Neurofeedback at
Sugar Land Teen &
Family Counseling

Board Certified through Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA)

neurofeedback for adhd sugar land tx, 77478.jpg

Neurofeedback Therapy for Teens & Young Adults at Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling

You are looking for a safe and effective way to help your teen or young adult without the use of medication.
You've tried medications, but the side effects were too much.
Your teen or young adult has not benefited from talk therapy.
Your teen or young adult struggles with depression, anxiety, ADHD, social anxiety, panic attacks, is on the autism spectrum, or other challenges.

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Reasons Why Teens & Young Adults Begin Neurofeedback Therapy in Sugar Land, TX

Many of our teens and young adults who begin neurofeedback therapy have been referrals from other clients who have completed neurofeedback. The parents of these teens and young adults have family and friends who have noticed significant changes in their child.

Their friends comment on these changes and the parents let them know that neurofeedback was a game changer. When they have kids themselves who struggle with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, ADHD, autism spectrum, and other challenges, it's not unusual for them to give us a call.

For example, we had one teenager who was in neurofeedback for depression. About 15 sessions in, his neighbors parents approached his parents and asked what medication he was taking. The neighbors commented on the complete change they have seen in the teenager and wanted to know what had made the difference.

His parents let them know that he was not on ANY medication and that neurofeedback therapy for depression was what had helped.

With neurofeedback for teens and young adults, these stories are not uncommon. Below are a few of the other reasons teens and young adults begin neurofeedback in Sugar Land, TX.

Reason #1: We Can Achieve the Same Results (or Better) Medication Can Without the Use of Medication

There is a place for medications for emotional challenges. We are not "anti medication". However, neurofeedback can achieve the same if not better results than medication without the use of medication.

Many parents will have their teen or young adult begin neurofeedback for this reason. As teenagers and even young adults, their brains are still developing. For boys, brain development continues and finishes at around age 25. For girls, it's a little earlier at around age 22.

Introducing a powerful chemical that can change the neurochemistry of the brain causes anxiety among parents. And some teens and young adults flat our refuse to take medication as well.

Reason #2: A Doctor, Psychiatrist, or Other Medical Professional Referred Them to Neurofeedback

It's also not uncommon to have a doctor, psychiatrist or other medical professional refer people to neurofeedback. Neurofeedback has been around since the 1970's but is now gaining more visibility. The reason for this is in part due to the advancements in technology.

Neurofeedback therapy requires a great amount of processing power, memory, and other computer requirements. It used to be a neurofeedback therapist would need a bank of computers. Now a neurofeedback therapist can simply use their laptop.

As neurofeedback therapy is more available and more people are seeing the successes of neurofeedback, more and more medical professionals are referring their patients to neurofeedback.

Reason #3: Neurofeedback is Very Effective in Helping Teens & Young Adults Overcome Emotional or Behavioral Challenges

Neurofeedback for teens and neurofeedback for young adults is our most successful therapeutic approach. Because we specialize in teen therapy and young adult counseling, we are very successful in talk therapy and helping teens and young adult accomplish their goals.

Yet neurofeedback has shown to be even more effective in affecting moderate to significant gains than talk therapy at our practice. And there are reasons for this with one being top among many.

With neurofeedback, we are mapping the brain. We are going right to the source of the problematic symptoms your teen or young adult are experiencing.

Through this brain map, we see where the brain is under or over performing. We then create a training protocol to train that region(s) of the brain.

Because we are going right to the source of where the problematic symptoms are coming from - the brain - and starting of right off the start in training those regions, this is one reason why neurofeedback is so effective.

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What Can Neurofeedback for Teens & Young Adults Help With?

We have teens and young adults begin neurofeedback for a variety of reasons. While they may all begin neurofeedback to address different things, the one thing that they have in common is the success many experience.

You don't have to continue with these challenges any longer. There is an effective approach to a wide variety of emotional or behavioral challenges and chances are your challenge is among them.

