Neuro Rehabilitative Services

Rehab Your Brain, Change Your Life

At FHE Health, we offer cutting-edge interventions that are proven to speed recovery from addiction and mental health disorders. Our Neuro Rehabilitative Services are one example. We firmly believe that any substance use or mental health disorder diagnosis should be quantifiable and that the recommended treatments for our patients have been proven effective.

Why Neuro Rehabilitative Services?

For almost every illness or medical condition, there are measures that are used to make a diagnosis, such as x-rays, blood tests, and electrocardiograms. At FHE Health, we believe that behavioral health treatment should be no different. As we continue to learn more about how the brain, addiction, and mental illnesses present, we continue to find new ways to accurately make a diagnosis and track treatment success. Whether this is your first time seeking help for drug and alcohol addiction, or you have a long and difficult history of mental health issues, our medically integrated Neuro-Rehabilitative program can work for you.

While other treatment centers diagnose based only the description of symptoms, also known as “guesswork,” we utilize a series of biometrics, based on brain imaging, genetic blood testing, and other advanced protocols to provide our patients with a full interpretation of their condition. These biometrics and diagnostic tools are used to scientifically track the progression of treatment and even predict relapses. Using state-of-the-art systems, like our qEEG-guided Neurofeedback, we are able to personalize each patients’ treatment plan to fit their specific needs.

Our 5-Tier Neuro-Rehabilitative Treatment

Comprehensive Neuro-Psychological Testing

Once admitted to our residential treatment program, our patients can undergo a complete neuro-psychological evaluation so that we can determine what the most effective treatment plan for them will be. Our evaluation takes into account functionality of specific regions of the brain that are affected by either drug and alcohol use or a mental health condition. This includes a quantitative Electroencephalogram (qEEG), which maps your brain and allows our team of specialists to track your progress over during your stay with us. FHE Health has worked tirelessly with leaders in the field of applied neuroscience, and has developed a comprehensive strategy for using advanced neurological information-gathering and therapies in order to treat mental health disorders and substance abuse.

Our patients undergo a rigorous assessment upon admission to our treatment program, which takes into account normal psychiatric and psychological factors, such as symptoms and clinical history, as well as the unique information gathered from our neurological testing and brain mapping. Dysregulation in the brain and severity of symptoms are all taken into account during a patient’s admissions assessment in order to pinpoint the treatment plan that will be right for you. The symptoms that are taken into account include, but are not limited to:

• Anxiety
• Attention span
• Depression
• Compulsiveness
• Memory

Heart Rate Variability & Biosound Monitoring

At FHE Health, we understand the effects living with addiction or a mental health disorder can affect the body in many ways. Therefore, we take a holistic approach to treating addiction that involves our Neuro-Rehabilitation suite of services, which assist in treating neurological issues that are affecting the entire body.

Our Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Biosound/Biofeedback treatments monitor pulse, blood pressure, and breathing rates during each session to gauge efficacy. Using specially produced binaural sounds and vibrational stimulation, Biosound patients are brought to a state of brainwave activity, which replicates the first stage of sleep. In this meditative state, our patients are provided with a variety of different audio selections designed to produce positive affirmations and increase feelings of self-worth which they will be able to carry throughout their stay with us.

Quantitative Electroencephalography (qEEG)

Quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) uses a head cap covered in 19 sensitive electrodes to “read” and record the electrical activity the brain is producing. After selecting the best portions of the recording, an analysis is run to look for areas of dysregulation, which are areas of the brain that are acting the furthest away from a “normal” brain. The analyses determine whether those areas produce too much or too little activity, the quality of communication between different areas of the brain, and the efficiency of the brain to “shout out” for resources.

qEEG uses several “normative” databases of hundreds of healthy brains, which are brains without neurological and/or psychological dysfunction, in order to compare the individual’s dysregulated brain activity with that of a brain with regular activity. We not only look at the 19 broad areas of the brain, but “drill down” and investigate 47 separate areas in each hemisphere of the brain (left and right sides).

A quantitative Electroencephalogram, or qEEG for short, is central to our Neuro-Rehabilitative services at FHE Health, and uses brain-imaging technology to provide a complete picture of dysregulated brain activity due to substance abuse and co-occurring mental disorders. We are one of the industry leaders in brain mapping and qEEG-guided addiction treatment; our qEEG brain mapping techniques record activity in the main hubs of the brain that control memories and emotions, and these readings are analyzed and interpreted by our clinical team in order to determine the best course of treatment to combat specific addiction related dysfunction in each of our patients.

qEEG Guided Neurofeedback Training

After recording the initial qEEG, the analysis will reveal areas of interest that are significantly more dysregulated than the comparative normal brain. These areas are the focus of the Neurofeedback training.

