Whether you are new to treatment, or have tried counseling before, at the NeuroDevelopment Center, you can choose from many different approaches to treatment for adults to find the method that is right for you. You can choose traditional treatment like psychotherapy, couples counseling, or groups. You may want to opt for neurofeedback or heart rate variability biofeedback, either in addition to or instead of traditional approaches.

You may not be sure about what is best. That’s OK. We will sit down together, discuss your situation, and decide together the right path forward.

t’s not easy to raise a child with ADHD. They act before they think. They don’t listen. They have trouble following rules. They over-react, are unorganized and out of control. Even though you understand this, there may be times when you find yourself frustrated, angry, then guilty. Often parents disagree on how to handle the challenges associated with raising a child with ADHD. Many parents feel isolated and alone. Our ADHD parents’group can help. You will learn effective parenting and behavior management strategies, including how to help your child:

• improve study skills and learn
• get motivated and develop persistence/li>
• increase impulse and emotional control
• develop organization skills
• develop problem solving skills and confidence

You’ll have a chance to talk with other parents who have faced similar challenges.  We will also help you learn some simple but effective stress management techniques. When you stay calm, your child will be calmer too.

Recommended for: Parents of kids with ADHD

Your heart beat is a great “stress-o-meter”. When you are stressed or “revved up” or in a negative emotional state, and your nervous system arousal is high, your heart beats in lockstep. The amount of time between heart beats changes very little. When you are calm and stable, and nervous system arousal is lower, the beat to beat interval becomes more flexible. Research has shown that adults with bipolar disorder have significantly reduced heart rate variability (HRV) . Heart rate variability biofeedback training provides an easy and very concrete way to learn how to reshape these heart rate rhythms for increased calm and stability. A simple sensor on your ear or finger picks up your heart beat. The computer analyzes the interval between heart beats.   During heart rate variability biofeedback sessions we will help you learn to relax your muscles and your mind, and learn to slow and regulate your breathing. Once you learn the techniques in sessions in our office, you can also use inexpensive software at home to build your ability to recognize when you are bothered and rapidly regain your calm. This image shows a session in progress, with the more regular signal on the right half of the top section showing increased heart rate variability.  Research has shown effectiveness of heart rate variability biofeedback for anxiety, PTSd, depression, stress related disorders such as abdominal pain and headaches, and other difficulties.

Recommended for: Anxiety | Depression | PTSD | Autism spectrum | ADHD | Bipolar disorder

It is not easy to help clients with social deficits learn how to interact better. But it is especially hard to give this help from a therapy office that is far removed from real world interaction. To be the most helpful, you need to be present when the social interaction is happening. To help best, you need to do it live, from the sidelines, like the coach in sports, observing as it happens. But this is not how therapy usually works. Therapists work in their quiet offices and their clients tell them about what happens outside of it.

Several years ago, we decided we would no longer accept these limitations. So we developed a social coaching program using paraprofessionals. We train and supervise the social coaches who go out with the clients into real social situations and coach them live.  We have worked with a number of adolescents and college students using this approach, and have seen faster and more substantial progress than through the usual methods.

Recommended for: Young adults with Autism spectrum | Non-verbal learning disability