Because we are training the brain with neurofeedback therapy, there are many emotional, behavioral, and even some physical challenges that neurofeedback can help with.

Below are the more common challenges that we see teens and young adults begin neurofeedback for:

Anxiety,
Social anxiety,
Panic attacks,
Depression,
ADHD,
Autism spectrum,
Anger, and
More.

The Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling Approach to Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback is a safe, non-invasive, comfortable approach in effectively addressing a number of emotional or behavioral challenges. Neurofeedback is about reading the electrical signals coming FROM the brain. In neurofeedback, we do not apply any stimulation TO the brain. There are therapy approaches that do this but neurofeedback is not one of them.

If you have not heard of neurofeedback before, you may be wondering what neurofeedback is and how it works exactly. Here we will provide information on Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling's approach to neurofeedback for teens and neurofeedback for young adults.

We will walk through a typical course of neurofeedback. Through this process, we will explain how neurofeedback helps improve our emotional or behavioral states.

Neurofeedback for Teens & Young Adults in Sugar Land, TX: First Session

During the first session, your neurofeedback therapist will take a few minutes to review some items in the initial session paperwork. We will cover things like confidentiality, consent for neurofeedback training, typical course of neurofeedback therapy, among other items. We will also answer any questions you may have.

Your neurofeedback therapist will then review what neurofeedback is and how it can help. They will also explore your role in neurofeedback and what you can do to increase the chances of it helping you.

Time permitting, your neurofeedback therapist will then record your teen or young adult's electrical signals coming from the brain. This recording will show how the brain is performing.

This is done by placing a cap on your teen or young adult's head. The cap looks a lot like a swimmers cap. But this cap has 16 sensors embedded in the cap. When the cap is on, these sensor rest gently on top of the hair.

The neurofeedback therapist will record the brain's performance recording 10 minutes with the eyes closed. They will also record 10 minutes of bassline reading with 10 minutes with the eyes open.

The neurofeedback therapist will then use this baseline information to create the brain map. And in the next session, the neurofeedback therapist will review the brain map with you. Your neurofeedback therapist will also review with you the training protocol(s) created.

Neurofeedback for Teens & Young Adults in Sugar Land, TX: Second Session

During the second session, the neurofeedback therapist reviews the brain map. The brain map is a 2-D or 3-D image of your teen or young adult's brain performance based on the baseline recording (please see below for examples of brain maps).

The neurofeedback therapist will explain the different frequencies and their role in the brain's performance, the different categories on the brain map, and the key that helps define the brain map.

It is important to note that the brain map is not diagnostic. In fact, no brain map or brain scan can be diagnostic. This includes MRI's fMRI's, SPECT scans, etc.

While exploring the brain map, it is very important that the neurofeedback therapist help you to get very specific in the symptoms you would like to target. This will help the neurofeedback therapist identify the regions of the brain that correlate with creating those symptoms.

Then, time permitting, the neurofeedback therapist will begin neurofeedback training for the remainder of the session with your teen or young adult.

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Neurofeedback for Teens & Young Adults in Sugar Land, TX: Third Session & On

Neurofeedback training is a very comfortable, non-invasive, and enjoyable experience. There are no side effects to neurofeedback training.

The training protocol selected uses very sophisticated software to help train your teen or young adult's brain. The software utilizes T.V shows, movies, and even a neurofeedback video game as the vehicle that delivers the training.

At the beginning of each session, the teen or young adult sit in a very comfortable chair. There is a footstool if they are more comfortable with their feet up. The key to optimal neurofeedback training for the brain is for the client to be as comfortable and as relaxed as possible.

The neurofeedback therapist then places the cap on your teen or young adult's head. The cap is then connected to the neurofeedback computer so that the neurofeedback therapist can see the brain waves in real time.

Neurofeedback Training

Then, the neurofeedback therapist will place a digital dimmer over the TVs screen. When the brain is performing at optimal performance levels, the teen or young adult get to see and hear what showing on the TV (e.g., the TV show, movie, or video game).

