Deeply Rooted in Neurofeedback Training for ADHD

By: Donny Smith, MSW Intern
I have seen through first hand experience as a therapist that Neurofeedback can help children learn how to regulate their brain activity. This will help them concentrate better at school and in turn increase their self-esteem. In most children, concentrating on a specific task helps to speed up their brain activity, which make their brain more efficient. For children with ADHD it is the opposite, their ability to concentrate usually results in the child becoming distracted. Neurofeedback can help the child become more attentive in situations where they need to be.
Through my personal experience I have seen several benefits of Neurofeedback in helping individuals who show ADHD symptoms. Neurofeedback amounts to better regulation of anxiety, reduced emotional dysregulation, attention issues, and behavioral issues.
Parents Personal Experience
I would like to tell you about the positive things I have noticed with my 15-year-old son since he started doing Neurofeedback. Prior to starting Neurofeedback, my son had high anxiety and not social, along with having issues sleeping and struggled with being told to do very simple tasks. These issues have been a major problem for his mother and me, as we have been doing everything we could to help him through these issues so that he could do well in school. In the past we attempted multiple treatment programs with my son showing little to no success, with one of them costing over $6000 by itself.
The major issues we had with my son involved school, he did not like to write anything and would break down and cry if asked to write a book report or even a short paragraph about recent events. We also noticed he was struggling socially and had even set a goal for him one time to look 3 people in the eye and say hi to them, he was not able to do this.
I then heard about Neurofeedback and decided to give it a try, as we were looking for anything that would help my son be and feel like a normal kid. After the first appointment, my son was so tired that he had gone to bed by 8:30PM that same night and started sleeping better after the first appointment. As the appointments continued and he was able to be there for several more, we as parents noticed several changes in how he acted, he began to do his school work without fighting or breaking down and crying, even to the point he started completing assignments at school. His confidence had gone up so much that he was making new friends and asking to hang out with new people outside of school hours. A big surprise was just recently when he asked to go to a church dance, this was such a shock, because he would never have talked to a girl prior to Neurofeedback, but he is now dancing with them.
His teachers had also noticed the change in his classes as several of them reported during parent teacher conference that he was getting work done in class and not having the emotional break downs that he used to have. One teacher commented, “Whatever you’re doing keep it going”. They had also noticed the big change in confidence and how he was able to get work done. One day my son was doing chores without being asked, when his mother asked him what was going on, to which he replied, I think this stuff (Neurofeedback) is working and he is noticing how much better he is doing.
I would like to say thank you for the time you have spent on my son in helping him achieve what we as parents have always knew he could do.
Sincerely,
Grateful Father