We work with children as young as five through 18 years-of-age. Children can present with the same type of problems that adults have, such as insomnia, anxiety, depression, oppositional, defiant, avoidant, and ADHD behaviors. Children may also have academic problems that stem from learning disabiilities, sensory-motor integration, and inattention.
There are multiple ways of testing that can help us determine the source of the problems and develop a treatment plan or road map to intervene in their problems and, hopefully, correct their difficulties. Talk therapy has limited value as a stand alone treatment for little ones, therefore, we advocate the use of family therapy to help educate and facilitate changes in children. Children can be very responsive to behavior modification if it is effectively delivered by their parents.
Often parents are at their wit’s end in trying to correct these problems themselves, become discouraged might come to the conclusion that they can’t help their child. We provide good parental support throughout this process.
Oliver’s Story
Oliver is a 9-year-old who was oppositional and disobedient at home and at school. He was frequently reprimanded by his teacher and there was a fear that he would be placed in a special class for behavior-disordered children, and/or place him on medication. Mother researched alternative methods of treatment and found this facility on the internet. Oliver completed approximately 19 neurofeedback sessions, but mom was unable to continue her child’s treatment plan due to family demands. A year later, Dr. Ryan was stopped by Oliver’s mother in a restaurant and mom shared how much Oliver had improved in school and was no longer in jeopardy with being moved out of his classroom, nor was any need to place him on medication.
Another tool used by our staff is neurofeedback and heart rate variability training, neither of which are invasive procedures. Neurofeedback is a computer- assisted behavior training method that gets the correct information to the brain through feedback from a monitor. We call it “brain food”. This method is explained more thoroughly on the Frequently Asked Questions page on this website. Neurofeedback helps the brain stabilize itself so that normal maturation processes can occur and the problem behaviors recede. Most benefits take about 20 to 80 sessions to reach a level where the brain can maintain what it has learned. It really needs to be thought of as an investment in their child’s future. In the past 15 years, we have seen about 80% of the children show a positive outcome to this method. As with most things in life, we cannot guarantee success and, occasionally, we don’t achieve the goals set out to get. You can also find more information on the Testimonials page.
