What is NeurOptimal® neurofeedback? NeurOptimal® is a computer program that is designed to detect the electrical activity in your brain. This is done through sensors that are stuck on your head with paste. When the program detects a difference in your electrical activity, it lets your brain know through interruption in the audio that you are listening to. These interruptions allow your brain to train itself, to evaluate if the path it is taking is a good path or if it needs to learn a new path that is better. It is described by the designers of the program as “like having a “defrag” of your hard drive, it’s suddenly easier to get out of your own way and access your “A game”. Roadblocks can fall away and life can just seem easier, more in flow.” (neuroptimal.com)
What do you do while your brain is training? You have a few options. What you will always do is listen to audio. What audio you listen to can vary. You can listen to music or you can watch a movie. You can sit down in a chair or lay down, whatever is most comfortable for you. Once you decide, you will stay there for 33 minutes. During that time you can work on your computer, write in a journal, play on your phone, take a nap, or just enjoy watching the movie. There is no “must” do, you should do what you would like to do.
Where is Be Better Brain Training located? I am starting this business as a mobile business. This means that I can come to your home or your place of business. All I need is an electrical outlet to plug my computer in. All you need is a comfortable place to sit down and relax while you are listening to the audio and are connected to the computer. We can watch a movie together or you can put headphones on and I will sit near by and make sure everything is working how it should.
What happens if I have children at home? It is best for your children to not distract you. If you have another adult in the home, they should take care of the children while you are in a session. I am also able to help, although I do need to be available to take care of you. If there is no one else that can help with the children, we can figure it out! Give me a call or send me a message and we will figure out. We can also figure this out during your consultation.
What can NeurOptimal® help me with? NeurOptimal® is a wellness tool and not a cure for anything. It has no need to know about any kind of diagnosis at all. NeurOptimal® processes your brain signals very rapidly and when it detects them moving into an “instability”, the music or movie pauses very briefly. That’s it. That’s all that happens. The brain adjusts its activity without any effort from you (you can be completely zoned out if you want), to stay “within” the rumble strip. The brain does this on its own — NeurOptimal® doesn’t tell it to. This means that we cannot tell the brain to help with anything specific, but instead your brain will train itself to be the best working brain it can be. This means, NeurOptimal® can help with many things. Those of us that have tried NeurOptimal® can tell you what it has helped us with, but it is different for everyone. Our brains are all different and the paths have all been programmed in different ways for different reasons and NeurOptimal® is only trying to make those paths the most optimal ones and once they are, that is when you will see positive changes.
How will you know if NeurOptimal® is helping you? At the consultation, we will discuss what your hopes are for your sessions. I will have you fill out a basic questionnaire and I will take notes. During every session after that, we will talk about those hopes and discuss if anything is different. I will help you track to see if there is any change anywhere in your life to make sure the NeurOptimal® is helping you. After every 10 sessions, we will fill out the questionnaire again and then compare them to see if anything has changed. The changes are often subtle and unnoticed. Think of it like moving a pile pebbles from one spot to another spot. You do not notice the pile of pebbles is getting smaller when you are moving them one at a time. This is how NeurOptimal® might be working in your brain and I am there to help you notice that you are moving those pebbles. Sometimes you will move a big pebble and you will tell me about it. It all depends on your brain.
How long before you will start seeing changes? This varies from person to person and from situation to situation. I can tell you about my personal situation when we meet and I can tell you about how it worked with other people, but there is no telling how long it will take before you will start seeing changes. I do know, you will know when those changes have been made in a way that you no longer need anymore sessions!
What have people seen positive improvements in? This is a hard question with a vague answer. Since the FDA has approved NeurOptimal® for use in wellness, it is a wellness tool. You can do a google search and learn about stories from people that have seen improvements in so many different parts of their lives. Personally, it has helped me with sleeping better, focus, concentration, coping with depression, anxiety, and CPTSD to name a few. It is not a cure for anything, it is a wellness tool that can help with a variety of things that are different based on an individuals brain.
Why get neurofeedback with NeurOptimal®? There are several different programs that are available to use for neurofeedback. We use NeurOptimal® neurofeedback. NeurOptimal® is considered by many to be the most highly evolved form of neurofeedback available today. After more than 40 years in the neuroscience field and related disciplines, Dr. Valdeane Brown and Dr. Susan Cheshire Brown, Zengar Institute founders, have developed a safe, effective system that gives feedback directly to your brain allowing it to regulate itself more efficiently. It is the only dynamical system that is designed for your brain to teach itself. It does not need a doctor or practitioner to work or tell the program what to do because your brain is able to change itself.
Is Your Brain Functioning Efficiently?
Your brain is capable of optimal functioning, but for most of us our central nervous system gets knocked off by the challenges of daily life and the brain operates inefficiently.
Manifestations of a less than optimally functioning central nervous system can include:
memory problems
poor performance on tasks
not waking refreshed
feeling low
difficulty paying attention
over-activity
feeling nervous
drinking more alcohol than is good
head hurting
catching colds and infections
irritability
feeling stressed and overwhelmed
How Be Better Brain Training started
I want to help. It is the core of who I am and what drives me. I discovered NeurOptimal® after caring for a dying family member for a year while raising my daughter alone and running a family farm and business. The trauma of the year and the year that followed triggered my c-PTSD, causing me to spiral into a deep and dark depression entailed with day long panic attacks. Desperate to find something that helped, something to stop the spiral I tried all sorts of therapy and medications to get back on to me, and then my friend suggested I try neurofeedback. For me, it was life saving. I stopped having panic attacks all together, I fixate less, my thoughts are clear and organized, I do not take medication - everything got better. I am still doing neurofeedback because I still have things that I want to work on, but I am back to who I was before my c-PTSD was triggered.
This is what NeurOptimal® did for me. Every single person, no matter how challenged or how skilled, benefits when their brain operates more effectively. Athletes, business professionals, students and musicians have experienced enhanced performance. I want to help you. I want everyone to have access to a better way to wellness to help you be better in the ways you want to be. Be Better Brain Training
Disclaimer: NeurOptimal® is a training tool and does not diagnose, treat, mitigate prevent or cure any disease, disorder or abnormal physical state, nor does it restore, modify or correct the body’s structure or functioning. If you require medical assistance, please seek the advice of your physician.