When the brain is not performing at ideal, optimal levels, the screen darkens and the sound fades. Then when the brain returns to ideal, optimal levels of performing, the teen or young adult once again gets to see and hear what is showing on the tv.

The brain seeks out patterns in the person's environment. This is a primal survival mechanism the brain uses to keep us safe.

When the brain sees the fading in and out of the visual and audio components of what is showing on the TV, it begins to identify that when it is performing a certain way (ideal, optimal performance), it will get to hear and see what is showing on the TV.

Then when it performs in a certain way (not performing at ideal, optimal levels), it will not get to see and hear what is showing on the screen.

Through this process, the brain's performance starts to shift in a very healthy, safe, comfortable and non-invasive manner.

Below is a screen shot of the neurofeedback video game we use for neurofeedback at Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling in Sugar Land, TX.

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Zukor Air from Zukor Interactive

How Many Sessions Does It Take with Neurofeedback?

Because we are training the brain and the brain is learning, at minimum neurofeedback requires two sessions weekly. We do have some clients who attend three times a week too. On average, a full course of neurofeedback is around 40 sessions.

However, if the teen or young adult has a learning disorder, is on the autism spectrum, or other difficulty that affects the brain's ability to learn, it can take longer. In these cases, it can take on average around 60 sessions. And depending on the severity of the learning challenge, it may take more than 60 sessions.

Board Certified in Neurofeedback through the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA)

Jason Drake, LCSW-S, BCN with Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling, is Board Certified in Neurofeedback (BCN) through the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA). BCIA is the main certifying organization for neurofeedback here in the United States and internationally.

BCIA is a rigorous neurofeedback certification organization ensuring that those certified through their organization have the training required to provide effective neurofeedback.

To become Board Certified in Neurofeedback through BCIA, a licensed therapist must:

Successfully complete a neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, physiological psychology, or course(s). This provides a sound basis for the brain and how it functions and must be taken from a regionally accredited academic institution or a BCIA-approved provider.
Take a 36-hour didactic education program specifically covering all topics as listed in the BCIA Blueprint of Knowledge taken from a BCIA-accredited training program.
Spend 25 contact hours (2 must be face to face) with a BCIA-approved mentor to learn to apply the clinical neurofeedback skills through the review of:
- 10 sessions of self-regulation where the clinician is the client in neurofeedback sessions.
- 100 patient/client sessions where the therapist will prepare the client and run complete sessions.
- 10 case study presentations which are full detailed patient/client stories from intake and protocol selection/adjustment through discharge.
Have passed a certification exam consisting of 100 items, multiple choice, to demonstrate proficiency in their knowledge base pertaining to neurofeedback.

The training through BCIA prepares a licensed clinician to provide neurofeedback effectively. Jason Drake, LCSW-S, BCN, has successfully provided neurofeedback with teens and young adults in Katy, Tx at Katy Teen & Family Counseling and now in Sugar Land at Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling.

Through neurofeedback, teens. young adults, and adults can get their lives back. Neurofeedback truly is the easiest and most comfortable therapy that you can have. And with how effective it has been shown to be, neurofeedback may be the best option for you and your family!

Begin Neurofeedback in Sugar Land, TX: Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling

Your teen or young adult does not have to live with the burden of depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism spectrum, or other challenges. Neurofeedback for teens and neurofeedback for young adults can help your teen or young adult find be free from the challenges that keep that interfere with their happiness and success.

At Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling in located in Sugar Land, TX, we specialize in family counseling. We are conveniently located off of US 90 and Dairy Ashford Road.

We also have our office in Katy. Katy Teen & Family Counseling in located in Katy, TX, where we also specialize in teen, young adult, couples, and family counseling. We are conveniently located off ofI-10 and the 99-feeder road in Katy, TX.

If you are ready to begin neurofeedback, all you need to do is follow these 3 simple steps: