. If any of you have any questions you can unmute yourself and just ask a question or you can put it in the chat window either one is fine.

So for those of you who want a better understanding of how NeurOptimal works I encourage you to go to our website actually the neurofeedbacktraing.com/webinar. That's how you can get to that webinar. It's more of a deep dive into how NeurOptimal is different than other neurofeedback systems, the protocol systems how it works in more detail.

Questions

Can my child still take ADHD medication while brain training? How long does it usually take to come off the ADHD medications?

Children can stay on their ADHD medication while they're training.  I would work with the physician who prescribed to let them know that you're doing neurofeedback and that you want to know what would be the signs that it's time to start tapering them off their medication. Work as a team to know when to do that. Typically for children, three months of neurofeedback is usually a really good foundation and you could start discussing with your providing physician about how to taper off and what to be looking for in terms of signs. They're now over medicated so one of the things that has been observed with NeurOptimal is that when people are doing the brain training the brain actually uses those drugs more efficiently and so actually, less becomes more. But again, something to discuss and decide with your physician who's the prescriber.

What other methods can my child do while doing a neurofeedback training program?

Chiropractic checkups and clinical nutrition are great adjuncts to neurofeedback. Again, think about the holistic approach. Those are very helpful things...

Diet: When it comes to diet, if you don't want it to be a parent-child power struggle, having your child talk to a nutritionist or a more holistic pediatrician. Unfortunately most standard pediatricians have been taught the food pyramid which is not the most current thinking about best nutrition practices. So you really want someone who has a more holistic approach. Dr Mark Hyman who is a functional medicine doctor got lots of educational materials. \

Therapy; Having your kids go and talk to somebody who's not the parent can also be helpful because it takes it out of the the struggle of power that can happen between a parent and a child. 

Home Neurofeedback: If there is a lot of chaos, or just a really busy schedule and it's like "Whoa, I can't do all of this!" at once which is very understandable, starting with the NeurOptimal is a really good place to start. Because again, as that brain gets regulated it comes more into that zone of regulation, which is when we're calm, centered, better able to focus better, able to plan and to be organized. So then it becomes much more easy to add in the pieces.

Success stories from clients

I've witnessed over and over again that what happens is the brain starts to ask for what it needs, and it can come out very spontaneously. So for example, I had a fellow training and he came in it was probably around his 10th or 12th session and he said; "You know Natalie, Emily decided to go back to the gym!" When it kind of rises just sort of the spontaneous thought, but what's underneath that is that there is that stability and regulation happening so that now that message can come through "Hey, I need exercise. If I'm really going to optimize and have the best brain waves possible! I need you to exercise me!" So that the brain can ask for that, and the message can be received and we can actually follow through. I've heard people say that spontaneously about their diet as well. They say it about relationships. Another thing, and I'll use my daughter as an example, because it was kind of a spontaneous understanding that I received based on her training which is that she started to not be as attracted to dys-regulated kids. It would come out with things like I'd say: "What do you think of the new kid Sally in class?" and she'd be like (and this was when she was small like seven); "I don't know. She's a lot of energy." So there is this sense of  being dysregulation and the regulated brain is not as attracted to dysregulation because dysregulation takes a lot of energy. So if a regulated brain is going to be connected to a dysregulated brain, it's going to take energy because again that fight-flight energy that hyperarousal takes more to be active and then in a sort of more sophisticated way people will start to say things like: "Wow, I realized that when I hang out with so and so it's really not a lot of fun. They're really negative or they're kind of aggressive and again, it's that sensitivity of recognizing what's happening in their environment and not being as attracted. Very organically, the brain is not attracted to dysregulation whether that's anger, anxiety, society, hopelessness, despair... They don't want to merge with it and that's that unconscious brain recognizing:" Oh no! I I don't actually. That's not good!" That's not a good connection, which doesn't mean that people you know just abandon everybody but they're just better able to discern health from maybe what's less healthy in relationships, which we could all benefit from having better discernment. So let's see any other questions at this time?

Thank you all for joining and my email is there [natalie@neurofeedbacktraining.com]. Please feel free to follow up with an email if you have specific questions you want to ask me. If you want to do more learning we got lots of content on our blog and on our YouTube Channel. So  I just encourage you to keep educating yourself. Have a great weekend! We will see you next time. Take care!

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