EEG Institute To Provide Free Post-Traumatic Stress Treatment For Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans

Main Category: Veterans / Ex-Servicemen
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Anxiety / Stress
Article Date: 05 Dec 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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Over the last few months a great amount of attention has been placed on what can be done for those veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who return home suffering from PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. The vast majority of veterans are relegated to costly medications that fall far short of helping deal with this debilitating condition. As many veteran advocates and military healthcare experts agree, the nation's hard-pressed health care system for veterans is facing a potential deluge of tens of thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq with serious mental health problems brought on by the stress and carnage of war.

As a result, The EEG Institute in Woodland Hills California is doing what it can to assist veterans traumatized by PTSD by providing free of charge a proven program of Neurofeedback that can help reverse the effects of PTSD. "The brain is like a muscle," explains Susan Othmer, B.A., B.C.I.A.C., and clinical director of the EEG Institute. "What Neurofeedback does is provide a painless and medication free way that the brain can be given what amounts to a very specific tune-up. Over the course of the treatment we are able to help the patient back to a normal existence that is not hindered by the traumatic events they have experienced."

The training is based on reinforcement of good brain behavior using the EEG as a measure. The repetition of this exercise for a number of thirty-minute sessions leads typically to improved cognitive function and improved emotional control. "The work is success-oriented rather than deficit-focused. It is a fitness strategy that avoids the jargon of mental health, and suits the soldier's natural orientation toward a training and fitness program," explains Othmer. Veterans who have been through the program have shown tremendous positive benefits. A veteran who hadn't slept more than 2 hours at a time was sleeping through the night after just 7 sessions, without medication. This same veteran had avoided the movie theater because that was the location of his first flashback. After 12 sessions, he saw a movie for the first time in 8 years. Another veteran was able to save his marriage and family by calming down his anger and need to control everything. What had been appropriate in wartime was destroying his home life. Veterans are getting their lives back with Neurofeedback. Even a veteran from WWII found his sleep restored after not having slept well since 1945.

Dr. Siegfried Othmer and Susan F. Othmer, B.A., B.C.I.A.C., are the founders of The EEG Institute and have been involved with Neurofeedback since 1985. The initial impetus was the brain-training of their son Brian for his seizure disorder. The training was life-transforming for their son, which redirected their professional lives to the further development of Neurofeedback as well as to the promotion of its public acceptance. Dr. Othmer is currently Chief Scientist of the EEG Institute and President of the Brian Othmer Foundation. Susan Othmer is Clinical Director at the EEG Institute, which is located in Woodland Hills (Los Angeles). The Othmers have pioneered a number of novel applications of Neurofeedback over the years. The Othmers provide professional training in EEG biofeedback and sponsor a professional network of Neurofeedback therapists, the EEG Associates. The Othmers have been developing premier instrumentation for Neurofeedback continuously over the last twenty-two years, and this development is ongoing.

The EEG Institute
http://www.eeg4veterans.com