Our Comprehensive Neurotherapy can improve Neurological and Mental Health by promoting healthy Brain function by using multiple approaches.
While Neurofeedback Brain Training is the main tool for all Neurotherapists, it is by no means the only one. In fact, we utilise quite a few more:
Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG)
The QEEG eavesdrops on the Brain’s electrical chatter and compares it to a normative database. It’s famous for its colour-coded brain maps which show significant deviations from normal (= green) in blue or red.
The Digital QEEG is very different from the Analog EEG used in Neurology as it has high scientific reliability and validity, allowing for more than 90,000 academic publications in the last 40 years. QEEG is invaluable to identify the glitches in Brain function which cause the symptoms in Mind and Body.
Low-Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (LoRETA)
Whilst the QEEG produces a flat map of the Brain’s strengths and weaknesses, LoRETA localises the faulty circuits in a three-dimensional Brain scan from a comfortable and convenient 19-channel EEG recording.
Superior to fMRI (an expensive tool for research), LoRETA analysis is available to clients, has excellent temporal resolution and can identify a Brain’s problem thanks to normative databases. This results in more effective training protocols and a reduced number of Neurotherapy sessions, eventually saving our clients’ time and money.
Low Energy Neurofeedback System (LENS)
Faulty or overwhelmed computers sometimes “freeze” and need to be “re-booted”. Similarly, Brain areas can get “stuck” which shows as reduced flexibility in the signal they send out. LENS Neurofeedback can “unfreeze” those stuck Brain areas with a tiny, barely measurable, imperceptible modulation of the ever-present electromagnetic field.
LENS works particularly well with sensitive and highly sensitive, even finicky clients. Although the mode of action sounds fairly cuckoo, LENS is not only effective but also highly regarded in the field of Applied Neuroscience. We’ve been using the LENS successfully since 2006.
Prefrontal Cortex Thermal Imaging
Just like muscle cells, neurons produce heat when they’re working. Emitted as infrared light, the heat production represents the area’s activity level quite accurately. On the forehead, where everybody is bald, Thermal Imaging shows sluggish areas of the Prefrontal Cortex as darker. That’s where we need to train.
Infrared Neurofeedback Training
For Infrared Neurofeedback, we measure and train the activity of the “command centre” of the human Brain with a high-precision head-set. It turns out that people are much better off, when the mature human part — the Prefrontal Cortex — is strong enough to reign supreme over the evolutionarily older Mammillian and Reptilian Brain (“the animal in us”). Infrared heat emissions represent the area’s activity level quite accurately. That allows us to train the Prefrontal Cortex much more effectively.
Protocol-Based Neurofeedback Training
Over last 40 years, professional Neurotherapists all over the world have been gathering a lot of clinical experience and sharing it with their colleagues at conferences and in online discussion forums. From that, a number of “true and tested recipes” have emerged that work well with certain problems in certain situations.
Although this approach appears a bit dated in comparison with the modern LENS, IR, ILF, Z-score or LoRETA based Neurotherapy methods, it is sometimes helpful to resort to an “old classic” (for example, the protocol that protected the cats from seizures). What counts for us is what helps our clients.
Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback Training (ILF NFT)
The Brain’s neurons communicate in various frequencies. The famous ranges of the EEG are called Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, Hibeta and Gamma and cover 0.5-42Hz. Above Gamma, the signal is fairly weak, not too well explored and also called Gamma. Go figure.
Below 0.5Hz, the signal is actually very large and originates from helper cells, called Glia, “whispering into the neuron’s ears”. Long story short: Training these infra-low frequencies in defined montages can be very effective. ILF NFT is the method with the largest number of clinicians world-wide relying on it, partly or solely, due to its elegance and simplicity.
QEEG-guided / Surface Z-Score Neurofeedback Training
It is logically appealing to target the patterns and areas of the Brain that are responsible for the symptoms, guided by the results of an assessment. Neurotherapists who have invested time and money acquiring QEEG knowledge, equipment, software and a database typically favour this approach, as it is the most scientifically sound.
Nowadays, it is possible to train the glitches with continuous real-time reference to the normative database in the form of Z-scores, the unit of “abnormality”. You could say that Surface Z-score Training uses “256 QEEGs per second” to guide the Brain towards better function. It’s a bit like a heat-seeking missile playing “hot-and-cold”.
LoRETA Z-Score Neurofeedback Training
These days, Neurotherapists have access to a system that uses real-time Z-score LoRETA information for Neurofeedback-based Brain training.
LoRETA Z-score Neurofeedback combines the advantage of live database guidance with the 3D source localisation of Brain activity and the unmatched temporal resolution of LoRETA. This allows for an even more specific training of the Brain’s wonky modules, hubs and networks.
LoRETA Z-score Neurofeedback does away with the need for a clunky million-dollar fMRI machine with its 50-ton magnet and $30,000 for liquid helium every month. While fMRI scanners look good, they tend to clutter your garage.
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS)
In contrast to Neurofeedback-based Brain training — which is an active form of Neuromodulation — TDCS is a passive method to encourage or discourage neuronal activity. The TDCS-device is essentially a 9V-battery with a bit of electronics. It applies 0.5-2mA via two wet sponges to the scalp, thereby creating a weak, barely noticeable direct current. Done correctly, TDCS is completely safe and a potent primer for active Neuromodulation.
We use TDCS with resilient clients, when aberrant activity patterns refuse to budge, as is sometimes the case in Chronic Pain, Chronic Migraine or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). In our view, TDCS guided by a QEEG is far superior to the many forms of passive Neuromodulation that Medicine uses merely based on a diagnostic label (e.g. rTMS for Depression).
Disentrainment / Neuromeditation
Many of the problems that clients experience are caused by a lack of flexibility in certain Brain areas and pathways. In this regard, the Brain can behave like a grumpy grandpa who keeps telling the same stories over and over again. Besides the LENS, we use a second system to tackle this problem: Photic EEG Disentrainment.
Photic Disentrainment forces the Brain to follow flickering lights at irregular, chaotic frequencies to stimulate the Brain’s inherent phase-error correction. You could say it works a bit like defragmenting a hard disc in your computer. Since the Mind has no part in this, we often combine Disentrainment with Brain Music or Hypnosis tracks for a powerful, deeply relaxing Neuromeditation session.
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA)
HTMA is an inexpensive and convenient tool to detect deficiencies in essential minerals and elements, as well as excesses in toxic substances. When done at a top laboratory, HTMA results reflect the mineral levels in the Body’s tissues, which is much more useful than the fleeting blood levels.
HTMA is used in research, biological monitoring of animals, drug testing and Forensic Medicine. Orthomolecular or Functional Medicine practitioners, Nutritionists and holistic doctors rely on HTMA for its many strengths. The art of the HTMA lies in the interpretation of the results and the ensuing advice. We’ve got that covered.
Hormone Balancing
Many people erroneously believe that hormones only serve the nether regions of the body. That is hilariously wrong.
Hormones can’t be patented. That’s why pharmaceutical companies have no interest in educating doctors about the fundamental impact of hormone imbalances on overall health and Brain function. As a consequence, most doctors have little knowledge about balancing hormones naturally. We test and advise our clients based on the guidelines of the International Hormone Society and years of experience with this safe, effective and natural method.
Functional Pathology Testing
If required, we can access the entire range of Functional Pathology tests available in Australia or the US such as IgG food intolerance, Organic Acids, Amino Acids, Fatty Acids, Oxidative Stress, Porphyrins, Gastrointestinal Microbial Profiles and the like.
Since many so-called “physical” symptoms fade away when the Brain is back in balance, we rarely need to resort to these advanced biochemical assays.
Nutraceutical Consultation
In a perfect world, we’d be eating healthy food from naturally grown crops and meat from wild or organically raised animals. In this world, we better make sure that we get our biochemistry sorted out with targeted supplementation in order to avoid prescription drugs with known and secret side effects and risks.
At BODY MIND & BRAIN, we do not sell any products whatsoever in order to avoid conflicts of interests. Instead, we advise our clients—based on the test results—which nutraceuticals are recommended and where to order them economically.
Kinesio-Taping / Meditaping
Kinesio-Tape is an elastic cotton strip with an acrylic adhesive. It is applied to the skin over sore muscles, across hurting joints and along lines of muscular Trigger Points. Kinesio-Taping is popular among elite athletes and detectable on TV when you know what to look for.
Meditaping is a German variation of the same principle, further developed by a down-to-earth GP with a unique focus on clinical outcomes. When pain occurs during movement only (e.g. shoulder, knee), no other treatment comes remotely close to Meditaping.
Head Pain Emergency Help
Not all cases can be solved within the first therapy session. In fact, when pain has become chronic, it may take quite a bit of perseverance and persistence to reverse this process. In the meantime, sufferers with Headache Disorders can still have attacks for a while. We are prepared for that:
In case of an acute Migraine attack or Cluster headache emergency, we provide medical Oxygen to our clients for fast, drug-free symptom relief.
Psychometric Evaluation
As part of our initial evaluation, we ask all our clients to fill out questionnaires that give us an idea about the emotional burden they’re carrying, as well as of the degree of psychological support they might be needing in order to achieve their therapy goals.
As a small home-based practice, we only work with cooperative, sincere and motivated clients who are serious about solving their problems and issues for good.
Psychological Coaching
Humans are social beings. Everybody needs support. For some topics or issues, it is better not to burden friends or family members, but rather get some unbiased and professional input.
When specific topics arise that warrant talk therapy, we suggest single sessions of Solution-Focussed Psychological Coaching, Psycho-Education or Autonomy Training rather than extended Psychotherapy.
Trauma Resolution Sessions
A trauma is a memory from the past that feels, as if it is still happening in the present. Irrespective of the content, traumatic memories lose their vile effect, once the Brain has filed them where they belong: in the past.
Trauma resolution sessions are not designed to re-experience the traumatic event but rather to help Mind and Brain to distinguish there-and-then from here-and-now. Clients typically experience these sessions as liberating.
Applied Psychophysiology / Biofeedback
Applied Psycho-Physiology is the clinical science that looks into the interactions between Mind and Body. When people get “nervous”, their heart rate increases, they start sweating and they get “cold feet”. Their Body reacts to their Mind’s distress.
Biofeedback detects even subtle physiological changes and so allows the conscious Mind to observe and influence the subconscious Mind and its physical reactions. That’s why Biofeedback is as much a form of Psychotherapy, as it is a training of autonomic balance.
