Ready to Focus News

American Academy of Pediatrics endorses neurofeedback as effective treatment for ADHD

2010-07-07T20:16:58Z

Based on a recent analysis of evidence-based studies, the American Academy of Pediatrics has now recognized neurofeedback as clinically efficacious in the treatment of attention and hyperactivity disorders. AAP’s analysis determined that using these interventions significantly improves attention and reduces hyperactivity. The AAP officially recognizes biofeedback/neurofeedback as “Good Support” treatment on the continuum of interventions. This is a significant development as the Academy had previously not endorsed biofeedback/neurofeedback until this recent publication. Although the AAP continues to endorse medication as a primary intervention for ADHD - the fact that a medical organization is recognizing the brain-based treatments is a very positive development.

Evidence Based Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Interventions (click to download)

Biofeedback for Stress, Anxiety & Improved Sleep

2009-12-16T20:13:21Z

Find out what the Mayo Clinic says about using Biofeedback for stress, anxiety, and other related conditions such as chronic pain or sleep related problems. This quick article summarizes the effectiveness of using Biofeedback for these conditions.

Neurofeedback for ADD/ADHD

2009-04-21T15:42:25Z

How does neurofeedback work? What is neurofeedback training? Download this informative PDF chapter from William Sears and Lynda Thompson’s book - The A.D.D. Book: New Understandings, New Approaches to Parenting Your Child (posted with permission from Lynda Thompson) to learn more about neurofeedback, it’s uses and applications in treating a number of psychological conditions. As always, please feel free to contact us with any of your questions or concerns. Brad Oostindie highly recommends this book for your reading!

A number of areas of positive response for this RTF participant

2010-06-15T15:49:25Z

Jim (not his real name) started the RTF program to help with struggles he was having with completing homework and problems with focusing and distraction at school. He is an elementary school age student. Over the course of 4 months he completed nearly 40 hours of training. His family began to notice positive improvement once he reached the 15-20 hour mark. By time he reached the 30-40 hour mark he was doing very well in the areas listed above. However, he also showed really neat changes in several others that came as a surprise to his parents. This included very noticeable improvements with his social interactions. He was typically an overly fussy eater and during the course of doing the RTF program became much more open to trying new foods. His energy level increased noticeably. He became much more willing to become involved in extra curricular activities at school.
I am so happy for Jim and the positive changes he has experienced. In fact, in all my years of practicing biofeedback/neurofeedback I believe he has had one of the best responses to the treatment that I have ever witnessed.

Nutritional success

2010-06-15T15:43:29Z

I began drinking the new Organo Gold coffee products containing ganoderma offered by Ready To Focus about 5-6 months ago. I enjoy a good tasting cup of coffee and I was pleasantly surprised at the taste of this coffee. It is a low acidic coffee and easy on the stomach. It also resulted in me feeling steady energy throughout the day (no afternoon crashes like before), no coffee jitters, and I felt an improvement with feeling calm and focused instead of anxious and tense. It was a nice complement to the NF training I have done. I have discontinued my regular coffee drinking and switched completely to the OG coffee at this point because I like the taste, I like the way it makes me feel and focus, and I believe it is healthy for me.

Three Siblings Experience Positive Results Together

2010-05-10T12:21:31Z

Written by their mother:
We started with the Ready to Focus program to help our three children who were dealing with a variety of issues that were preventing them from achieving their highest potential in school and in everyday life. Their issues included difficulties with focus, attention, anxiety, social awareness, impulsivity and sleep problems. I was a bit anxious about training three children in the home based program, but I soon realized the RTF home-based program is set up in a way that was convenient to use and my children enjoyed it. They would come home from school and ask to train! In three months, we were able to train each child 40+ hours. Our oldest son, who loved it the most, trained close to 60 hours in three months! The best part, we are thrilled with the results! We have seen drastic improvement in every area of our initial concern. This has completely changed our children’s daily lives. We are so thankful Ready To Focus offers a home-based option. It gave us the flexibility to train when and for how long we wanted. Also, we were able to train three children, plus myself, for a fraction of the cost it would have been with an in-office approach.

