The Impact of Medication and Drugs on Neurofeedback Training<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI generally sit down with a new client who is admittedly\u2013or appears possibly to be (on the assessment)\u2013using drugs or alcohol and try to get him\/her to specify what they get from using.\u00a0 Also what they hope to achieve through training.\u00a0 It is important to do this between you and the client only.\u00a0 Then I explain that the substances change the way the brain works\u2026temporarily\u2026so that they feel better in the way they have just described; but in giving this temporary effect, they make it harder and harder for the brain to get there on its own.\u00a0I ask them if they have a \u201cproblem\u201d with the substance\u2013an inability to control its use\u2013and of course they say no. Then\u00a0I tell them I would like to make a contract with them: they give me one month, during which they commit to not using their substance and coming at least twice a week for brain training.\u00a0 I tell them that I will show them that they can teach their own brain to go to the place by itself that they are currently using the substance to go\u2013and that learning this, the brain will be able to go there more easily and more consistently.\u00a0 They will also begin to see some of the changes beginning that they want to see in their lives (able to concentrate better, lower anxiety or whatever).\u00a0 Most agree (though some don\u2019t, saving everyone a waste of time and money).\u00a0 Then we talk about how they will actually keep their end of the bargain: when will they be most tempted to use despite their contract? how can they avoid those situations?\u00a0 And I actually write down the agreement and both of us sign it.\u00a0 In my experience it\u2019s pretty rare that the client actually makes it through the month, which then raises between us the question of whether they really DO have as much control as they thought they had, but it also resets the contract period.\u00a0 In most of these cases we were successful and the client did agree that the substances were no longer necessary\/desirable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
You can certainly do the assessment.\u00a0 The casual user will show some effects for up to about 10-14 days after use.\u00a0 Even after a fairly short period of regular use it\u2019s likely the effects will be there and more lasting.\u00a0 But they will become more problematic the longer the client has\/does use: especially frontal alpha, slow alpha and poor alpha blocking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Alpha Theta<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
There is a specific protocol called Alpha Theta training which has been very helpful for many who deal with this pattern.\u00a0 \u00a0It is very much like the 12-step programs that lead you to the point of admitting that you don\u2019t necessarily control your life and that guide you into contact with those parts of your past that you need to accept and integrate into yourself.\u00a0 \u00a0In most cases, once you\u2019ve allowed that to happen, the \u201caddictions\u201d cease to be controlling.\u00a0 I surely do alpha theta with these clients\u2013as I do with nearly every client every 5th session\u2013but I prefer to look for the hot temporals or reversals or coherence issues or midline issues or indications of a head injury that appear in the assessment and train those.\u00a0 \u00a0Fix those and the client may still choose to smoke from time to time when in a social situation or whatever, but they won\u2019t \u201cneed\u201d to.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I would always start A\/T only after I had determined that the client was capable of producing an A\/T ratio of about 1.5 with eyes closed in the parietal or occipital areas.\u00a0 If you look at his alpha coherence levels in those areas, I\u2019m pretty sure you\u2019ll find them very low (below .30 or .40).\u00a0 Try some P4 alpha up\/theta down and also try alpha coherence training between P3 and P4 (two channels).\u00a0 Do some relaxation and stilling work with the client until he gets the feel of the alpha state.\u00a0 Without that, you don\u2019t do alpha\/theta\u2026 you do theta\/theta, which for an alcoholic is probably too scary to get into.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Cannabis\/Marijuana<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Marijuana users have high alpha amplitudes, especially in front; lowered alpha peak frequency; poor alpha blocking. \u00a0I don\u2019t use alpha theta to train marijuana users.\u00a0 \u00a0Yes it has been very useful with alcoholics and some drug addictions, but that\u2019s not usually the issue with people who smoke marijuana.\u00a0 \u00a0I don\u2019t consider that marijuana smoking is a training problem.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s just an issue that can complicate the training.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
My approach has generally been not to speak to the parents about the smoking, but to deal directly with the client when we first sit down together.\u00a0I ask him if he has a problem with marijuana, or could he stop for a month, if he chose to. I\u2019ve never had anyone say they had a problem. \u00a0Then I ask what they smoke for\u2013what happens, how do they feel different, when they smoke. I explain to them that trying to train the brain while continuing to use will be like trying to dig a hole in a swamp. \u00a0The brain won\u2019t be able to learn to change itself, since it is being changed by an external substance. I challenge them to commit to me that they will stop smoking for 4 weeks (it takes about 2 weeks for the THC to clear from the system) and participate in the training with me 2-3 times a week, and I believe I can show them that they can get to the same place without the dope that they get to with it\u2013and without the negative effects. \u00a0At the end of that time, if they don\u2019t feel I\u2019ve shown them what they can do on their own, they can always go back to smoking.\u00a0I had a couple folks choose not to take my bet, and we just told their parents that it would be a waste of my time and their money at this point to train, because the client didn\u2019t want to change. The great majority made the commitment (though only a handful ever kept it for 4 weeks). \u00a0When they slipped, I would be puzzled: \u201cI thought you said you had control of this. Maybe it\u2019s more of a problem than you thought.\u201d and we\u2019d re-dedicate ourselves and go on with the training.\u00a0I don\u2019t recall that I ever had anyone, at the end of the four weeks, say that I had lost the bet.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
It is fairly common for alcohol or marijuana or cocaine to increase alpha levels in the brain temporarily\u2013usually in the first couple drinks. That would tend to result in the person feeling calmer, happier, more present\u2013which I guess would qualify as \u201cfun.\u201d \u00a0Especially true for folks who have too much high beta or low levels of alpha or both. The problem is that the effect passes if you continue drinking, so many abusers of alcohol tend to go on past the necessary level and then continue trying to get it back. And, getting into alpha this way tends to make it harder for the brain to get there any OTHER way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Alcohol and Training<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Drinking 1-2 glasses of alcohol per week does not interfere with training unless the person drinks right before the session.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Alcoholism<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
As for the alcoholic brain, it is commonly distinguished by very LOW T\/B ratios.\u00a0 Alcoholics are into denial.\u00a0 Denial of what?\u00a0 Of subconscious material.\u00a0 Theta is subconscious.\u00a0 Alcoholics don\u2019t customarily go there.\u00a0 They also tend to have low levels of alpha.\u00a0 Alcohol consumption (early in the process) tends to bump up alpha, resulting in that sense of wonderful ease that is so rare for alcoholics.\u00a0 Teaching them to relax, with temp or GSR (didn\u2019t remember that they used GSR) was the first step toward getting them into alpha.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Substance Use\/Abuse See also The Impact of Medication and Drugs on Neurofeedback Training I generally sit down with a new client who is admittedly\u2013or appears possibly to be (on the assessment)\u2013using drugs or alcohol and try to get him\/her to specify what they get from using.\u00a0 Also what they hope to achieve through training.\u00a0 It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":308,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"topic":[775],"class_list":["post-39360","answer","type-answer","status-publish","hentry","answer_topic-library-of-symptoms-problems-and-goals"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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