Neurofeedback and Nervous System Regulation
Ruth Droullard works with a patient in a neurofeedback session.
When our nervous system runs amok, maintaining balance in our lives becomes pretty difficult. We might notice adverse physiological responses in concentrated moments of stress, or an inability to manage more sustained stressors that present themselves at work, home, or elsewhere. Our relationships suffer. We can’t sleep. We intuitively know (or others tell us!) that we just aren’t handling life’s stresses very well. Meanwhile, our nervous system is doing its very best to regulate us within our human experience, and with varying degrees of success depending on what we’re doing to support it.
The good news is: the autonomic nervous system isn’t completely out of our voluntary control. Through conversations with our physicians and functional lab testing, we can gain information about the inner working of our stress hormones, and make helpful adjustments to our diet, supplement, and lifestyle choices. And, through proper training, the brain can also “relearn” more helpful and efficient pathways that promote sympathetic and parasympathetic balance, which allows us some control over our physiological symptoms. The brain wants to be calm and stable, and thankfully, we have resources to help it get there.
One highly effective route for a non-invasive approach to nervous system stabilization is neurofeedback.
Neurofeedback is a passive technique that helps the brain create different neural pathways and exercise its own regulatory system. When the brain is self-regulated, cognitive function flourishes and emotional resiliency increases. Whereas a disregulated nervous system can present itself in many forms: anxiety, repetitive negative thinking, rigidity, or through physical indicators like migraines or high blood pressure, a regulated nervous system optimizes focus, attention, and mood, and can mean the difference between joy and despair. In short, a regulated nervous system can enhance our ability to create and maintain a life that we like.
When patients come in for neurofeedback at Northwest Life Medicine Clinic, they meet with neurofeedback practitioners Ruth Droullard and Angie Van De Mark for an initial intake session. Ruth and Angie listen to what each patient would like to address, and they work to retrain the specific parts of the brain that are promoting disregulation. Special neurofeedback equipment monitors brain activity and feeds the brain’s own information back to folks on a screen, both visually and through sounds. This feedback strengthens appropriate brain networks and trains the brain to be more resilient. The brain learns how to operate optimally. From the perspective of the patient, this process is as simple as sitting in a comfy chair and watching a monitor that displays nature scenes or, if they choose, a video game. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the brain is busy establishing more efficient neuronal pathways.
The work of neurofeedback happens passively, but the result is an enhanced ability of the vagus nerve to promote a healthy nervous system balance. Effects of neurofeedback are long-lasting, and while it often takes up to 20 sessions to get the full effects available to patients, some feel improvements after just one session. There’s no additional homework outside of the office visit, and the results are multifaceted.
At Northwest Life Medicine Clinic, we treat a broad range of ages and conditions. Some of our patients include children struggling with seizures or ADHD, individuals with anxiety, depression, attention issues, and/or chronic pain. If you’d like to find out more about what neurofeedback can do to support your nervous system, we encourage you to schedule a complimentary 15-minute Discovery Call with Ruth and Angie.