Neurofeedback alone, is not enough to produce lasting changes in the brain. The genesis of electrical anomalies in the brain is often the result of multiple issues such as trauma, traumatic brain injury, genetics, and inflammation just to name a few. Often times, these layers co-mingle and produce a tangled web of behavioral compensatory responses, cognitive distortions, dietary issues, and just bad habits in general. At Neurotherapy of Colorado Springs, we untangle this web, by offering a variety of therapeutic interventions to address each client’s specific needs. It’s not just a “menu” of services, but treatment modalities that have been carefully chosen over our decades of experience because of the way they enhance each other, producing an effect that is not additive, but multiplicative. The result is positive change, that lasts. While we are always weaving the services listed below into neurotherapy sessions, we may find the need to schedule individual sessions to address larger issues that come to the surface.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a term that you will see in many mental health offices. It’s an intervention designed to address cognitive distortions, beliefs, and behaviors that cause interference patterns in a person’s life. The idea is to create new thought patterns, cognitive schemas, and coping mechanisms to allow a person to make lasting changes. In our office, we take CBT several steps further. It’s not enough to address the above issues. There is an important methodology to CBT that often isn’t taught or understood by most practitioners. An intimate understanding of how the brain works and how these issues become engrained, is crucial. Developing a new ‘cognitive script’ is very important. An understanding of the content of those scripts as they relate to the brain and the timing of the use of those scripts is essential for success. In our office, we take the time to learn and understand our client’s symptoms and health history. This, along with the knowledge of what each client’s brain looks like, allows us to take CBT to a new level.
Marriage and Family Therapy
More often than not, by the time a client enters treatment in our office, the presenting issues they are coming to address, have been in place for quite some time. By this time, these issues have woven their way into the family, putting pressure on relationships and their dynamics. To that, often times, the “group” has evolved attitudes and behaviors in response to these issues that push against or even contribute to them in a way that need to be addressed as well. It can get complicated and snowball in a way that can feel overwhelming. To be fair, and to be completely honest, as in the case of children entering treatment, it’s often a situation of the “apple not falling too far from the tree”. For example, this may mean there is a parent that also has ADHD and is in need of working on their issues as well. To that, we as parents may very well be parenting in a way that reinforces the issues we are trying to extinguish. We pride ourselves on staying on top of the latest techniques to provide each family an opportunity to grow and change together. A group can accomplish so much when they learn to work in tandem.
Individual Therapy
Many of our patients come in to address a particular issue, such as recovering from a brain injury. For them, we are bringing them back to a place they have already known. For many others, this isn’t the case. The issues they have been experiencing have been around for so long (possibly even since birth) that it’s the only reality they can remember or have ever known. The changes in the brain bring about new ideas and new possibilities for growth that were previously deemed impossible or were unseen. When this happens, there is often a process of getting acclimated that needs to take place. The fixed mindset that has built up around a particular condition can blind us to the limitless possibilities that our amazing, neuroplastic, brain provides. This new state of being often requires some nurturing and attention away from the traditional neurotherapy sessions. In our office, we have built up a large repertoire of what we call “thought tools” that we teach and implement during all neurotherapy sessions. We have been honored throughout our years of practice, to have patients who want to stay on and; work through issues that have come to the surface, learn more “thought tools”, strategize their lives, or get some coaching just to name a few. While we are in the process of putting many of our processes and “thought tools” into a book and YouTube lecture series, there is no substitute for therapeutic sessions designed to fit your individual needs. We are truly honored to have established relationships with patients that are well over a decade long. This doesn’t mean they are being seen weekly for 10 years…. instead it means that we have become a resource for them to return back to as needed and it is our greatest compliment.
Trauma/PTSD Therapy
Currently, the world of Trauma and PTSD therapy feels like it is changing daily. Why? Well, we have finally started to acknowledge the fact that these issues go far beyond pure psychological issues. Professionals like Peter Levine Ph.D. and Bessel van Kolk MD are showing the world that these are complex matters involving the brain and body and how they are impacted by trauma. To that, we see the trickle-down effects they can have on physical health including digestive problems, hormone imbalances, and inflammation just to name a few. Traditional talk work falls short in its attempt to address all of these issues. Our staff weaves a unique blend of therapeutic techniques to address all of the above factors. When necessary, we can refer to doctors and other healthcare professionals to address some of the physical issues we can’t. We have spent the last decade finding and working with other healthcare professionals that not only see our services as essential for health, but also have invited us in to lecture and educate them on the complexities of trauma and how to provide “trauma informed” care in their own offices. This professional exchange of information has allowed us to provide sensitive and streamlined care for all of our clients dealing with trauma.
Neurodevelopmental Therapy
Our office puts a premium on understanding; the brain, it’s structures, the way it develops, the various ways its development can be impacted, and the numerous manifestations (cognitive, behavioral, health) that can be seen as a result of issues arising during its development. While the brain is remarkably adaptive, some of the resulting coping mechanisms can actually reinforce the problem they were meant to solve, resulting in what clients often describe as “spinning my wheels”. It is also possible that coping mechanisms that worked when we were young (let’s say as the result of a brain injury) may become a problem in our adult life. For example, the frontal lobe starts developing in our teen years and continues to do so throughout our early to mid 20’s. Understanding the functions of the adult frontal lobe, how the brain shifts, and all of the factors that could impact its proper development is very important, especially as it may relate to that childhood TBI (for example). It can get complicated as it may start to impact learning networks, focus networks, emotional networks which then relate to fluctuating energy levels, which can be related to our adrenal system, which can impact our fight or flight response, which causes us to have overreactive emotional responses to day to day living stressors, which…………… and down the rabbit hole we go. Phew…. it is a complicated and exhausting path which gets muddier when we run internet searches on our symptoms only to find there are a million different possible causes. Our vote is that you come visit with us to help you figure these things out and use the internet to search for the best stuffing recipe for your Thanksgiving turkey. We have done the work. We have spent countless hours learning and doing our own research. To that, we know what to look for when researching new topics and apply a discerning eye to all the information that is available in the information age.
Performance enhancement
Our office is proud to work with Olympic athletes as well as professional athletes from NHL, NFL, NBA to name a few. To that, we add professional artists, musicians, business owners and business executives. We have earned the reputation of being the office to come to for learning and refining “the zone”. It has become a real niche for our office and real honor at the same time. Not only do we help to enhance brain functioning, but we also can provide coaching on a variety of subjects (such as sleep, nutrition, healthy habits, exercise, cognitive schemas, fixed vs. growth mindset, personal philosophy) as they relate to a healthy brain and performance. We have been known to show up at practices, with our equipment, to work with these folks in the environment in which they ‘do what they do’. Not only does it enhance context dependent learning, but we have also been able to help these clients make changes to and in their environment to get even more out of their performance. Every ‘performance’ setting, be it an office, a rehearsal space, or workout space, has its limitations and supportive qualities. We apply what we know about that person’s brain, how the brain learns best, and what that person is trying to achieve, to make adjustments to their routines, habits and their environment to attain maximum results. Chris is also teaching a variety of classes at businesses, bringing his unique brand of “group performance enhancement” to the workplace. Please see our classes/workshops page for more information.