Understanding the language of the brain.
EEG (electroencephalogram) - how the brain speaks in electrical images
As I was completing my education in psychology, I began training as a neurodiagnostic technician. I started learning neurofeedback and brainmapping in the 1990s, along with some true pioneers in the field.
This training let to opportunities to work in neurology clinics, including Primary Children’s Hospital, where I learned how to record brain wave activity through surgeries, seizures, long-term studies with children suffering from strokes and disabilities, head injuries, and more.
I bring nine years of experience reading brain waves in clinical settings, from hospitals to neurology clinics to mental health centers. I am able to smoothly weave in that technical foundation into my current therapy practice.
How is EEG used in therapy?
Quantitative EEG (brain mapping) gives us a window into how your brain is functioning — how it may be under or over connected through functional networks. With neurofeedback, we use the information from the brainmapping process to train those areas that are overworking to help them calm down, and areas that need strengthening to wake up and get working again. This results in more flexible ability to calm when needed, to focus when needed, to better filter out unnecessary sensory input, and to really rest, relax and sleep when its time.
We adapt through every session, training the brain towards more flexible and adaptive responses, adjusting for comfort, safety, and functionality.
This is real "bottom-up" somatic therapy. When we work at the level of the brain rhythms, we're not asking the cognitive mind to try to override or force the body to function through a dysregulated system. We're supporting the brain-body’s innate system to self-reorganize. This is the innate ability of every brain, to organize itself to best adapt to your changing needs as it moves through the landscape of your own environment.
Autism spectrum, ADHD, anxiety, trauma and PTSD, sleep difficulties, emotional dysregulation, chronic stress, sensory processing differences, and those who have tried other approaches without lasting results. Neurofeedback can work in conjuction with medication, or can be an option for those who wish to try therapy without medication.
Who can benefit from brain mapping and neurofeedback?
What to expect with EEG therapy
EEG Brain Mapping (qEEG)
A full quantitative EEG session records your brain's electrical activity across multiple sites. This painless, non-invasive process typically takes about an hour. In addition, we gather a thorough picture of your history, symptoms, needs and goals.
Analysis & Report
The information from your brain recording is analyzed and compared to normative databases - this is “the map” that we work with. We identify patterns related to your specific concerns — dysregulation, hyper- or hypo-arousal, attentional differences, etc.
Based on your map, we design a neurofeedback training protocol tailored to your brain's specific patterns and the symptoms you would like to address.
Ongoing Personalization and Integration
As you begin neurofeedback therapy, which involves playing engaging games on a screen by simply watching, you receive real-time feedback as your brain learns to shift toward more regulated states.
Neurofeedback can be integrated with other somatic modalities like art, music, and nature therapy — so the gains compound rather than exist in isolation.