Neurofeedback (NFB), also known as EEG biofeedback, or neurobiofeedback is a type of biofeedback that uses real time displays of electroencephalography to illustrate brain activity, often with a goal of controlling central nervous system activity. This type of study looks at the connection between neurobiology and psychology.

A common professional neurofeedback therapy session today goes as follows:

1. An initial EEG intake takes about 90 minutes. The patient will get a questionnaire and a first EEG reading. The questionnaire specifies the complaints and also helps to indicate if the referral to a specialist might be called for. In some cases but not all a full EEG will be recorded.
2. If a full EEG is called for, the EEG recording is typically done on 19 – 21 sites on the scalp. It results in a brain map (“quantitative EEG”). This is a series of maps (for each frequency one) where for each measured spot the average level of activity is shown. The brain map is compared to a database to determine spots of over- and under activity compared to the average people of the patient’s age and sex. There are several commercial providers of such databases.
3. The actual session itself involves placing sensors on the head. The feedback may involve, for example, a simple light or tone or game that will move and play when certain brain activity is detected by the system. For other brain activity the rewarding tone, or light or game is taken away.
4. At the beginning of each session the patient reports the course of his complaints and also mentions other mental effects. On the basis of this report the therapy may be adjusted. In some cases a patient is allowed to take a feedback machine home.

IOP, also referred to as Intensive Outpatient Program, is designed to help individuals recover from alcohol and or drug addictions, as well as many health disorders by providing highly structured services that help patients gain skills needed to manage crisis and symptoms of their addictions or mental illness in order to prevent relapse or hospitalization. Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) allows you to seek treatment for your addiction or mental illness while continuing to keep on with your lifestyle; working and taking care of your family. The program operates typically three hours a day and at least three days a week based on an individualized treatment plan, which includes assessment, counseling, crisis intervention and activity therapies or education.

For the individuals suffering from alcoholism, there are detox programs provided, too, in an outpatient manner. Patients might also be put on certain kinds of medication that will help them release their cravings so that they will be able to stay away from using the substance. However, there will not be constant medical attention since the program is outpatient in nature, and instead, the patient will be monitored during treatment sessions.

Counseling is also a very important aspect of the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). Psychiatric treatment is made available for patients suffering from certain kinds of mental illnesses. The patient’s family also takes an important role in the treatment to enable support, and monitor the patient’s condition when he or she is at home.

Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) are structured to prove a high quality of mental health care in the least restrictive setting to prevent psychological distress or substance-abusing individuals. The program is committed to reduce hospital stays and provide intensive therapeutic environment and outpatient setting, while inducing traditional group psychotherapy, skills training, and focused psycho-educational groups that are led by licensed providers that are created to reach the needs of each individual in the treatment.

The Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) consists of four primary areas targeted to emotions, thoughts, physical symptoms when appropriate, and addiction. The emotional component consists of learning to identify and express feelings, and learning to find safe and appropriate outlets for feelings that should be avoided, and toleration of high levels of emotion. The thought, or cognitive approach of the program teaches rational behavior problem solving skills. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most well validated approaches to psychotherapy and is considered to be a main component of Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP). Psycho-educational groups are organized around cognitive behavior therapy to assertive training, anxiety management, and even coping with depression.

Physical aspects of the program deal with bodily processes that lead to the symptoms or that are misinterpreted by patients in their recovery. Exercises of relaxation and stress managements are a few of the typical subjects addressed. Psychotropic medication may also be at use in bringing up biochemical contributions to your condition, which can be prescribed by one of the psychiatrists working in the program.

Depending on the individual’s needs of the group participants, the foci of these categorized groups take on different content areas. Some of these include out of control teenagers, dealing with loss, work place issues, coping with chronic illness, conflict management, and self defeating behavioral patterns. Identified problem areas are utilized to teach skills that provide new strategies or solutions in teaching coping skills. Throughout the program, cognitive behavior therapy, anger management, anxiety management, assertiveness training and skill generalization are used.

Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) offer a selective array of services that can best fit an individual’s needs in order to recover problems from addictions to mental illnesses.

