Attention Deficit Disorder and the Healing Effects of EEG Neurofeedback
This new book by Mark Steinberg, Ph.D. and Siegfried Othmer, Ph.D. describes a powerful remedy for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in straightforward language that every reader will understand. The authors specialize in the use of EEG biofeedback techniques (also called neurofeedback) for the attention, behavior, mood, and learning problems of children and adults. ADD: The 20-Hour Solution explains all that parents of children or adults with ADD or ADHD need to know about how neurofeedback techniques work. Read how they address the underlying problem and characteristics of ADD/ADHD, which must be corrected in order for symptoms to resolve. (ADHD is the formal designation reflecting that hyperactivity is an additional feature in this variant of the condition.)
Drs. Steinberg and Othmer take readers through the method by which we can improve the brain’s ability to pay attention and regulate its behavior. They give a step-by-step process of finding and selecting a professional who offers the appropriate EEG neurofeedback services, and describe moving forward safely and sensibly through the process of resolving ADD in only twenty hours, utilizing this innovative treatment method. They discuss how to monitor progress, and give specific criteria and methods for evaluating treatment success. This book guides parents in how to talk to doctors, therapists, teachers, and others about ADD. It discusses other treatment interventions, and how they might complement neurofeedback. The book details what parents can do to support treatment, create effective environments, minimize stress and conflict, and get their child on-track to healthy adjustment and development. The authors also give specific procedures and examples of effective behavior modification suitable for children, particularly children with ADD.
ADD: The 20-Hour Solution explains the self-healing capacities of the human brain and how it can learn or re-learn the self-regulatory mechanisms that are basic to its normal design and function. The authors define “mental fitness” and explain the role of EEG neurofeedback in bringing about tangible improvement for those struggling with ADD.
Good assessment procedures contribute to proper treatment and appropriate education. The authors list specific tests and give case examples of how neurofeedback assessments support effective treatment. Touching case histories that will captivate, educate, and inspire readers are interwoven with detailed, practical information. The book reveals the dramatic personal story of the children of one of the authors who had ADD and seizures and how this led to the proliferation of EEG neurofeedback as a successful intervention helping thousands of people worldwide. Most importantly, the book also lists specific up-to-date resources on where to find information on EEG neurofeedback and how to find providers throughout the world.
ALL REVIEWS ARE FIVE-STAR:
A welcome, alternative approach to treating ADD/ADHD, July 5, 2004
This book is an outstanding, articulate and heartwarming presentation of AD/HD and the problems it presents to those who have it and their families. More importantly, it also describes the frequently astonishingly successful impact of EEG biofeedback in treating the disorder.
As a neuropsychologist who tested many children for learning and attention problems, I became very tired of being able to tell parents and kids WHY they were having troubles learning, getting along with peers and disrupting their families, without having better solutions to offer than a referral to a psychiatrist for medication--which, while helpful, does not always address the full extent of the problems and often has troubling side effects.
I was amazed at the impact of neurofeedback when I finally explored it some ten years ago. It has taken over my practice to my immense delight. The changes in brain functioning neurofeedback results in provides the foundation upon which other therapies, education and sports performance training can build.
For me it has resulted in a profound shift in the way in which I view "mental" and "emotional" problems--difficulties I had assumed were characterological (even AFTER being trained as a neuropsychologist), such as "laziness" or being "unmotivated", could frequently be eliminated after a few sessions.
I believe that once the impact of EEG biofeedback is fully understood and accepted by psychology, medicine, education and the sports community, we will look back and see that our viewpoint on people and their potential is as different as the world appeared after Galileo looked at the night sky through his telescope and found that the earth circled the sun, rather than the other way around.
Limitations in brain functioning which we mental health professionals have assumed were permanent are, in fact, trainable, and training results in enhanced performance on IQ tests as well as every other aspect of performance in which our brains are involved.
The best presentation of ADD neurofeedback for parents, June 24, 2004
This bood is qutie remarkable for giving accurate and detailed information on ADD and neurofeedback in a manner that is easily read and understood by lay persons. As a child psychiatrist who practices neruofeedback I found the book to cover this very challenging field and leave me with a deeper understnading of the work that I do. It would be hard to find a better book on the subject.
