Capital District Neurofeedback Therapy

Can you improve your performance on the court or in the courtroom? Whether for sport, music, or something else, does your child want to enhance their abilities but find that their mind is getting in the way? If you want your child to perform better, read on to find out how a few revolutionary technologies can help. First: • Heart rate variability training: You may have seen heart rate variability training showing up everywhere these days. A lot of people are talking about it. However, it is important to understand that there's a nuance to this form of training that involves more than just watching a YouTube video of a screen going up and down while you breathe with it. But can many people improve their heart rate variability this way? Probably, but I have also found that many people do not, despite months of using heart rate variability breathing. For this reason, it is better to use biofeedback equipment to measure heart rate variability and ensure that you're making progres...

In the world we live in, it seems that almost everyone and every device we open offers us an opinion or thought about the world we live in.  Most of these thoughts are not worth the energy that created them. Why is this important? Everyone has a mind that is full of thoughts.  Some minds have kinder thoughts than other minds and thus are not tortured as often with sadness, anger, or anxiety .  This is good fortune. But many minds, particularly in these times, are filled with thoughts of fear, frustration, anger, and second-guessing just about everything that happens. Regardless, there will be an abundance of thoughts and options, coming from others and also generated by your own mind.  We almost always give attention to these, without discretion.  My goal today is to offer two criteria for adding clarity about whether a thought/opinion is worth another one of your thoughts.   To get stronger, we must be exposed to life that requires more of us. ...

In this video, Dr. Randy Cale, a Licensed Psychologist, answers the question, "Why Neurofeedback So Effective?" This is a question that often comes from parents or individuals who have done their research and see that neurofeedback is now rated as a level four or five intervention for many mental health disorders, including ADD, anxiety, OCD, and depression. Level five is as high as it gets with mental health interventions. Many therapies and medications are level two or three, so neurofeedback is garnering attention despite not being a quick fix like them. Neurofeedback's effectiveness has been proven, which is interesting because it does not force the brain to do anything. We are not feeding it some drug or electrical impulse; all we do is allow the brain to do its natural thing. Imagine we have a very strong brainwave, like a theta wave, and we want it to come down because it's associated with more ease, happiness, and enjoyment and fewer ADD, anxiety, and focu...

In this video, Dr. Randy Cale, a Licensed Psychologist, answers the question, " Why Neurofeedback So Effective? " Why would you choose neurofeedback among the other options for getting help for your child or help for yourself? This answer falls into several categories: First of all, other than neurofeedback, very few treatments come without side effects. So if you or your child have been on medications and you hate their side effects, which tend to get worse over time, then neurofeedback is a treatment to consider. Secondly, very few treatments are rated as level four or five-level interventions. Level five is the highest level of treatment available in the world of mental health. For anxiety, depression, and ADD, for example, neurofeedback, as a level four or five treatment, is among the best treatment options. Thirdly, almost every treatment, therapy, or medication goes down in terms of effectiveness over time, but not neurofeedback. Neurofeedback is an incremental an...

In this video, Dr. Randy Cale, a Licensed Psychologist, answers the question, " Does Neurofeedback Improve Neuroplasticity ?" The answer is yes. It does improve neuroplasticity. In fact, this is what neurofeedback is all about. Most brains that come into our practice have been sort of shut down or locked down. Communication between major areas in these brains is locked in an unhealthy pattern. Various factors have created some constriction where the brain's intentions, desires, outcomes, and what it's seeking do not align with what the client wants. As a result, the brain seems to be creating more anxiety, unease, depression, and sleep issues, while the client just wants to sleep, feel better, and thrive. So neurofeedback, very organically and naturally over time, simply rewards the brain as it moves into a healthier and more functional brainwave pattern. Nothing is forced upon the brain, and no electrical impulses are put into it, which is why neurofeedback has fe...

As many have acknowledged already, anxiety is on the rise because COVID has affected most of our lives in significant ways. At this moment, both active cases and death rates have escalated. This fact alone serves to escalate our fears and anxiety. Prior to COVID-19 , very few of us dealt with daily threats to our existence, but this did not thwart our struggles with anxiety. Now, with COVID added to our lives and the very real additional threats that exist, many are struggling with levels of anxiety that are truly debilitating. The Current Triple-Threat To Finding Comfort In a sense, this unique situation brings a triple dose of anxiety. First, there are the broad-based fears of the impact upon our society, the stock market, and our social-economic world. These are uncontrollable events that add to create a general sense of fear. The thought, perhaps, ‘I should be worried” is constantly reinforced by the media, as well as friends and family. Strike one. We must add more to thi...