Traditional use of medicines is recognized as a way to learn about potential future medicines. Herbalism is an alternative medicine or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy. The scope of herbal medicine is sometimes extended to include fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts. Pharmacognosy is the study of medicines derived from natural sources. The use of plants as medicines predates written human history. A 60 000-year-old Neanderthal burial site, “SHANIDAR-4″, in northern Iraq has yielded large amounts of pollen from 8 plant species, 7 of which are used now as herbal remedies.

Plants have evolved the ability to synthesize chemical compounds that help them defend against attack from a wide variety of predators such as insects, fungi and herbivorous mammals. By chance some of these compounds whilst being toxic to plant predators turn out to have beneficial effects when used to treat human diseases. Chemical compounds in plants mediate their effects on the human body by binding to receptor molecules present in the body; such processes are identical to those already well understood for conventional drugs and as such herbal medicines do not differ greatly from conventional drugs in terms of how they work. This enables herbal alternative medicines to be in principle just as effective as conventional medicines but also gives them the same potential to cause harmful side effects. Many of the herbs and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.

In 2001, researchers identified 122 compounds used in mainstream medicine which were derived from “ethnomedical” plant sources; 80% of these compounds were used in the same or related manner as the traditional ethnomedical use. Similarly to prescription drugs, a number of herbs used for alternative medicines are thought likely to cause adverse effects. Furthermore, “adulteration, inappropriate formulation, or lack of understanding of plant and drug interactions have led to adverse reactions that are sometimes life threatening or lethal.

In the written record, the study of herbs dates back over 5,000 years to the Sumerians, who described well-established alternative medicinal uses for such plants as laurel, caraway, and thyme. Ancient Egyptian medicine of 1000 B.C. are known to have used garlic, opium, castor oil, coriander, mint, indigo, and other herbs for medicine and the Old Testament also mentions herb use and cultivation, including mandrake, vetch, caraway, wheat, barley, and rye. Now herbology and alternative medicine is available in Orange County.

Integrative medicine services have become very popular in the United States, with more than 70 percent of Americans using them in some form. The latest research shows that how we live, what we think, and how we feel affect our health. For example, hostility, depression and loneliness contribute to heart disease. Stress can exacerbate infections, fibromyalgia and asthma. High-fat diets can lead to coronary disease and cancer. Obesity is a major factor in the development of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cancer. You may benefit from integrative medicine if you suffer from a chronic illness and wish to reduce the severity or frequency of disease episodes and enjoy a better quality of life.

While traditional medicine can help diminish the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles, integrative medicine can reverse those consequences, prevent illness and reduce symptoms, resulting in:

• Decreased pain
• Improved sleep
• Enhanced immune function and fewer infections
• Lowered blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels
• Improved bowel function
• Less anxiety and depression related to illness
• Fewer complications after surgery
• Resolution of post traumatic stress disorder

Alternative medicine is a system of health care which fosters a cooperative relationship among all those involved, leading towards optimal attainment of the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual aspects of health. It emphasizes the need to look at the whole person, including analysis of physical, nutritional, environmental, emotional, social, and spiritual values. It encompasses all stated modalities of diagnosis and treatment including drugs and surgery if no safe alternative exists. Alternative medicine focuses on education and responsibility for personal efforts to achieve balance and well-being. Ways in which alternative medicine can be attained is to practice any number of the following: Psychotherapy, Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Hypnotherapy, Integrative Medicine, Massage Therapy, Meditation, Nutrition Counseling, Reiki, Yoga. Conditions that Integrative medicine can be used to for to help patients manage symptoms include:

• Heart disease
• Back pain
• Cancer
• Headache/migraine
• Diabetes
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Multiple sclerosis
• Obesity
• Stress
• Shingles
• Chronic fatigue
• Post traumatic stress disorder

When one part of the body or mind is not working properly, it is believed to affect the whole person. Alternative approaches focus on the whole person rather than just on the illness or part of the body that is not healthy. However, many health professionals promote healthy lifestyle habits such as exercising, eating a nutritious diet, not smoking, and managing stress as important in maintaining good health. Alternative methods are becoming more common in mainstream care and may be used as complementary therapy or preventive care.