Able To Get Off Antidepressant She Had Been Taking for 10 Years

2010-05-10T12:19:08Z

Written by participant:
Little did I know that I would be the one that experienced the most life changing results when our family started with Ready to Focus. I am a 39 year-old mother of five, and I have been on Celexa for 10 years. As the years went by (and our children became busier), I gave up hope of ever getting off of this medication. However, with (Ready To Focus Clinical Director) Brad Oostindie coaching and encouraging me and after completing 40 hours of Neurofeedback, I am off of my antidepressant medication and feeling amazing! I cannot express how thankful I am that Brad at RTF had the knowledge and insight to get me to this point. Each week Brad would carefully go over my week’s results and guide me through the upcoming week’s goals. He had the accurate wisdom to help ease me off of my medication so the transition was gradual and effective. It is an incredible feeling knowing I am healthier, happier and far more in tune with the joy of life because of RTF.

Entire Family Completes Training. Entire Family Benefits.

2010-04-13T18:29:42Z

Written by the father:

Our family of five got started in the Ready To Focus program (RTF) after we observed the life-changing experience of a friend on the program. This friend suggested that the entire population should go through neurofeedback training (quite a statement - having now experienced the RTF program ourselves, we wholeheartedly agree). One thing that attracted us to neurofeedback was the research showing that 80 percent of those trained continue to experience the benefits on a long-term basis. Initial testing showed our brains were functioning fairly well, but we all had room for improvement in terms of increasing focus and lessening anxiety. So we started RTF with the general idea that we were functioning well, but could optimize our performance. We did not realize how much we would benefit: everyone in our family has experienced profound benefits individually; moreover, the program has positively changed how our family interacts on a daily basis. Given all the ways RTF has improved us individually, it is perhaps no surprise that our family interactions have improved greatly. There is far less arguing, and when an argument does develop, it does not continue. In general, we feel a greater sense of peace, self-control and harmony in our home. RTF has been a tremendous blessing to our family.

3 year old completes program

2010-04-13T18:24:35Z

The benefits of biofeedback/neurofeedback are not reserved for older children and adults only. Younger children can also experience benefits to the program that include increased focus, improved behavior, and overall improved cognitive functioning. Recently, the Ready To Focus (RTF) program had a child complete the program who was 3 years old when she started the training. Since any family member can utilize the RTF neurofeedback equipment once it is set up in the home at no additional charge, a family that had recently started the program for other family members decided to have this younger child participate as well. Here is her father’s report of the results:

“Our youngest daughter probably needed the program the most, and has probably benefitted the most. Prior to starting the program, she was un-focused, very active, and restless even for a 3 year old. As we observed her brain wave activity associated with stress, tension, and anxiety steadily decrease during her training sessions, we observed her behavior steadily improve. What a blessing that we could make this positive change now - at the pre-school age - we can only imagine how this will affect her performance in school and at home over the course of her life.”

Ready To Focus is not only excited about this child’s gain, we are also excited to report that we have recently opened discussion with well-known early child learning center to include biofeedback/neurofeedback training as part of their curriculum. Stay tuned!

Pre Teen Addresses Stress & Anxiety

2010-04-13T18:15:44Z

Helen (not her real name) is a 12 year old girl that recently completed the Ready To Focus (RTF) program. Helen participated in the RTF program because of difficulties related to the stress of school and homework. Weekly assessments of her progress showed a gradual reduction in stress and anxiety to the point that the RTF program has significantly lessened this stress. She reports feeling less anxious, tense, and her parents have noticed a positive change in her. She was also frequently a bit hyperactive and restless and now she presents much more calm and relaxed. Her sleep has improved as well.

High Achieving Adolescent Takes It To A New Level

2010-04-13T18:07:48Z

Written by her father
My daughter Ellie (not her real name) is a 15 year old high-achiever in school and competitive sports. Unfortunately, she would often suffer from stress related to her academic and athletic performance. For example, on the morning of a sporting event she would struggle to eat breakfast and would become physically ill upon arrival at school. Mid-way through the Ready To Focus (RTF) program, she observed that virtually all the negative effects of stress had disappeared. She now looks forward to her sporting events, and appears to relish the excitement and the challenges, just without the worries. Moreover, she appears to work much easier through her homework than she did prior to RTF. In general, life has become easier for her since going through RTF: she seems to take things in stride in a way that she simply did not before.

