Neurofeedback & Brain Training

What is Neurofeedback:

Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback to the brain that shows you your brainwaves in the form of a live EEG scan (electroencephalogram) in a way that helps you understand and self-regulate. Your brain is adaptable but sometimes it needs a helping hand to  change. Neurofeedback training can speed up that process.

How can Neurofeedback Help with My Addiction:

Alcohol and drugs are psychoactive substances and their effects represent changes in neurological functioning. It is possible to learn to control one’s brain states from within, without drugs and alcohol. In this way, addictions can be overcome without a lifetime of struggle and craving. Neurofeedback (also called EEG biofeedback) trains the brain to modulate its level of activity, to become more or less aroused according to the needs of the individual. Chemical addiction and sex addiction often involve poor self regulation and impulsivity. In these cases it can be helpful to teach the brain to regulate and become less aroused. It seems that Neurofeedback can improve addictions treatment outcomes and lead to better results than the best mainstream approaches now available.  Treatment often begins with a quantitative EEG (Brain Map)  which guides training. One widely used process for over arousal is called the “alpha-theta protocol” or the Peniston protocol, after the researcher Eugene Peniston who refined and researched it. At Full Heart Recovery we often utilize this protocol. We have found that many substance and sex addicts are deficient in alpha and theta waves. These types of brainwaves are  associated, respectively, with a relaxed and yet alert state. These addicts are cortically hyper-aroused and find it hard to maintain a state of relaxed focus.  Using a substance or obsessing over an image temporarily increases the amount of alpha and theta waves and reduces cortical arousal. This is associated with the addict’s sense of euphoria. However after this temporary increase in alpha and the acting out event takes place increased fast beta comes back. The person is more anxious and tense than before acting out.

Neurofeedback training helps you learn how to self-regulate and relax by changing your brainwaves.

There have been several research studies that show those who use Neurofeedback as part of an addiction treatment program in fact show higher success rates and lower relapse rates than the same program without the benefit of Neurofeedback.

At Full Heart Recovery we offer addicts the options to actively and physically gain control in a way that directly impacts their disease and brain behavior.

We advocate support groups, 12-steps programs, Trauma Focus CBT, Hypnosis and behavioral interventions. But adding Neurofeedback may help you to feel calmer, overcome trauma, and increase your chances for a full recovery.

Neurofeedback is a new approach in the area of addiction that may help you to learn to gain self-control by decreasing your level of stress and improving your focus and mental clarity.

Neurofeedback is the most important new treatment for addiction.

Using Neurofeedback combined with other addiction treatment may dramatically increases the success rate of treatment and relapse prevention

Let Us Explain Why:

Addiction is a seriously debilitating mental health disorder. If left unchecked, addiction strips people of their self-respect, their ability to function optimally, their relationships, their reputation, careers and their soul.

It’s a brain based disorder that affects thinking – and causes a person to engage in a behavior that is self-destructive and painful. It’s often accompanied by anxiety, depression, bi-polar, and other mental health disorders.

Loved ones often believe erroneously that addicts are weak … that curing addiction is a matter of self-discipline. Addicts report feelings of shame, guilt, remorse, anger, and frustration. But for many it’s a brain disease that is very hard to change without a multidimensional treatment approach.

We address Physiological and Psychological aspects of addiction

Because addiction is a brain disorder, not a moral issue or just a lack of discipline, we work directly with the brain to help people self-regulate. At the Full Heart Recovery we teach you to self calm, relax and improve focus. Training helps improve mental clarity, self regulation and compulsive behavior . This helps build a foundation for recovery and may assist with relapse prevention.

At Full Heart Recovery, we offer state of the art Neurofeedback offered by clinician’s who understand addictions as well as Neurofeedback.