Traumatic brain injury and post-concussive syndrome is a serious medical problem which is only beginning to receive recognition and diagnosis by medical and mental health personnel.  There are many stories of people suffering with mild head injury who were never referred to a neurologist or neuropsychologist for proper diagnosis and treatment.  You may like to check out the Texas Brain Injury website for more information.

Neurotherapy is a fairly new option for treatment of brain injury.  If someone has received treatment in the past it may have been through medication or cognitive rehab.  While these can be helpful therapies, neurotherapy actually seeks to rebalance the high amplitude brainwaves caused by brain trauma.

As noted in the Assessment section of this website, the administration of the QEEG is essential for accurate and efficient treatment of head injuries.  The QEEG produces colorful brainmaps which pinpoint excessive amplitiude areas which need to be reduced.  Excessive Delta, Theta, or Alpha brainwaves (the slow brainwaves) cause symptoms of inattention and fogginess and can drastically interfere with the executive functioning of the brain.  Typically, the person suffering from the head injury, has lost their sharp cognitive functioning although their motor and verbal abilities may still appear normal.  This is why often times family, friends, and medical personnel can't understand what is wrong with the person. 

Once we have the brainmap, we have a guide for neurotherapy.  There will likely be many imbalances but certain ones may be a priority, depending on the symptoms.  Generally it is important to decrease Delta, Theta, or Alpha waves in the frontal lobes.  This helps "wake the person up" and help them be more functional.  Other problems to be addressed might be memory, vision, or motor problems.

After some 20 to 25 sessions of neurotherapy, another QEEG should be administered to see what has changed and to establish new priorities.  We usually get the best results when we work on the areas which have the most excessive amplitude.  It is very important for the client to note their reaction to the session.  This is helpful feedback for the therapist who is deciding locations which seem to be producing the best results.

The length of treatment depends a great deal on the degree of the injury.  There will likely be some help with 20 sessions but usually a minimum of 50 sessions is needed.  More serious head injuries could continue to improve with 100 plus sessions.  This may sound excessive but I'm not aware of another treatment which holds as much promise. This is not to say there is not value in more traditional cognitive rehab therapy.  In fact, it would probably be ideal to have neurotherapy and cognitive rehab therapy simultaneously.  

IN THE NEWS...

We will be hearing more in the news about brain injury and post-concussive syndrome as soldiers return from Iraq.  With better protective armor, soldiers are surviving more explosions, yet these blasts are causing a record number of mild and serious brain injuries not seen in previous wars.