Patty’s Journey with Neurofeedback 

I had been introduced to neurofeedback around 2018, while attending a training / conference about addiction by psychiatrist Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD. He’s the author of the best-selling book called How The Body Keeps The Score. I have worked in the field of addiction since around 2007, in various treatment facilities and with various treatment modalities. The way Dr. Van Der Kolk spoke about trauma and addiction treatment, utilizing neurofeedback, sparked my interest and I knew I wanted to know more. Utilizing the training that I had in Sensorimotor and Somatic Experiencing was highly effective, but it still wasn’t enough for what some of my clients were needing. That is why neurofeedback seemed so important!  

Fast forward to August of 2023, when I KNEW that I was to add neurofeedback into my practice for many reasons. One particular reason was watching my husband’s health majorly declining and the threat of him facing surgery was looming. I felt so many of his symptoms were somatic responses to stress, meaning they were psychological.  His own worried, troubled, anxious thought patterns were effecting him physiologically, showing up in his body as illness, as somatic responses, to little-t “trauma” that had occurred throughout his life. 

If you look up the word somatic, you will find definitions such as this. “Soma comes from a word meaning “body” in Greek, so somatic means “of the body” and is most often used in connection with one’s health.” 

But it was hard convincing him of that. As always, he agreed to help me to gain knowledge, greater experience and understanding of anything that I was learning, in order to further my practice. He agreed to become my first “crash test dummy.”  His words!  Not mine…. His health had declined so drastically that he felt he had little to lose. I’m so very thankful that we pursued this together!  We are both different people today, in different bodies and leading very different lives because of neurofeedback, much healthier lives!  

I can’t tell you the immense gratitude I have for stumbling into the midst of Anna Morell and Leanne Hershkowitz. These are the two mentors that have spent the most time with me and have trained and influenced how I train with neurofeedback, my philosophy and approach. I will be eternally grateful in how much have invested in me!  I have had the privilege of gleaning all of their direct experience / training / knowledge that they have acquired from Psychotherapist Sebern Fisher and Psychologist Clair L. Goldberg, two powerhouses in the field of neurofeedback. Their collaboration with me has given me opportunity to incorporate in my somatic training, and to enhance the effectiveness of neurofeedback to a greater level. It has been an amazing, awe-inspiring journey of watching our God-given healing ability of our own bodies at work!  

I’ll let my husband David tell you of his own experience and his journey with neurofeedback… 

David’s Experience with Neurofeedback 

I started neurofeedback to help me deal with achalasia which makes it difficult to swallow. The problem is made worse when I am agitated or tense. I was facing having surgery to correct the issue since I could barely swallow fluids let alone food. I would also frequently wake up at night choking on my own saliva.

When I heard that neurofeedback could help reduce stress, I wanted to see if it could help with my achalasia. I have done many sessions as we experimented with what protocols gave the best results and I have been able to avoid the surgery. In fact I am currently able to go out to eat again and feel pretty normal in most social situations that involve food. I rarely wake up at night now too. I could live out the rest of life like this and be fine.

There have been many other benefits too that are not related to swallowing. My thought processes are much clearer and sharper than they have been in a long time. I had a concussion in a bike accident a few years ago and haven’t been up to par in a while. Now I am able to tackle complex projects and see them through just like I used to.

My wife reports that I am nicer and notably less agitated especially in difficult situations. I truly feel like a different person when dealing with people. Difficult situations are just challenges that are fun to solve.

I have been able to get back on the bike and am trying to get my overall fitness back. My resting heart rate is lower than before neurofeedback. In fact it can approach levels that it used to hit when I was in peak physical form even though I am not in that form right now.

I was wrestling with overeating for the amount of physical activity that I was capable of. I’m not struggling with that now. I am able to control what I eat in conjunction with increased physical activity.

Each day feels new and exciting. I never realized before how much of a rut I was stuck in. I love to get up early now and journal, read, catch up on current events and watch the sun rise outside the kitchen window.