I found this book, ADD The 20-Hour Solution, a clear and concise guide to understanding how the brain works and how EEG biofeedback can improve its behavior by self regulation. This book is written in a way that parents can understand not only what ADD is but how to approach it. Parents can learn from this book the questions they should ask and most importantly to take action themselves. I was amazed to find that ADD can be treated in your own home. As a mother and teacher, I wholly support self help solutions without drugs which are so often overlooked today. The case studies examined in this book give hope to any parent. I would do anything as a parent to help my child. If using a computer to train your brain works than that is what I would want for my child. This book is a must read for any parent that wants a solution to their frustration with an ADD child or for a parent that just wants more information about ADD. There is also a great Neurofeedback Practitioner Listing in the back of the book.
The authors of ADD: The 20 Hour Solution did an outstanding job of clarifying not only the issues and symptoms of AD/HD, but also how EEG neurofeedback effectively reduces those symptoms. Their explanations of ADD are scientifically based, yet articulated for the lay person. Their explanations of neurofeedback are clear and detailed, resulting in a good understanding of the neurofeedback training process. This book is filled with case studies and examples which further illuminate how neurofeedback works. It's a very interesting and informative read for parents, educators and other professionals.
An excellent resource to consult, February 9, 2004
The collaborative work of licensed Mark Steinberg and ADHD expert Siegfried Othmer, ADD: The 20-Hour Solution is an informed and informative introduction to how EEG and biofeedback can be used to directly address the core problem of ADD and ADHD, in order to lessen symptoms and help produce tangible results. Personal anecdotes, up-to-date resources on where and how to provide EEG neurofeedback information and providers, basics concerning how brain functioning directly affects one's life, and much more, ADD: The 20-Hour Solution is an excellent resource to consult for parents, educators, counselors, and care takers considering a new approach to controlling ADD and ADHD in their children or charges.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Mark Steinberg, Ph.D. is a practicing licensed psychologist in Los Gatos (San Jose), California with over 29 years of experience in clinical, educational, and neuropsychology. He has worked extensively with children and families, and with educational agencies and businesses. He has taught graduate school in psychology at several universities. His specialties include EEG neurofeedback, Voice Technology, mental fitness training, peak performance, cognitive retraining, and technology-assisted learning therapy for individuals with academic, motivational, and neurological problems. Dr. Steinberg has made numerous appearances nationally on television and radio, including TV appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. He is often consulted and invited for studio appearances as a medical expert by NBC. He was voted Educational Psychologist of the Year in 1993 by a professional peer organization and Best Child Therapist in 2000 by Bay Area Parent magazine.
Siegfried Othmer, Ph.D. is the Chief Scientist at the EEG Institute of the Brian Othmer Foundation in Woodland Hills (Los Angeles). This foundation is dedicated to research, education, and clinical services in the field of neurofeedback. Dr. Othmer is also the Founder of EEG Spectrum (1988), which rapidly became the largest neurofeedback service delivery organization in the world. He is a physicist who has spent most of his career in aerospace research. However, two children with neurological impairments, and a third with ADHD, moved his attention forcefully to this emerging technique of neurofeedback. Dr. Othmer and his wife, Susan Othmer, have introduced several thousand professionals into the field of neurofeedback. The story of these developments is told in the book, A Symphony in the Brain, by New York Times Science writer Jim Robbins.
PERSONAL LETTER TO THE AUTHOR VIA THE PUBLISHER:
To all involved in the writing of the ADD: The 20-Hour Solution:
I just wanted to thanks the authors for FINALLY explaining what I have felt is going on with my son and myself for quite a while.
My 16-year-old son and I have both been recently diagnosed with ADD, and as a nurse of 27 years I didn't need the official diagnosis, as I had suspected it for a while.
In my typical "hyperfocus way" I have bought and read almost every book about ADD and neurofeedback in a search for a chemical free-solution to our problems.
Your book was by far the most "spot on" in its description of what I feel my son and I experience: We have 2 speeds (hypercharged and unable to move). I have been saying that I wish I could just be somewhere in between.
He is now on his 13th session of neurofeedback and I am off to begin my sessions today.
Thank you so much for shedding light on our situation and offering us hope.
Also, I have seen so much in my 27 years as a nurse that very little touches me but your story about Brian made me cry. He seemed so wonderful.
Please know that you are making a difference in helping others survive.
Have a great day!
Marie Flannery
A welcome, alternative approach to treating ADD/ADHD, July 5, 2004