Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT might be an effective treatment for:
● Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
● Bipolar disorder
● Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
● Eating disorders (such as anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and bulimia nervosa)
● Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
● Major depressive disorder (including treatment-resistant major depression and chronic depression)
● Non-suicidal self-injury
● Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
● Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
● Substance use disorder
● Suicidal behavior
What is DBT?
● DBT is a type of cognitive behavior therapy
● Cognitive behavioral therapy tries to identify and change negative thinking patterns and pushes for positive behavioral changes.
● Focuses on increasing an individual’s ability to cope with intense emotions in healthy ways
● Originally intended to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and suicidal behavior
The 4 pillars of DBT
● Interpersonal Effectiveness - helps you to become more assertive in a relationship (for example, expressing your needs and be able to say "no") while keeping a relationship positive and healthy and increasing self-respect.
● Emotion Regulation – understanding and reducing vulnerability to emotions, change unwanted emotions.
● Distress Tolerance – getting through crisis situations without making things worse and accepting reality as it is
● Core Mindfulness - the practice of being fully aware and present in this one moment.
Benefits of DBT
● Each therapeutic setting has its own structure and goals, but the characteristics of DBT can be found in group skills training, individual psychotherapy, and phone coaching
● Acceptance and change: You’ll learn strategies to accept and tolerate your life circumstances, emotions, and yourself. You will also develop skills that can help you make positive changes in your behaviors and interactions with others.
● Behavioral: You'll learn to analyze problems or destructive behavior patterns and replace them with more healthy and effective ones.
● Cognitive: You'll focus on changing thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and actions that are not effective or helpful.
● Collaboration: You'll learn to communicate effectively and work together as a team (therapist, group therapist, psychiatrist).
● Skill sets: You’ll learn new skills to enhance your capabilities.
Support: You'll be encouraged to recognize your positive strengths and attributes and develop and use them.
What impact does neurofeedback have?
According to the Neurofeedback Advocacy Project, a 501C3 non-profit, https://www.neurofeedbackadvocacyproject.com/
This is current data after 20 sessions from clients in the agencies participating in the NAP:
38% reduction in severity of client’s concerns
52% improvement in client’s coping with stress
53% reduction in self-harm/suicidal ideation
100% reduction in arrests and/or incarcerations
76% reduction in disciplinary actions at school
100% reduction in drug and alcohol relapses
84% reduction in ER visits for psychiatric reasons
100% reduction in hospitalizations for psychiatric reasons
67% reduction in disciplinary actions at school
51% reduction in suicidal ideation/self-harm
100% reduction in drug and alcohol relapses amongst our members’ clients.
Neurofeedback
With the expertise of our certified neurofeedback specialists, we help stabilize specific brain waves known to provide therapeutic benefit for issues such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, insomnia and ruminating thoughts.
Neurofeedback, also known as EEG (electroencephalogram) biofeedback, is a therapeutic intervention that provides immediate feedback from a computer-based program that assesses a client’s brainwave activity. The program then uses sound or visual signals to reorganize or retrain these brain signals. By responding to this process, clients learn to regulate and improve their brain function and to alleviate symptoms of various neurological and mental health disorders.
When It's Used
Children, adolescents, and adults with seizure conditions, behavior disorders, attention deficits, autism, ongoing developmental delays, acquired brain injuries, birth trauma, anxiety, depression, post-traumaticstress disorder, stress-related problems, and insomnia or interrupted sleep patterns, as well as those with age-related cognitive loss, may find neurofeedback helpful. Neurofeedback may also be used as an adjunct intervention with other forms of therapy such as alcoholism.
What to Expect
Neurofeedback therapy typically consists of 30-minute to 1-hour sessions once-a-week for an average of 30 weeks. Some people need fewer sessions, while others require more. While you are sitting in a chair, the technician will attach sensors to your scalp. A computer EEG program will process your brain signals and provide information about various brainwave frequencies.
The first session will always be what we call “The New Q” or a qualitative EEG analysis. This is used to get your specific brain wave patterns mapped out and our computer will analyze those patterns under various conditions to help us determine the best course of treatment protocols. It is important to point out that, at no time, does any type of impulse, wave, electricity, or anything else go INTO your brain. Our EEG simply uses external scalp sensors to measure and record your brain waves already present. This process, therefore, should not cause any side effects. During the following appointment, we will go over the results with you and start a neurofeedback session.
At Breakthrough, you will simply relax and either listen to music, watch some calming videos, play a video game, or solve a jigsaw puzzle while your brain waves are being recorded. We may also be recording your skin temperature, moisture, pulse, oxygen levels, and breathing patterns. You will get immediate feedback from the program when your brainwave patterns improve. Through the use of the sophisticated computer software and the qEEG unit, “healthy” brain patterns will be rewarded with an increase in the volume of pleasant music or increase in activity of the other visual videos. If the computer notices that you’re thinking too much, it will notify you by adding in a different sound (like birds chirping) or a static sound or slow the video. These feedback signals will tell you that it’s time to refocus and relax. In this way, the program helps direct your brainwave activity toward more desirable and controlled patterns. The idea is that you will learn to recognize how to control your brain waves and train your brain to calm itself! Between sessions, you should be able to notice changes in stress, sleep patterns, or mental clarity.
How It Works
Neurofeedback is not considered a cure, but rather a method of managing or regulating the workings of the brain so it functions in a healthier manner. This is achieved by repeated training sessions using a computerized neurofeedback program that teaches your central nervous system to reorganize and regulate brainwave frequencies. Neurofeedback assesses your brain and provides information about areas of dysfunction that are causing symptoms so that they can be treated directly. Various neurofeedback methods and equipment are used for different types of neurological problems. At Breakthrough, we primarily focus on sleep issues, ADHD treatment and “alpha-theta” training for the treatment of anxiety, stress, and depression. The reasons for these issues can be very complex so we include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to further help the individual to work through them.
Session Fees
Despite growing empirical research demonstrating the effectiveness of neurofeedback, the vast majority of insurance companies do not cover the cost of neurofeedback or, if they do, they pay almost nothing. Because of the high cost of equipment and training to offer neurofeedback, we can only accept out-of-pocket payment for this service. However, Breakthrough is among the least expensive in the valley! Only $75 per each 30-minute session.
If you would like more information about neurofeedback, please click on these articles:
Psychology Today Article What Is Neurofeedback?
Harvard Article Brain training: The future of psychiatric treatment?
If you’re ready to work with one of our trained neurofeedback specialists, please give us a call now! Maybe neurofeedback is what will help you with your next BREAKTHROUGH.