It seems unbelievable. Some children constantly ask the same questions repeatedly, day in and day out. Trying to be patient, you answer. Then, you answer again. And then again. It can be annoying, irritating, and downright frustrating! So perhaps you come down firmly, and what happens? Then, your cunning son or daughter adjusts the question slightly and asks the same thing again. You then answer again. Then tomorrow, you got through this again. And again. And again. What's the deal? They don't do this at school. They don't do this with their coach. They don't even do this with the neighbor. Sometimes they question ridiculous things you are confident they know the answer to. And other times, they relentlessly keep negotiating over limits. Why do they ask for more when you have said no a hundred times? Why do they keep whining when you ask them to stop? Why don't they get it? One answer could be that you relent and give in to them. This isn't good; you don...

This is a great question that comes up often. Generally speaking, neurofeedback is a way to fundamentally change the brain's structure, biochemistry, organization, and communication pathways. Any conditions caused by struggles in the brain could be altered through this technology. The range of conditions that can be dramatically improved by neurofeedback spans ADD, ADHD, anxiety, panic disorders, OCD, depression, sleep disorders, migraines, and even seizures. In more recent years, neurofeedback has also been proven to help with Alzheimer's disease. So, as you begin to think about whether your or your child's situation can be improved with neurofeedback, the chances are that it can. While nothing is effective 100% of the time, in our clinic, we often see a remarkable change, provided that parents and clients are willing to have a conversation about what it takes to become more forward-focused in how they organize their homes, lives, and parenting strategies. This is somethi...

In my article, ' The Mind Makes War and We Suffer ' , I discussed how we do war in our heads.  And unfortunately, when we make 'war' with ourselves, we get frustrated, depressed, feel guilty, and ashamed.  WE can also have battles that create anxiety, fear, and frustration when the warring thoughts take on the shape of 'shoulds' or 'needs to' or 'I can't believe it.' All these often create experiences that are damaging to ourselves, with the emotions that result. When we do 'war' with others, we tend to get angry, and our judgments become ugly, often resulting in the less attractive aspects of humanity when this gets expressed.  The ultimate expression of the mental war with others is outright violence toward others. Either way, this war that occurs in our minds is automatic, reflexive, and conditioned.  It happens without our effort and is dependent on personal history, genetics, parenting , traumatic events, friends, experie...

The end of this school year is upon us, and the pleasures of summer await. Yet, summer fun is often thwarted with constant decision making, kid's complaints, power struggles, tantrums, and battles. Such challenges often turn potential pleasure into sources of stress for mom and dad, as well as for the kids. Why Do Things Often Get Worse Over the Summer? First, consider the dramatic change in routine and daily structure. As with adults, structure calms and soothes. So, when that is completely removed, many children feel an increase in anxiety. Others simply start pushing limits immediately, and this can create a bit chaos. Often this is accentuated by mom or dad seeking relief from the structure, routines, and obligations. We seek to have the sense of freedom, spontaneity, and the ease to make up the day as we go along. We make day-to-day routines flexible, we make decisions based upon moment-to-moment fluctuations, and we use lots of words to try to manage behavior. And, most im...

This is a fairly frequent question, and understandably so, because most of us are in love with our children's personalities most of the time. However, if you have a child who's acting out occasionally and has ADD, won't listen, and is perhaps defiant, a part of you may want to hold on to that strength. You may want them to keep that strength until you understand where the question is coming from. The answer, of course, is that personalities do not change with neurofeedback. To be clear, if a child or adult is inherently angry or sad , and that anger and sadness are relieved, there will be a difference in that human being, but their personality will not change. So the good news is that you can pursue neurofeedback with great abandon to relieve anxiety , ADD, OCD, depression , sleep issues, brain fog, and cognitive performance. While these issues improve with neurofeedback, the underlying personality remains intact . But who doesn't want to feel more at ease? Who doesn...

Before delving into the potential benefits of neurofeedback, it is crucial to understand the scope and impact of mental health conditions. Common mental health conditions include anxiety disorders, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorders, sleep disorders, eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and traumatic brain injuries. These conditions can manifest in various ways, affecting thoughts, emotions, behavior, and cognitive processes. They not only pose significant challenges for individuals but also place a considerable burden on families and our society as a whole. Therefore, it is essential to explore innovative and effective treatment approaches that can alleviate symptoms and enhance overall well-being. Simply put, Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback. But what is biofeedback? Biofeedback is a process of taking a signal imperceptible to us as humans, typically an electrical impulse, and u...