More than ever there is an urgent need to help our brain calm down, pause, and find peace. Modern times have caused many of us to live on autopilot, constantly multitasking and being exposed to continual digital stimulation and information overload.
What if there was a way to work directly on your brain to change your mind, so you can switch your thoughts “OFF” more easily and chill more quickly?
This is possible with a new technology called Direct Neurofeedback which we have been using at the Alpine Clinic with over an 90% success rate.
Forever it’s been believed that the brain was hardwired and could not change or rejuvenate itself. But in the 1970’s new evidence appeared that conclusively showed that the brain can change its own structure and function through thought and activity.
We know decisively, that when certain parts of the brain are damaged or unable to perform their respective functions, other parts of the brain can take over and reorganize themselves to fulfill these actions.
The brain is sophisticated enough to regrow, rejuvenate and repair itself and create new healthier neural pathways.
Thus, the term Neuroplasticity was coined in the 70’s to describe these brilliant properties of the brain. Neuro is for “Neurons” the nerve cells in our brain and nervous system. Plastic is for “changeable, malleable, modifiable”.
Although we often refer to our brain and our mind interchangeably, they are separate but interrelated entities. Your brain is the physical organ. It is the visible and tangible part that houses your mind.
Your mind is the invisible, transcendent part that creates and stores your thoughts, beliefs, imagination. Your mind is also the sum of conditioned thought patterns that you have created over the years through repetition.
Just like your body is built from the foods you eat, your mind is built from the repeated thought patterns you have entertained and the experiences you have had in your life.
Your mind helps shape your brain by creating grooves and pathway through the electrical activity these thought patterns produce.
In his book “The Brain that changes itself”, Dr. Norman Doidge, tells the stories of how many brain problems thought to be incurable or irreversible were improved and even cured. This includes stroke victims who learned to move and speak again, and worriers who stopped their obsessions.
This whole revolution in science has revealed that the adult brain remains open to change throughout its lifespan and Dr. Doidge shows that we can rewire our brain with our thoughts as well as with modern technologies such as Neurofeedback which can act directly on stuck patterns of the brain.
In addition, all these new discoveries have allowed us to understand how anxiety and trauma affects the brain. In these cases, often the brain becomes driven by the “fight or flight” response, which causes people to be easily startled, stay hyper-vigilant and to feel like they’re always “ON”. As a result they find it difficult to live in the present moment and to stay focus on the task at hand. Instead, they find their mind racing to the worst possible outcome.
Daniel Siegel author of “Mindsight: the new science of personal transformation” tells us that “…how we focus our attention, how we intentionally direct the flow of energy and information through our neural circuits, can directly alter the brain’s activity and its structure”.
This is all very exciting news and opens us to a realm of possibilities we didn’t believe were achievable. Knowing this has helped us devise powerful interventions that focus more specifically on helping change the brain by activating certain parts of the brain that are under-active and by de-activating other parts that are over-active.
Children and adults can improve their mental abilities, sharpen their memory, improve their mood and increase their athletic performance by training their brain.
Whether you are wanting to improve your focus and concentration, reduce your anxiety, adjust into retirement, optimize your brain, improve your athletic performances or get out of stuck patterns, there is a way to reset your brain and help it kick into gear.
At the Alpine Counselling Clinic we’ve been using Direct Neurofeedback (also known as High Performance Neurofeedback) with a 90% success rate.
Ask us if it can help you!
Written by:
Claire Maisonneuve, MA.
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Director of the Alpine Clinic
