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Neurotherapy, also called EEG biofeedback or neurofeedback, is a form of alternative medicine that can help to cure a wide range of psychological disorders, but also help a person improve their quality of life regardless of whether they have a psychological problem or not. It can also be used as a starting point to treat many other physiological problems.
The theory of neurotherapy works on the premise that the brain has four main frequencies, delta, theta, alpha and beta. If a brain is emitting the delta frequency this signifies a state of deep sleep. Theta frequency brain waves suggest that a person is highly relaxed, perhaps daydreaming. Alpha waves show that an individual is generally relaxed, whilst beta waves mean that the patient is in a state of over arousal.
High-tech perceptive equipment is used to monitor patients’ brainwaves, and the good thing concerning this analysis is that it is comprehensively non-intrusive – one hardly knows it is taking place. If the equipment shows that the brainwaves tend to be lower than normal, it suggests that the patient may be depressed, or lethargic. If the reading is higher than normal, the patient may be anxious and unable to unwind.
Once the brain patterns of the individual have been established, it is up to the therapist to make the patient more aware of when a particular brain wave is occurring, and also train the person to regulate brain frequency themselves. By doing this, the affected person eventually doesn’t need the help of the therapist, having gained the ability to assess and self-mediate. One ingenious system has been developed to help the patient learn this practice. They learn how to play a video game, in which the character can only be moved by the correct brain frequency (the patient is wired up in such a way so the video game can detect a change in their brain frequency). After several sessions with the video game, the patient will have developed the ability to recognise and alter particular brain waves.
The analysis in neurotherapy also extends further than monitoring merely brainwaves. Many therapists test for such things as enzymes, hormones and nerve reflexes. Once this biofeedback has been analysed, action can be taken, usually in the form of pressure on the nerve channels of an affected part of the body. This in turn causes the body to react by producing the necessary biochemical to fight the affliction. It is seen as a far better way of solving the problem than a prescription drug, which would ease the symptoms, but not necessarily get to the cause of the problem.
Neurotherapy is an excellent form of alternative medicine. Although mainly used to treat patients with such problems as epilepsy, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, it can be used by healthy people to better understand the psychophysiological workings of the brain. The technique of biofeedback can also be used to monitor other parts of the body and then take appropriate action to remedy a wide range of physiological complaints.
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