Anyone, of any age or background, can experience trauma. It can stem from a specific incident (e.g. assault or accident) or from exposure to traumatic material over a longer period of time (e.g. experience in a war zone, chronic abuse, repeated exposure to accident or emergency scenes). How people respond to trauma can vary substantially from one person to another, but any changes in thoughts, emotions, and behaviours should be addressed as soon as possible in order to avoid chronic illness.

The good news is that both psychotherapy (i.e. “talk therapy”) and Neurotherapy are often effective treatments for helping people improve their health and quality of life following trauma. A rich body of research points to the brain and nervous system as the foundation for PTSD and other trauma-related illness. In these cases, fundamentally, the brain finds it difficult to shut off and to be flexible with its “fight-or-flight” stress response, often leading to feelings of lack of control. Other symptoms of PTSD and trauma-related illness can include: nightmares and poor sleep, feelings of detachment, agitation and irritability, difficulty concentrating, flashbacks, changes in mood and energy, unwanted upsetting memories, and memory difficulties. All of these symptoms are the brain and nervous systems’ ways of trying to cope with the experienced trauma.

Psychotherapy for PTSD and trauma-related illness typically involves relaxing the mind and body while slowly working through and processing the traumatic events. Techniques such as cognitive-behavioural therapy, exposure therapy, and desensitization strategies are often used. Neurotherapy for PTSD and trauma-related illness allows the examination of the dysregulated brain waves themselves. Through neurostimulation (introducing energy into the brain) and/or neurofeedback (providing a person with feedback about specific brain areas that have become dysregulated as a result of the trauma), the root of the problem is addressed. In combination with psychotherapy, Neurotherapy can be a powerful tool in recovery.

Depression is a mood disorder affecting millions of people in North America. Its symptoms can include feelings of sadness, irritability, anxiety, lack of energy, sleep disturbances, loss of interest/pleasure in activities of daily life, changes in appetite leading to weight loss or weight gain, cognitive disturbances, physical discomfort, and thoughts of death and suicide. These symptoms must be longer-lasting; depression should not be mistaken for simply “feeling sad.” Depression can occur along with other psychological and health conditions, and it can affect anyone of any age or background.  It has been estimated that nearly 1 in 8 adults will meet the criteria for depression at some point over the course of their lives.1

For most people, there is no single cure for depression. However, with a combination of techniques, most people experience dramatic improvements in the quality of their life. These techniques include psychotherapy and neurotherapy, medication, exercise, and diet.

With depression, EEG studies have shown an under active left frontal area of the brain, and differences between left and right frontal alpha waves in particular. When a person with depression starts neurotherapy, they often quickly notice increased energy and motivation. As the number of neurotherapy sessions increases, emotions tend to feel more stable and sleep begins to improve.

Anxiety is a general term encompassing a variety of symptoms, such as difficulty controlling worry, irritability, restlessness, becoming easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating or mind going “blank,” muscle tension, sleep disturbances, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and more. While everyone experiences these and related symptoms from time to time, anxiety disorders are characterized by their persistence and their ability to affect one or more areas of a person’s life (e.g. school, work, relationships).

Different names given to anxiety disorders include: generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety disorders, selective mutism, agoraphobia, and specific phobias. While some anxiety disorders are more prevalent in certain age groups, anxiety can affect anyone, and the effects of anxiety in a person’s life can be equally debilitating for very different causes.

Medications and psychotherapy (e.g. cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, and exposure therapy) have been frequently used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Neurotherapy has shown to be a very effective strategy for the treatment of anxiety. The process trains the brain to regulate a person’s stress response at the root, rather than only treating the resulting symptoms. Patterns of under-arousal in the brain can lead to rumination and worry, and patterns of overarousal can lead to feelings of stress and of being overwhelmed, and to physiological hyperarousal (e.g. heart racing, shortness of breath, dizziness). A quantitative EEG at the beginning of your neurotherapy will yield the optimum protocol, individualized for you. Guided breathing exercises and heart-rate variability training are often integrated into neurotherapy sessions where anxiety is a primary concern.

Over 1.5 million Canadians have experienced some sort of brain injury, which is more than the combined number of Canadians who suffer from breast cancer, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and HIV/AIDS. Every year, approximately 160,000 more Canadians experience an acquired brain injury, or one person every three minutes.

Brain injuries are classified in different ways, with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion (sometimes called a mild TBI) referring to an injury that arises from something outside of the body and that can change the way your brain normally works. Many factors affect the severity of the TBI and the course of treatment and recovery. Some causes of TBI include: motor vehicle accidents and falls (50% of TBIs), assault, gunshot wounds, domestic violence, shaken baby syndrome, sports injuries, explosive blasts and combat injuries. In a concussion, the brain is physically shaken inside the skull. Depending on the extent of the jolting motion, the ensuing symptoms may not heal or may even worsen without treatment.

The impacts of TBI and concussion vary somewhat from case to case, but changes are usually observed in more than one area of a person’s functioning (i.e. physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural changes). Some symptoms include: fatigue and trouble sleeping, sensory changes (tinnitus, dizziness, distorted sense of smell, etc.), headaches, slowed processing time, vision problems, chronic pain, difficulty multi-tasking and planning, feeling irritable, depression, feelings of isolation, impulsivity, emotional volatility, difficulty in relationships, and more. Importantly, a TBI or concussion can happen without loss of consciousness. It is essential to follow up any suspected brain injury with a doctor as soon as possible, as the likelihood of future head injuries (with more severe symptoms) increases when you have already had a TBI.

Neurotherapy techniques are increasingly being utilized for people suffering from a TBI or concussion. Every brain injury is different, making the tailored, individualized approach of neurotherapy an excellent treatment option. In general, the more severe the brain injury, the more dysregulated the EEG measures. Neurofeedback and neurostimulation can help to: make communication between brain areas more efficient; increase blood flow and oxygen to different areas of the brain, and to treat patterns of under- or over-arousal as they present for the specific person. Many of our neurotherapy clients who have experienced TBI or concussion report improved sleep and energy, increased clarity of thinking, decreased anxiety and depression, better-focused attention, and more. The overall aim of neurotherapy is to train the person’s brain to achieve a state as similar as possible to the pre-injury state. Because neurotherapy does not just treat symptoms but instead promotes healing at the source, the changes are longer-lasting.

Many people seek treatment to overcome or work through some sort of health problem, shortcoming, or disease. Neurotherapy for peak performance training (PPT) instead focuses on enhancing brain functioning so as to optimize a person’s health and psychological functioning. Often, clients who undergo this type of training note improvements in reaction times, problem-solving abilities, spatial/motor skills, intelligence, attention, awareness, and creativity. Many high-performance athletes, musicians, artists, and executives utilize peak performance training to further their skills.

Peak performance training rests on the same foundation as all types of Neurotherapy: neuroplasticity. This refers to the brain’s ability to change (e.g. forming new connections, and fine-tuning or strengthening existing ones) in response to some sort of stimulation. Many types of stimulation can affect neuroplasticity on some level: increased stress in the workplace, regular practice of a new skill, healthy nutrition, regular exercise, and the introduction of energy into the brain (see here for more information). While most of our brain development happens when we are young, the adult brain remains able to change – and so, peak performance training and Neurotherapy can benefit anyone, regardless of age, who wishes to improve some aspect of their psychological functioning.