Are You Looking For A Targeted Strategy For Overcoming Anxiety?
Are you an adult struggling with a deep-rooted sense of fear or danger that affects the way you think, act, and feel? Do you ever feel like your heart races, muscles tense up, or your breath shortens in anticipation of something dreadful? Are you exhausted and stressed out from constantly outrunning negative thoughts—like the belief that you don’t quite compare to everyone else?
Perhaps you’re the parent of a child who is demonstrating signs of social or performance anxiety. For instance, is your young one hesitant to go to school, enter the virtual classroom, or leave your side? Are they performing well at home but having trouble connecting with others, concentrating, or taking tests in school? Maybe they’re hypervigilant about failure, and you want to understand where this fear comes from.
Anxiety can impact the lives of children and adults in unbelievable ways, and without the right understanding, it can be difficult to manage—even with a professional’s help. However, qEEG (quantitative electro-encephalogram) swLoRETA Neurofeedback (NF) therapy for anxiety is a unique intervention that enables me to analyze your brainwaves, captured in real-time, and create a treatment plan that directly targets your needs.
Whether you are an adult looking to optimize your brain functioning and live with greater peace or you are a parent who wants to safeguard the development and emotional well-being of your child, I can help you find answers and support.
Anxiety Is A Common Obstacle For Adults And Children Alike
Everyone has experienced anxiety at some point in their lives: a first driver’s lesson, a job interview, or taking a test. But when fear and anxiety become so pronounced that they limit how you live, it can be a frightening and lonely experience.
Be assured, you’re certainly not alone. Over 40 million US adults suffer from some type of anxiety-related disorder. And approximately 4.4 million children have been diagnosed with anxiety—many of them with co-occurring conditions, such as depression.
Many complex factors can contribute to or cause anxiety, such as stress, academic pressure, bullying, and other social forces. But anxiety can also be influenced by genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events—especially traumatic experiences. So it’s not always situational. Sometimes, people are simply so sensitive that their mirror neurons—their brain’s way of building empathy—pick up on what others are experiencing, even if it is uncomfortable.
As an adult living with anxiety, interpreting what is going on in your mind and body can feel impossible. And given that most children don’t have the language to articulate what they are feeling, understanding what they are experiencing can be doubly difficult for parents.
However, by using qEEG swLoRETA Neurofeedback therapy, we can develop a treatment strategy that identifies the source of your (or your child’s) anxiety, how it affects you, and the specific steps you can take to feel calmer, in control, and at your best.
Neurofeedback Therapy Can Enhance Traditional Anxiety Treatment
One of the most remarkable aspects of the human brain is its ability to heal itself and grow new neuropathways that allow for different ways of thinking and feeling.
We now know that people can consciously alter their brain’s electrophysiology and with it their neurochemistry, which has opened the door for revolutionary mental health interventions. One such intervention, qEEG swLoRETA Neurofeedback, represents the most technologically advanced analytical tool therapists can use to tap into the brain’s neuroplasticity and capitalize on its healing potential.
The process I use aims to identify the neural networks that are in overdrive and help them communicate efficiently so that they are neither overactive nor underactive. Once the connections and centers of those networks are communicating appropriately, you’ll naturally start to feel more relaxed, balanced, and secure. Using a training plan customized from the Neurofeedback results I record and analyze, I’ll help you reinforce that sense of balance and what you did to achieve it so that you can access that feeling on your own.
We are essentially training the “connectivity-muscle,” figuratively speaking, in your brain to engage the appropriate centers—in this case, the formations of anxiety networks—to create balance. Simultaneously, we’ll supplement the Neurofeedback process with muscle relaxation, breathing techniques, and mindfulness exercises to help you relax.
Though some issues may require an additional psychotherapeutic approach, the main goal is to help you engage the anxiety network in your brain and learn to recognize the sensation of not being anxious so you can consciously summon that feeling when needed. When practiced consistently, Neurofeedback training is like a bootcamp for the brain that teaches it how to stop anxiety in its tracks, allowing you to feel more at ease as you engage with the world around you.
How Does qEEG swLoRETA Neurofeedback Work For Anxiety Treatment?
Though the name may sound intimidating, NF therapy is very non-invasive, and for competitive-minded people, it can actually be quite fun, especially for kids. We’ll simply apply some surface electrodes to your head—somewhat like a mad scientist’s cap—for recording and analyzing your brainwaves. Once we have your brainmapping data from the qEEG, we will compare it to a normative database called Neuroguide and use that information to create a treatment plan that targets your unique experiences with anxiety.
Once we know what we are dealing with, we can then use swLoRETA Neurofeedback therapy to reinforce positive neural interactions through a process called operant conditioning. That is, every time you engage the centers in the brain in such a way that it presents an award, you want to keep doing the same thing. With the help of swLoRETA Neurofeedback, you can consciously cultivate feelings of safety and calmness. Imagine it like this: Displayed on a computer monitor, you see the parts of the brain that are in overdrive when you are feeling anxious—you take a deep breath, focus your thoughts, and then watch that brain activity decrease in real-time because of the actions you took.
Traditional talk therapy can only tell you that breathing exercises, visualization, grounding techniques, and mindfulness work. But qEEG swLoRETA Neurofeedback shows you in real-time that you can manage the way you feel and actually train your brain to think in different ways.
Managing anxiety is not about control; it’s about learning how to live in harmony with your brain. Using qEEG swLoRETA Neurofeedback to inform anxiety treatment empowers you to regulate how you think and act and feel. Though it may not happen overnight, you can learn to self-soothe and navigate life without anxiety looking over your shoulder.
Perhaps you are considering anxiety treatment using qEEG swLoRETA NF, but you still have some concerns…
Is it harmful or frightening to record a quantitative EEG?
Not even slightly. The EEG device picks up microcurrents from your brain via a cap that has 19 (non-invasive) surface electrodes. Those are connected through an amplifier to a computer that records your brainwave activity. Unlike an MRI or other forms of scanning, there are no magnetic waves emitted by the electrodes.
Because children may be intimidated at first, I like to make the process as fun and entertaining as possible. I also speak to children in a different language—engaging them with their interests to help them self-soothe and feel comfortable.
How time-consuming is Neurofeedback therapy for anxiety?
There is a certain rhythm that’s achieved by engaging in therapy on a regular basis. To build momentum, I recommend 4 to 6 weeks of NF therapy at 2 to 3 sessions per week for no more than 60 minutes per session. And because I know it can be difficult finding the time for therapy, I also offer flexible scheduling so as not to add more stress to your plate. Instead of throwing money for years at something you don’t understand, this approach can help you live without the need for a therapist.
Is overcoming anxiety possible through NF therapy alone?
Yes, however, some brains are more neuroplastic than others, and some people’s anxiety may be more severe, so treatment really needs to be individualized. For instance, if you’re dealing with trauma-related anxiety, EMDR may be able to provide deeper healing that allows the skills you learn in Neurofeedback therapy to work better. Or you may want to be referred to a naturopathic physician, a child psychologist, a psychiatrist, or an anxiety counselor. All of these options are on the table to help you heal, self-regulate, and get the most out of NF therapy.
Learn How To Target Your Anxiety Symptoms With qEEG swLoRETA Neurofeedback Therapy
If you are interested in understanding and overcoming anxiety using objective, research-driven techniques, I can help. Please call 206-522-8873 for your free, 15 to 30-minute consultation or email us to set up your first appointment.