Brain Mapping Assessment (QEEG)
The QEEG assessment is a critical aspect of effective neurofeedback, as this procedure allows the clinician to take a comprehensive ‘picture’ of how your brain (or your child’s brain) is functioning.
During the roughly one-hour process, a remarkable amount of data is recorded and analyzed. In fact, over 100 points of data are being recorded every second of the QEEG assessment.
Once analyzed, this gives Dr. Cale extraordinary insight into your brain (or your child’s brain) and a map is created that not only tells us where we are now…but more importantly it lays out a specific road to follow to make incremental, but massive change in how the brain functions.
The pathway to a more focused, healthier mind is ultimate outcome from this process.
Neurofeedback Brain Training
How Does Neurofeedback Training Work?
During individual training sessions, EEG sensors collect your brain’s electrical activity patterns. Through complex technology, your brain activity is compared to a unique target or goal. From there, it is feedback and practice. You get notified immediately (through sounds and/or images on the screen) if your brain reaches your target. All you have to do is pay attention. Like all learning, it takes time and practice. It is important to be patient.
In the initial 20 sessions, you get over 70,000 chances to learn. The latest research in neuroscience and psychology demonstrates that repetition yields changes in brain behavior. This is neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is what allows us to reshape our brain to meet (and overcome) challenges we face. Everyone’s brain is constantly evolving through experience and environment. Repetition of these experiences strengthens existing connections and increases the development of new neuronal connections.
Neurofeedback Training at Home
“Recent innovations allow you to train your brain at home…”
The advantage to you is you can train at home at your leisure, whenever it works for you; you don’t have to come to the office. Secondly, you can train much more frequently because of this. Finally, since you’re not using my staff, the cost is considerably lower.
We find that we get equal to better results with neurofeedback at home because people are very committed to the process. They train regularly, and we are able to coach them along the way to ensure they stay on top of it, have an accurate reading every time, and get the results they want. So, does home training with neurofeedback work? Absolutely, it’s extraordinary.
But it is important to note that some commercial devices claim to be neurofeedback devices, and in a sense, they are – if you’re comparing a model airplane to something that flies like a jet. These commercial devices look like a band that goes around the head. But they’re very limited in what they can do and have no capacity to train 90% of what we can do with neurofeedback. If you come across such devices for home training, think of them as model airplanes, not neurofeedback jets.
Neurofeedback at home allows you to train efficiently and effectively and achieve results comparable to what we get in the office, regardless of where you live. Neurofeedback is categorized as a level four or five intervention for anxiety disorders, depression, seizures, ADD, and ADHD – not the hyperactive component, for which it is more of a level three, but still very effective. Level five is as high as it gets, which is why we’ve seen remarkable results with home training that match or exceed our in-office results on both adults and children.
A key piece of such outcomes is understanding that neurofeedback is a forward-focused technology. It does not look back; it only trains the brain for better functioning and better-feeling brainwave patterns.
I typically spend at least several sessions with our clients ensuring they understand how to organize their homes and their thought processes. We even have a video training series that goes along with the treatment to maintain this forward-focused approach to change because, just as we can’t drive a car looking in the rearview mirror, we can’t feel better if our brain is stuck in the past.
In order to get these spectacular results, we have to think about neurofeedback within the context of a very forward-focused discussion about how this technology works and how to organize your thoughts, intent, and life to get the best result possible.
Peak Performance Training for Athletes and Professionals
Regardless of our level of functioning, either athletically or professionally, we all have a natural tendency to allow negative or doubting thoughts to appear in our minds. Sometimes this happens at the most critical stages of performance, whether near the finish line, on the 18th fairway or speaking persuasively in front of critical stakeholders for a crucial decision.
The difference is that for an athlete, a musician or a professional competing, or intending to compete, on a high level, these negative thoughts can make the critical difference. One moment of hesitation, one moment of doubt…can be a game changer. Literally.
With EEG Neurofeedback, positive thought patterns can be trained to be as natural as the dawning of a new day. Tension and fear-based anxieties can be eliminated, opening the door to optimal performance in many domains of life. Often, it is the frustration, the emotional upset, the lose of complete control over focus that undermines success. As the stakes get higher in any arena, this effect is amplified. Here again, neurofeedback training gives the peak performer an edge with greater emotional control and focus.
Of course, it goes without saying that not 100% of treated clients get these remarkable outcomes (and thus, you may not as well), but the literature points to the strong likelihood that athletes, performers and professionals can all find better focus, more calm and enhanced outcomes with EEG
Individual or Family Therapy/Coaching Services
At times, it is necessary to address the family or environmental circumstances of your home. Inflammation in the brain can be addressed through changes in routines, diet and structure. For children with anxiety and ADHD, a structured parenting plan is sometimes essential to get in place. Without this, it can like the old metaphor: “You’re just shoveling against the tide.” We don’t want to do that. These appointments are scheduled with Dr. Cale on an as needed basis.
These are frequently an essential component of effectively optimizing every neurofeedback session, particularly in the case of more challenging behavioral issues that require a strong, clear parenting plan to be in place. At times, this may be recommended first, in order to ensure that the neurofeedback is needed. At times, it is not required after a tight behavioral plan is in maintained at home.
Please be aware that Dr. Cale is only working with indiviuals and families who are participating in Neurofeedback training program.
Other Services
Adult Coaching and Psychotherapy
Dr. Cale continues to offer individual therapy and coaching services to a select group of clients. Goal driven, results oriented strategies are used to help clients achieve rapid change. Now, these personal strategies are combined with neurofeedback to produce…
Parent Coaching and Counseling
Dr. Cale works with parents through his Terrific Parenting model of behavior change. This approach enables parents to gain control of behavioral and emotional issues, when other strategies have failed. Working and coaching parents for over twenty years…
Couples and Family Counseling
Families and couples may struggle for a wide range of reasons. Often however, these are not based in individual pathology. Instead, the problems exist due to poor patterns of interacting. These patterns develop over the years, and often seem very difficult to change…
Dr. Cale is a licensed psychologist in the State of New York. He has a private practice working with individuals and families on a wide array of behavioral and psychological issues. His passion for learning and growth, combined with his extensive experience in working with challenging situations, has allowed him to distill and utilize the essential principles behind behavior change. However, over the years it became clear that more was needed as the best psychological tools, as well as medications, were inadequate for many children and adults. Thus, Dr. Cale began studying and practicing Neurofeedback, which is now integrated into his practice as a primary focus. Read more about Dr. Cale and Capital District Neurofeedback.