Neurofeedback is tailored to each individual and retrains the brain to regulate the areas of greatest dysfunction. For example, because of an immense amount of research that has been conducted on the brain, we can target symptoms such as addiction, anxiety, mood dysregulation, attention, and executive functioning (focus, planning, judgment, multi-tasking, etc.). After targeting the affected areas of the brain, the neurofeedback training can then guide these dysregulated areas to behave more like the normal brain.

“Training” means that we encourage the brain to regulate itself and correct its “errors.” The brain is taught to correct the errors through feedback (what it’s doing “right” and “wrong”) and rewards. The reward works through a movie or other stimulus which fully appears on a screen when the brain is functioning correctly. When the brain is not functioning correctly (i.e. when it’s activity is dysregulated), the movie or visual stimulus will not play full on the screen. The brain learns to get feedback on its performance through the performance of the movie. The better the movie plays, the better the brain is doing.

As the sessions progress and screen remains full for longer periods of time, the threshold is lowered, and the difficulty rises, thus shaping the brain towards more stable, efficient functioning. As the sessions continue, the threshold is set lower and lower, until the person’s activity “matches” the activity of a normal brain and has enough practice to make these changes permanent. Evidence suggests that 20 Neurofeedback sessions are required to make significant, permanent changes.

At FHE Health, our goal to not only give you the information about your addiction and an understanding of your disorder, but to also teach you how to overcome it. Our Neurofeedback Training (NFT) is designed to teach you how to self-regulate the areas in your brain that have been dysregulated by drugs and alcohol, which display symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and rage disorders. With our Neurofeedback Training, we help you train your brain to reach a predetermined target state of function, using the data collected during your qEEG to generate different exercises that will help return your brain to a normative state.

Neurostimulation

Here at FHE Health, as part of our holistic methodology we utilize neuro-stimulation therapies. Including Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation (tDCS). These therapies have been proven to help in the treatment of brain injuries and many psychiatric conditions, as well as provide cognitive enhancement. The high frequency pulsed electromagnetic stimulation therapy used here at FHE Health utilizes promotes optimal brain activity. By applying continuous electromagnetic pulses to the scalp, neuronal activity is increased in the cortical and subcortical regions, which is right beneath where the pulses occur, in order to increase the likelihood of neuron depolarization (i.e. neurons firing, or “talking”). Improved neuronal function using tDCS and tACS can help counteract dysregulation in the brain caused by substance abuse.

NeuroRehab Benefits for Mental Health

Because neuro-rehab effectively supports brain healing and function, it may benefit those in inpatient mental health treatment as well as in an outpatient setting. Depending on the patient’s needs, their care plan may include biofeedback or brain stimulation therapy.

Research shows that biofeedback can be very effective in treating severe anxiety by essentially training the brain to relax out of a heightened state. For someone with a condition such as anxiety, the brain stays in a heightened state of alertness. While this response is appropriate in a dangerous situation, it’s not appropriate when navigating everyday situations such as social interactions, driving, or leaving the house.

With biofeedback, patients can learn to lower their blood pressure, steady their breathing, reduce muscle tension and even enjoy deeper, more restful sleep. This treatment uses a reward system that provides incentives for the brain to go into a more relaxed state. With consistent treatment, the brain learns to stay in a relaxed state even in situations that were once stressful for the individual.

Brain stimulation therapy is another type of neuro-rehab that can benefit those with mental illnesses. By targeting certain areas of the brain through electrical-magnetic stimulation, it increases blood flow, which reduces inflammation. This type of treatment is particularly effective for those with conditions such as depression or PTSD that may stem from reduced activity in a specific part of the brain.

NeuroRehab Benefits for Addiction

Addiction is a complex disorder, and the most effective treatment plans are typically those that address its varying causes and complications.

Neuro rehab can be an important part of a comprehensive addiction treatment plan. Unlike other therapies, it’s noninvasive and doesn’t require the individual to take prescription medications, which may have undesirable side effects and take weeks to be effective. For many people, neurorehabilitative treatment has immediate and long-lasting benefits.

There are several ways in which neuro-rehab promotes healing and recovery for those in addiction treatment. In many patients, it helps to improve impulse control and can relieve cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It’s particularly effective in helping those recovering from opioid addiction to return to normal brain function. Because it’s easily done in an outpatient setting, it’s an effective maintenance treatment option that can help individuals avoid relapse. After 20 to 30 sessions, patients often experience long-lasting benefits, especially when used alongside other treatments, including prescription drug therapy and counseling.