5 Steps to Modify Behavior with Problem Children

At Intralife Performance Center about half of our clients are children. "Does neurofeedback help with defiant and uncooperative behavior?" is not an uncommon question I hear. I believe neurofeedback is miracle for many but it doesn't fix everything and uncooperative behavior can be one of those. I am not saying that neurofeedback can't help improve unwanted behaviors but generally much of the problem lies in how the parent disciplines the child.  Once that is changed  the child's behavior becomes different.

Here is one of my favorite techniques to modify behavior with children. 

1. Make a list of literally every single thing your child like, loves, and adores. Things that have no value or meaning to the child should not be put on the list. 

2. Make a list of behaviors and actions that will receive negative consequences.

3. Make a list of positive actions and behaviors that your child can do to earn back what they lost.

4. Next sit down with your child and let the know your new plan. Teach them that almost every choice has a positive or negative consequence. Show them your list. Tell them that each time they do something they are not suppose to, such as the actions on the unwanted behaviors list, they will have an item on the beloved things list taken away as a negative consequence (I generally suggest going straight down the list so the child knows exactly what they will have taken away next). Last, tell them that they will have the opportunity to earn back the things they have lost if they do the things found on the list of positive actions and behaviors.When they earn back their toy then that's a positive consequence to a good choice.

5.  And lastly, parents you must be consistent with this. Don't be afraid of taking away every single item on the list.  Don't budge on the consequence. Kids will take advantage of you and nothing will change if you don't follow through each time an action or behavior deserves a consequence.

I hope this helps! If you have another way of effectively modifying your child's behavior, help others out and let us know!

Help for ADD and ADHD: a Non-Medication Approach

"My child's teacher is constantly reporting that Timmy is struggling to focus and sit still during class. He tends to get distracted by other students which then disrupts class. When we have to do homework at home I have to constant remind Timmy to stay on task. This is out of control and now it's starting to negatively affect our family life." -Mother of 8 year old son

Can you relate to this story? Many parents are in this exact situation and are struggling to know how to help their child who is diagnosed with ADHD and ADD. Although medication such as Ritalin and Aderal can be effective for awhile, there often tends to be highly unwanted side affects such as loss of appetite, stunted growth (from loss of appetite), poor sleep habits, and development of a "zombie" like personality.

It's not uncommon for parents to see that after so many months or years of their child having these side effects that its not worth the few benefits they get from taking the medication. This invokes another quest by parents to find something that can help their child. This search leads to them to neurofeedback. This is a non-medication approach that majority of people who try it find extremely effective... and without the side effects. Here is a clip from EEGinfo to help you learn more about neurofeedback and how it can help ADD and ADHD.

If you have had any experiences with neurofeedback, please post them below to help others decide if it's right for them.

How Neurofeedback Helps Attention Issues

Child with Attention Issues

Overview

The inability to pay attention is gaining rapid interest in the medical and psychology field because of the increase in people who suffer from this problem.  Research has shown in the past two decades there has been a significant increase of children who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention-deficit disorder (ADD).  Children who are affected by this disorder tend to struggle with paying attention in school, doing homework and chores, and other tasks that require a certain amount of focus and concentration in a given amount of time.  Their relationships may also be affected because people do not understand why they have such a difficult time completing tasks.

Symptoms that may indicate attention issues

Sometime as a parent it may be difficult to know if your child is struggling because children in general are active, curious, and excited about life. The key to knowing if your child may have attention issues is if he or she cannot focus and calm down when they know they need to get a certain task done.  Here are a list of specific symptoms that may also indicate a problem.

-Difficult paying attention to details and often producing messy work.

-Easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli that others typically ignore.

-Inability to sustain attention on tasks.

-Difficulty following through and finishing tasks.

-Frequent shifts from one uncompleted task to another.

-Procrastination

-Forgetfulness in daily activities such as turning in assignments.

-Disorganization

-Impulsive decision-making.