Until recently, traumatic experiences that cause anxiety and PTSD were difficult and time-consuming to treat. EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is considered a breakthrough therapy because of its simplicity and the fact that it can bring quick and lasting relief for most types of emotional distress. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a powerful psychotherapy technique which has been very successful in helping people who suffer from trauma, anxiety, panic, disturbing memories, post traumatic stress and many other emotional problems. EMDR is the most effective and rapid method for healing PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as shown by extensive scientific research studies.

The EMDR therapy uses bilateral stimulation, right/left eye movement, or tactile stimulation, which repeatly activates the opposite sides of the brain, releasing emotional experiences that are “trapped” in the nervous system. This assists the neurophysiological system, the basis of the mind/body connection, to free itself of blockages and reconnect itself. As troubling images and feelings are processed by the brain via the eye-movement patterns of EMDR, resolution of the issues and a more peaceful state are achieved. The EMDR technique is most effective when used in conjunction with other traditional methods of therapy in treating these and many other emotional disorders. EMDR therapy can help clients replace their anxiety and fear with positive images, emotions and thoughts.

A trained therapist works gently with the client and asks him/her to revisit the traumatic moment or incident, recalling feelings surrounding the experience, as well as any negative thoughts, feelings and memories. The therapist then holds her fingers about eighteen inches from the clients face and begins to move them back and forth like a windshield wiper. The client tracks the movements as if watching ping pong. The more intensely the client focuses on the memory, the easier it becomes for the memory to come to life. As quick and vibrant images arise during the therapy session, they are processed by the eye movements, resulting in painful feelings being exchanged for more peaceful, loving and resolved feelings.

The EMDR technique is most effective when used in conjunction with other traditional methods of therapy in treating these and many other emotional disorders. EMDR therapy can help clients replace their anxiety and fear with positive images, emotions and thoughts. There are a number factors to consider when evaluating the appropriateness of EMDR therapy for a client’s particular situation and history. During your initial consultation with a trained EMDR therapist, all the relevant factors will be discussed in full to help you both come to a decision to move forward with EMDR.

As a parent you may be feeling pretty hopeless concerning your teen, however there are some steps you can take to help your teen say no to teenage drug abuse. The following is quick list of some steps you can take to help you and your teen avoid teenage drug abuse.

1. Initiate a pressure free conversation with your teen about alcohol and drugs. Make sure you share with your teen the dangers and problems associated with drug use. You can research the harmful effects of specific substances, or share personal stories of how your life, or the lives of people you know have been affected by drugs.
2. Learn to genuinely listen to your teen. Listening is a technique that will make your teen want to have a conversation with you. Listening shows your teen that you are really here to know them and understand what their life is about. Taking a non judgmental stance to listening, will enable your child to come to you with things that may be embarrassing for them.
3. Help your teen feel good about themselves. Teens are often unsure about themselves, make sure you are giving lost of praise and encouragement to your teens in order to cultivate a stable self concept that will enable them to care for their bodies, mind, and spirit.
4. Help your teen develop strong values. Helping your child have a clear view of right and wrong can aid them in standing strong against peer pressure.
5. Be a positive role model. Remember that your teen will be very conscious of your attitudes and behaviors concerning drugs and alcohol.
6. Help your teen deal with peer pressure. Encourage your teen to assertively stand up for what he believes is right and wrong.
7. Set firm ruses about drinking and drug use. Family rules need to be clear and consistent, and make sure the consequences are thoroughly understood.
8. Encourage healthy, creative activities. Make sure your children have structure in their lives. Create activities for them that cultivate their natural abilities.
9. Talk with other parents. It can be really refreshing to know you’re not alone as a struggling teen parent. Get to know their parents friends through school functions, sports events ect. If your teen is invited to a party, make sure there is a chaperone and there is no alcohol or drugs.
10. Know what to do if you suspect teenage drug abuse. As a parent, it is good to learn the signs of possible teenage drug use and get treatment from a drug and alcohol rehab as soon as the signs are recognized.

