RMHC | Certified in NeurOptimal Feedback
Shuli Labkowski is Masters in Psychology, RMHCI Therapist, she is also Gottman Method Certified. She is specialized in NeurOptimal and Neurofeedback. Let us know in detail about NeurOptimal.
Brain training with NeurOptimal Neurofeedback System is cutting-edge technology to create calm, improve mental functioning & enhance your mood. It’s a fully automated non-invasive neurofeedback technology, safe for all ages.
Neurofeedback is a form of brain training that is also called neurofeedback, Neurotherapy, and EEG biofeedback.
Neurofeedback training is a widely used term but at its core, it is a feedback system to let the individual use changes in brain wave activity as a source of feedback to potentially improve health and wellness.
Neuroptimal is a minimum of 12 to 15 sessions done every day. A client would come in 6 days the first week then 6 days the following week.
What is it used for:
The uses of neurofeedback vary widely. This is possible because the brain is involved in much of the body’s functioning so many areas can improve from neurofeedback training. The two broad areas are specific concerns and overall wellness. The neurofeedback systems that are either FDA approved as Medical Devices or are in the process of being researched for that designation, specifically target symptom relief from various disorders such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and ADHD.
It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to register the equipment with the FDA to review as either a Class 2 Medical Device or as a General Wellness Device. The determination depends on what benefit the manufacturer wants to make from the device specifically in this category and whether it is for treatment or training purposes.
The neurofeedback systems that are designated by the FDA as a General Wellness Device are considered safe to be used for overall wellness purposes by the general public and do not require supervision by a healthcare provider. They are brain training not treatment devices.
How does it work:
The second generation of neurofeedback devices arose as the speed of computing power approached the speed of the brain’s processing. The design of this system is referred to as non-linear due to the mathematical formula used, which mirrors how the brain naturally creates change. The brain’s method of change and improvement is a non-linear systemic approach.
What is a linear system versus a non-linear system? Anything that functions with 100% predictability is a linear system. An example of a non-linear system of change is the weather. We understand that winter leads to spring, summer, and fall (linear system) but it doesn’t do so with a predictable pattern of temperature increase and decrease (non-linear). Snowfall in April does not mean that we are heading back to winter!
The brain also changes in a non-linear pattern and the mathematical formulation for the software of non-linear neurofeedback mirrors this pattern. Specifically, the software looks at the brain’s electrical activity or voltage and determines state change by factoring in the changes in duration, amplitude, and frequencies over time.
Another significant difference with non-linear neurofeedback is that it does not require the trainer to set protocols. Because the speed of computing has approached brain speed, the dynamical software interacts with the brain in real-time to give it feedback so that the individual’s brain can register its own state changes and shift anything that is not optimal.
The software takes hundreds of data points from the electrical activity measured by the EEG sensors per second. The device then uses micro-interruptions in music that is playing while the training session is running.
Hearing is the main sense perception that the brain uses to detect changes in the environment. The precisely-timed interruptions act as an alert system telling the individual brain to pay attention to two sets of information: what is happening externally in the environment and what is happening internally in the body.
The training is giving this feedback thousands of times per session. The individual brain can then use this feedback to see its own automatic choices or habits and then decide if it wants to change those patterns.