Neurotherapy Explained – Gold Coast

Hi, I’m Martin Brink and I’m a Neurotherapist. Neurotherapy is Applied Neuroscience for the therapy of Functional Brain Disorders.[WHAAT?]

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the Nervous System including the Brain. The Brain itself is a highly complex and complicated subject. And that’s why there are so many subdivisions of Neuroscience, keeping Universities busy and tens of thousands of Neuroscientists gainfully employed.

Applied Neuroscience is about using neuro-scientific knowledge for practical purposes. One example is the use of a Brain-Computer Interface to operate a robotic arm after an amputation. Or to steer a wheelchair with Brain activity. With some training, of course.

Now, some people will be surprised that Brains can be trained, but in fact, humans train their Brains all the time: As infants, we train our Brains to make our bodies walk and to speak our first language. As kids, we train our Brains to read and write, to ride a bike, to play sports or a musical instrument.

As adults, we train our Brains to drive a car, to acquire a work skill, or to learn juggling. Or we train our Brains to play chess, to become better golfers or to speak a foreign language. In short, training the Brain to acquire the electrical patterns for a new skill or to improve an existing one is what we do as humans. And — as fancy as it sounds — a Brain computer interface merely taps into the powers that our Brains already have.

And of course we can apply these powers to the therapy of Functional Brain Disorders. Why wouldn’t ya? Everything  we feel, think or do depends on the electrical communication between the Billions of neurons in our noggin. In other words, all our abilities, behaviours and experiences arise from the electrical activity in our Brains.

And while normal, balanced and healthy Brain activity allows us to have normal abilities, healthy behaviours and balanced experiences, it is fairly obvious that abnormal, unbalanced and unhealthy Brain activity causes symptoms in the same categories: [1] Unwanted Experiences [2] Bothersome Behaviours and [3] Substandard Abilities. These Functional Brain Disorders are the domain of Neurotherapy.

Grounded in Applied Neuroscience, Neurotherapy is the professional field that uses • safe • non-invasive and • drug-free methods of Neuromodulation to help people with Functional Brain Disorders. Typically, Neurotherapists use active Neuromodulation, passive Neuromodulation and auxiliary interventions to help normalise faulty Brain activity, depending on their clientele, their individual training and their experience.

However, every Neurotherapist uses at least one of the many systems for Neurofeedback-Based Brain Training with their clients. Suffice it to say, there are multiple modalities, methods and methodologies available to Neurotherapists.

The way it works, is fairly straight forward: A Brain Computer Interface measures the fluctuating levels of the targeted Brain activity in real-time and a computer with special software controls the screen. When the levels are in the target range, the movie plays; when the levels are worse, the movie stops. And so the Brain gradually learns to improve its ability to normalise its electrical activity in order to watch a chosen movie; or to influence a special video game; or some animation; or a music file.

Neurofeedback Therapy has been used clinically since the 1980s. There are thousands of Neurotherapists in the US and Europe, roughly one hundred in Australia, about a dozen in Queensland. The US military uses Neurotherapy for the rehabilitation of PTSD and Brain injuries of their soldiers; and athletes train their Brain to boost their performance.

What typically happens in our practice is that over the course of Neurotherapy the severity scores for the client’s initial symptoms come down, as shown in this example of one of our clients. Here’s another one.

However, Neurotherapy with Neurofeedback Brain Training is not a miracle cure for all ailments: For infectious diseases, injuries and organ failures, you need to see a medical doctor; for truly psychological issues, you might find a psychologist helpful. Seeing a Neurotherapist is the best choice only for Functional Brain Disorders! That is, because Neurofeedback Therapy is not a medical treatment but belongs with other forms of therapeutic training for the gradual improvement of function by changing the electrical patterns in the Brain bit by bit.

It also helps to have realistic expectations: We won’t take on unreasonable clients who — after decades on heaps of prescription drugs for a long list of issues — staunchly demand that Brain training fixes all their problems in a couple of sessions. That’s simply not always possible as miracles sometimes take a little longer and require reasonable commitment and collaboration.

Jessica: If you are affected by a Functional Brain Disorder have a good look around our website. When you’re ready to make an appointment for the initial consultation, give me a call.

Martin: What she said.