When nature is out of balance, it consistently restores itself back to balance. When the atmospheric pressure is too high, the clouds open up and you usually have rain falling from the skies, thus restoring balance to the atmosphere. This phenomenon also happens within the human body. When the human body becomes overheated, it cools itself by perspiring, thereby lowering the body’s internal temperature.

This homeostasis phenomenon helps to ward off disasters within the human body. However, with the bombardment of stressors all around us, our bodies have a harder and harder time to restore itself to balance – hence the appearance of disease and chronic issues. And that is where Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine can assist us!

Acupuncture restores balance to the body by assisting the body’s return to homeostasis – thus, in time, abolishing disease and chronic issues you might have.

In ancient Chinese history, you can see the use of Acupuncture for preventative health. During each season, the people in the villages would be treated to ward of different diseases. For example, during the summer, the village doctor would treat the villagers to prevent heart disease. In the winter, ailments of the joints would be treated in order to prevent the prevalence of this disease throughout the village.

What can Acupuncture treat in the Western modern world? I have seen patients get better from treatments for the common cold to sleeping disturbances to women’s issues. Anxiety has been calmed down, and sore throats have disappeared. When I personally receive acupuncture treatments, I leave the table feeling refreshed, relaxed, and rejuvenated. I guess that is what homeostasis in my body feels like! That is what our bodies SHOULD feel like! If you feel like your body, your life, feels out of balance, please schedule an Acupuncture session, and join the natural phenomena of balance restoration.

For many who attempt the road towards recovery, there is a sense of breaking from the familiar, the routines, lifestyle, relationships, and our identity of life thus far. It is no wonder than that when an addict attempts the road to recovery; they are attempting to change their way of life and to change their familiar self, which can inevitably cause feelings of anxiety to brew beneath the surface. It is as if they become lost to themselves and are plunged into the futile attempt of finding who they are. Thus, it has become evident that among those who abuse or who are dependent on substances lay core existential issues of the human condition.

Existential questions are those that question our very self in life and who we can become, thus when the addict begins his journey to recovery and these questions arise it is important to work with these from a holistic framework. A customized intensive outpatient program would focus on these kinds of issues as they pertain to the client’s issues. The therapist’s frame of reference controls the content of the material provided by the patient. Thus, in a rapid, managed care oriented day and age it seems that treatment for substance abuse may overlook some of the core existential issues that lie at the heart of chemical abuse and dependency which will ultimately prevent the recovery of the whole person. A customized intensive outpatient program that treats the whole person is a key treatment option for substance abuse. These client’s issues lie beyond their maladaptive behaviors, thus it is important to not just focus on behavior changes, but focus on the overall healing of the whole person.

At Harmony Heals, there are many very skilled practitioners that help to heal those who walk through our doors. One of these practitioners is our Certified Nutritionist, CN, and a Functional Nutritionist. This is what she has to say about what she does.

“People often come to me when they have exhausted their time energy and money with mainstream medicine. What sets me apart from other nutritionists is that I have a set of testing, protocols and tools that treat the body systems not just the symptoms. As a Functional Medicine Nutritionist, I treat the cause. The cause of depression, anxiety, digestive disorders including IBS, colitis, acid reflux, weight gain, loss of energy, loss of libido, RA, migraines, addictions, eating disorders on a biochemical level.“

A few years back Time Magazine had a picture of man on fire on its cover, stating that the medical world did in fact attribute chronic diseases to underlying inflammation but that’s where that message stopped. Most of the medical world did nothing to test and treat the underlying cause of the inflammation. We know that symptoms are still being treated by the staggering sales of anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds, cholesterol and heart disease medications, libido enhancers, chemo medications and the list goes on.

There are three main body systems that influence the overall health of our body. If one or more of these is off then there is often inflammation and our brain doesn’t work correctly, leading to all of the above listed. These three systems include our hormones (focusing on the adrenal glands), the digestive tract and our liver or detoxification system. There are simple ways to test to see how all of these systems are functioning and get to the root of 90% of what ails people.