The cause of attention issues

The inability to pay attention is not a result of laziness or low intelligence, the problem actually stems from the way a person’s brain is wired. Researchers have shown through brain image studies that people who have ADHD or ADD have decreased activity in their frontal lobes compared to people who can focus and complete tasks with little difficulty. The frontal lobes are the part of the brain that controls executive functioning skills such as organizing, focusing, problem solving, short-term memory, impulse control, and attention. Because the brain is under stimulated in that area it has a difficult executing these skills.

How neurofeedback can help attention issues

Neuroeedback is a non-medication approach that works directly with the brain to retrain the frontal lobes. To do this, the brain is observed from moment to moment through an EEG and receives feedback from a computerized game or scene when it responds in the desired manner that promotes positive behavior. Continual reinforcement will eventually lead the brain to self regulation of executive functioning skills.

Sources:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/174722-adhd-the-frontal-lobe/

http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-symptoms

http://www.myadhd.com/causesofadhd.html

http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/understanding-attention-problems/

All accessed July 23, 2011

What is an EEG?

Picture of EEG used while doing neurofeedback

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Everybody has heard the term EEG before but few actually knows what it means and what it is used for. EEG stands for electroencephalography.  In simple terms it reads and records the electrical activity of your brain.

During neurofeedback (biofeedback) the practitioner will apply electrodes on specific parts of the scalp to target brain activity that controls certain behaviors or functions. Many EEGs used for testing potential problems require the use of dozens of electrodes to cover the scalp. However, while doing neurofeedback or biofeedback only a three to five electrodes are used. The electrodes will send the information it collects from your brain to the computer. Next, the computer receives the information and processes it onto the screen in the form of wavy lines. Some people get nervous prior to getting an EEG because of all the wires and equipment. This is not necessary; it's a simple, pain free process.  

An EEG may also be used to:

Diagnose epilepsy and various types of seizures.
Check for problems with dementia and confusion.
Find out if a person is dead or in a coma.
Study sleep disorders.

Check out www.intralifeperformance.com to watch a video of somebody being connected to an EEG.


Information used from webmd.com and wikipedia.org. Picture provided by EEGinfo.com. Thank you!

How Gray Elephants Can Help Your Anxiety

Pink Elephant

What do you do when I say, "Don't think of a pink elephant?" You think of a pink elephant... right?  Now what would you do when I say, "Think of a gray elephant, not a pink one." This time you may have first thought of a gray elephant but as soon as I said "not a pink one" you thought of a pink elephant. This is called the "pink elephant phenomenon."

I like to relate pink elephants to anxiety symptoms such as overwhelming emotions, racing thoughts, and fatigue. You try not to think of them but its impossible not to. They are awful. They stink up your life.  They make a mess in your living room. You try to put them in your closet but they always get out and cause additional problems.

When we try to ignore our anxieties, or pink elephants, we give them energy which is why we often feel that ten seconds after deciding we are going to ignore how we are feeling everything becomes intensified. For example, think of when you get upset. You first start out by feeling a little irritated. Then you think to yourself, "Gees, I'm so bugged." Then you start thinking about why you are so bugged and how life is not fair. Before you know it you are ready to blow up and let the whole world know that you are raging fire. 

So how do we get rid of our pink elephants, or anxiety symptoms, in our lives? Easy, replace our pink elephants with gray elephants which represent positive behaviors and thinking patterns. There are three steps to this process.

1. You must accept that you have pink elephants. No more shoving them in your closet or pretending they are not there. Aloud say "I accept that I have ______ (fill in the blank with what ever your pink elephant is)."

2. Next, envision your pink elephant walking out your front door. Be sure to lock and dead bolt the door behind him. Tell him that you no longer need him and that he is not welcome in your space anymore.

3. The last step is to welcome in gray elephants. Say to yourself, "Now that my ______ (whatever your pink elephant is) is gone, I'm going to choose to take three deep breaths and relax (or something else that is a positive behavior)."

These three steps will allow you to say "Good bye pink elephants!" and hello to a happier you. You can take control instead of life taking control of you. After trying the pink elephant exercise post a comment below and let others know how it helped you.