Adult improves productivity and sleep

2010-04-13T18:00:58Z

Tom (not his real name) has a job requiring discipline and the ability to multi-task. Prior to completing the Ready To Focus, Tom often felt like there were 5 or 6 “windows” open in his brain representing multiple tasks he was trying to complete at the same time. He would often feel scattered, unfocused, unsure what to be doing, and generally a bit anxious and unproductive. Positive changes became apparent after just a few weeks on the program and continued to improve over the course of three months on the program. Tom now reports feeling a sense of calm and peace - a natural ability to concentrate - and decreased anxiety. As a result, work and family life have become more productive, and more enjoyable. Additionally, Tom is sleeping very well now, and in fact did not even realize how poorly he had been sleeping before the program.

Biofeedback/Neurofeedback for Migraine Headaches

2010-03-12T15:43:14Z

Written By Clinical Director Brad Oostindie, MA, LLP:

Over the past several years I have seen many people respond favorably to using biofeedback/neurofeedback in addressing their migraine headaches. This would include young children, adults, those with severe migraines, and those with mild or less intense migraines. There are a number of ways biofeedback/neurofeedback helps reduce the intensity and frequency of migraines. Biofeedback/Neurofeedback helps a person learn to control their breathing, relax muscle groups, reduce stress, and can reduce stressed brain wave activity that contributes to migraines occurring. The treatment can be done in your own home and there are no known dangers or side effects to the treatment. Many people can reduce or eliminate medications they need to use to control migraines by utilizing this treatment method as well. Major treatment centers such as the University of Michigan use this as part of their migraine treatment care. Also, I have posted an article outlining how Mayo Clinic views the use of biofeedback/neurofeedback for treatment of certain medical conditions.

At Ready To Focus we have developed a specific protocol for addressing migraine headaches. This involves use of both biofeedback and neurofeedback programs for the individual that they can utilize in the home based program. If you would like more information about this please contact Clinical Director Brad Oostindie at brad@readytofocus.com or by calling 1-800-850-0535. Lastly, check out the success stories on the readytofocus.com website for specific stories from people on how they used the biofeedback/neurofeedback program to stop their migraine headaches.

Adult Uses Biofeedback/Neurofeedback To Reduce Anxiety and Improve Sleep

2010-03-12T15:39:13Z

As a 38 year-old husband, father of four, and leader of an organization I had a lot of responsibilities so I figured that my anxiety was normal. I struggled to turn my brain off at night and therefore I couldn’t fall and stay asleep. So, almost two years ago, I started to take Xanax to turn me off and get some rest. The anxiety I had was always present and it made me feel like I was in a rush and it made me blow things out of proportion.

My wife encouraged me to pursue “Ready To Focus” and seek some relief. During my first visit my anxiety was seen clearly in the numbers as I went through an assessment. (Ready To Focus Clinical Director) Brad Oostindie explained that my mind is stuck in the “fight or flight” mode and that they could help.

As I began the program I wondered how watching DVDs would help me, but as I went through the program I found myself more focused, less uptight and finally able to sleep. I got off the Xanax and my wife commented about the changes she saw in me. Finally the runaway train of my mind got under control and now I’m “Ready to Focus.”

Thanks to “Ready to Focus” for your support and good work!

Ready To Focus Program Satisfaction Survey Results

2010-02-10T18:50:34Z

Ready To Focus is committed to excellence, honesty, and integrity in all that we do. We also actively measure whether or not we are meeting the high standards we set for ourselves in these areas. From September 2009 until February 2010 we surveyed each participant in the program each week on his or her overall satisfaction with the program. This included satisfaction with his or her (or his or her child’s) clinical progress, satisfaction with the Ready To Focus team, and satisfaction with the equipment being used.

Level of satisfaction responses were given on a 1-5 scale as follows:
1 - Poor
2 - Poor/Good
3 - Good
4 - Good/Excellent
5 - Excellent

From September 2009 until February 2010 over 175 individual responses were obtained. Of those responses, 91.5% rated satisfaction as Good, Good/Excellent, or Excellent! We are excited to get these results and remain committed to excellence in all that we do!