Let’s take a real case. A client came to see me because she had been anxious, had a difficult time losing weight, had no energy, chronic constipation and experienced bloating after each meal, a little bit of heartburn and sometimes nausea. We found out that the root of her problem was tied to her digestive tract. She had a parasite that she had been carrying for some time along with an overgrowth of yeast and a leaky gut. Her digestion/absorption had been immensely compromised causing a tremendous amount of inflammation. All of this inflammation caused for her adrenals to be taxed, causing hormonal imbalances, anxiety, lack of energy, and constipation. This also caused an overload on her liver. So what we did is repair the digestive tract by removing the bugs and yeast, adding some supplements to repair the intestinal and stomach lining, gave her some adrenal support, and supplements to detox and support the liver. This protocol along with a few dietary and lifestyle changes gave my client her life back. She is full of energy and all of her symptoms are gone. Let’s take a minute to look at what mainstream medicine would probably have done-probably would have given her an anti-depressant, or anti-anxiety medication, and an antacid, and possibly some synthroid for thyroid, none of which would have gotten to the root of her problems and helped her to becoming healed

Please come visit me at Harmony Heals and let me heal your body and your mind. Get back to the person who looks and feels great again!

The Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is a highly structured program that is dedicated to provide services to help individuals and their families recover from alcohol and/or drug addictions, as well as many health disorders including depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, etc. The outpatient program is an alternative approach to inpatient or traditional outpatient programs. Instead of once-a-week appointments, or 24-hour hospitalization, the Intensive Outpatient Program falls right in between the two ends as it offers group therapy; with classes that are designed to assist the patient in gaining skills needed to manage crisis and symptoms of their mental illness or addictions in order to prevent relapse or hospitalization. A staff of clinical professionals work as a team to provide the highest quality of treatment and comprehensive care, assuring a support system in which to grow and to develop new skills needed to return to his/her highest level of functioning. This process is organized in ways of which IOP participants are viewed as students, taking a variety of classes that are specifically focused on their need, gaining insight into the effects of their illness upon their health, career, and families through educational lectures and counseling.

Intensive Outpatient Program’s primary goal is to support and promote long-term recovery through the development of education, self-awareness and personalized knowledge of addiction and the recovery process. Emphasis on an individual’s ability to change their own behavior and provide the necessary tools needed to achieve change is well-valued.

These services are accessed if the individual is referred to the program by a psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist/social worker, insurance company, or self-referral.

Each person that is referred is confidentially and individually evaluated in an interview with a no charge assessment in order to establish criteria for the program. If this person meets the criteria for this level of care and does not have a psychiatrist, one will be assigned. Once completed, a therapist discusses the patient’s appropriateness for the program, and then can be admitted to the Intensive Outpatient Program.

During the process of recovery in the program, the patient and therapist both work to establish an individualized plan of treatment and identify problems, set goals, and organize the steps to reach their goals. The therapist also works with the patient and the family to address the recovery needs and the direction for both. Each patient in the program is provided with professional care from a psychiatrist, supervisor, therapists, case managers, and a nurse in an environment (usually a home) that embraces a friendly, therapeutic atmosphere. Services included with the Intensive Outpatient Program are substance abuse evaluations, inpatient detoxification referral, relapse prevention groups, alcohol and drug incident classes, and family support groups.

Therapy is for everybody. It is no doubt that everyone needs help from time to time, no matter what personal issues they are dealing with. There is not much hesitation when deciding to see a medical doctor for physical problems, but the sad fact is that many people who could really benefit from proper psychiatric care hardly ever seek or get the help they need. Whether it be denial of the problems, a fear of the unknown, the lack of knowledge of available resources, or that there was never an opportunity found for the person to be involved in a quality program, it is necessary to be aware of such issues; addictions, or mental illnesses, and to understand that a program such as the Intensive Outpatient Program is available to reconstruct a patient’s life physically, emotionally, and spiritually.