Patty’s Perspective on Neurofeedback 

When I was trained in Somatic Experiencing many years ago, I grew to understand how our nervous system could act as a warning system, to let us know that our lives were out of balance. The odd physical symptoms that we all experience at times, were not necessarily disease or illness in our bodies but somatic responses.  These responses are telling us that  our bodies are not tolerating the stressors of the world. These strong responses could lead to illness or disease or exacerbate already existing illness or disease, but it is our body’s way of telling us that it was on overwhelm and that we aren’t handling things well. 

An example of this in my own body would be getting an increase in pain, sometimes very specific pain, depending upon the stressor. Another somatic response I would get are tension headaches. Another would be a flare-up of eczema or skin rashes that I’ve dealt with my entire life. Another somatic response would be my digestion being on lock-down. 

When I began to realize that my body was speaking to me, trying to tell me that I wasn’t handling the stress of life well. It gave me clearer understanding of the self-care that I needed to live a healthier, happier, more productive life.   If we don’t deal with the strong emotions that our bodies are feeling, if we don’t allow ourselves or give time and space to emote, our bodies will emote for us, sometimes in very uncomfortable and unhealthy ways. 

With my neurofeedback training, I have learned so much more about the nervous system and how it reacts and responds to the stressors of life. This is a very simplistic explanation of the training that I received. Leanne and Anna, my mentors, talked about my nervous system being a little like the Winnie the Pooh characters of Eeyore and Tigger. Both were highly anxious characters, but in very different ways.

Eeyore was Anxious / Worried, on the low energy or depressed side. It’s our nervous system feeling “Woe is me. Whatever shall I do?” and leaving us stuck and worried.

Tigger was Anxious / Fearful, on the high energy or reactive side feeling “How am I going to fix this?  What am I going to do?” and leaving us feeling edgy, frustrated, irritated, reactive. 

The goal of neurofeedback is to TEACH our brains how to re-regulate themselves, how to deal with the stressors of life in a different, more efficient, more effective, more productive way. Neurofeedback is TEACHING our brains to be a lot more like Christopher Robbin – cool, chill and collected. 

Quotes from Christopher Robbin

“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”  (positive self-talk and encouragement)

“Doing nothing often leads to the very best kind of something”  (grounding and mindfulness)

“Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.  And what was the other I had to say?  I said “Bless Daddy,” so what can it be?  Oh! Now I remember. God bless Me.”  (prayer, gratitude and awareness of others)

Kanga’s experience with Christopher Robbin – Just for a moment, she thought she was frightened, and then she knew she wasn’t; for she felt quite sure that Christopher Robin would never let any harm happen to Roo.  (confidence, calmness, security). 

Patty’s Experience with Neurofeedback 

After gaining this new perspective, I realized how dysregulated my nervous system has been for so many years, for literally decades. And I then understood how this had also highly effected the physical and mental health of my mother and my grandmother!  This was an unbelievable revelation of how past generations had been affected and what my mother and grandmother had passed down to me about how to react to the world around me.  It hadn’t worked well for any of us!

I have had both Tigger and Eeyore playing tug of war within my body for decades and it was taking its toll on me. Since starting to train my own brain with neurofeedback, I have noticed a huge change in my nervous system and how I handle the stressors of life so differently. It’s not that the world isn’t continuing to happen around me.  My brain has learned to adjust differently to the world and the circumstances and events of life.  

These are some of the areas in which I have noticed improvements in my own life – 

• reduction in chronic pain
• improvement in digestion
• better skin, clearing up of rashes / eczema
• better, deeper, longer sleep cycles
• reduced reactivity and greater emotion regulation
• better processing of grief
• headaches that are much less severe and less often
• anxious thoughts have much less impact

I am very grateful for the changes in my life, my husband’s life and those around me that are reaping the benefits of neurofeedback!