The American Academy of Pediatrics recent endorsement of biofeedback has caused quite the stir among growing legions of neurofeedback users and the cognitive cogniscenti. A November 2012 AAP report* recommended biofeedback as a Level One or “Best Support” treatment for children suffering from ADHD. Even more stunning was the fact that the Academy gave a big “thumbs up” to what many individual studies have already concluded: that biofeedback is just as effective for treating ADHD as pharmaceutical drugs.

NeurOptimal is a safe neurofeedback therapy for children because it is not introducing anything new to their systems, just feeding back information about what the central nervous system just did.  The training is similar to the metaphor of holding a mirror up, so the brain can see when it is responding inappropriately or ineffectively.  And then the brain decides how it wants to change.

As a matter of fact, this training is ideal for infants and very young children because of its passive nature. There is nothing that needs to be understood or even communicated verbally to the child, no “training protocol”.  It is quite wonderful to be able to say that there is no activity for the child to either succeed or fail at.  There is no work involved on behalf of the child other than relaxing in a chair listening to music.

Reasons for children to train:

Attention problems / ADHD
Aggressiveness
Impulsivity
Improved ability to stay focused on tasks such as school work, music lessons, sports activities
Stress reduction
Anxious feelings
Depressed feelings
Release traumatic memories and after effects