Research has consistently found that neurotherapy—when provided as an adjunctive treatment—significantly improves clients’ program completion rates and their likelihood of achieving sustained recovery.  Click Here to review this research.(http://www.neuro-advantage.com/page/995171). 

In the largest and best-controlled study published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Scott and associates (2005) evaluated neurofeedback’s effects on a mixed substance abusing population treated in a state-funded, 90-day 12-step program.  The researchers randomly assigned 121 subjects between the neurotherapy and control groups.  The control group subjects received additional therapist time equal to the time the experimental subjects spent in neurotherapy.  Both groups received the residential treatment center’s core 12-step “Minnesota Model” program.

The neurotherapy subjects first received one week of SMR/beta training sessions twice per day to improve their cognitive functioning for a total of 10 such sessions.  SMR/beta training strengthens those brainwave patterns associated with calm focused attention.  Numerous studies have found SMR/beta training effective in treating children and adults with ADHD by increasing their ability to concentrate while decreasing impulsive behaviors (Hirshberg, 2007).  ADHD has a high co-morbidity rate with substance abuse particularly when the preferred drug is a stimulant (Biederman et al, 1995).

Scott hypothesized that SMR/beta training would enhance concentration while reducing impulsivity thereby decreasing the neurotherapy subjects’ likelihood of dropping out before completing the program as well as increase their ability to benefit most from the psycho-educational groups that form the core of 12-step treatment.

The neurotherapy subjects next received three weeks of alpha/theta training sessions twice per day for a total of 30 such sessions.  Alpha/theta training strengthens those brainwave patterns that are associated with deep relaxation, increased spirituality, and sense of personal wellbeing.  Research has found that such training decreases cravings and improves the likelihood of sustained recovery (Peniston & Kulkosky, 1989 & 1991; Saxby & Peniston, 1995).

Figure 1 presents the week-by-week program retention data for the neurotherapy (green plot line) and control (red plot line) groups.  The neurotherapy group had a 98% program retention rate at the end of four weeks of neurotherapy versus only 74% for the control group.  As figure 1 clearly shows, once the twice daily neurotherapy sessions were discontinued after the fourth week, the neurotherapy group’s dropout rate dramatically increased with their week-by-week downward slope trend line becoming similar to the control group’s trend line.

At the end of 12 weeks, the neurotherapy subjects had a 76% program completion rate versus 54% for the control subjects resulting in a 41% improvement in program completion for the neurotherapy group.  If the experimental group had received neurotherapy sessions for all 12 weeks of the program (versus only four), this difference in program completion rates would likely have been far greater.

Compared to the control group, the neurotherapy group also showed:
•    Significant improvements in their ability to sustain attention and inhibit impulsive behaviors;
•    Significant improvements on seven MMPI scales versus only one for control subjects; and
•    A significantly increased likelihood of sustained recovery during the 12-month follow-up phase (77% versus 44% for control subjects).

While these results are impressive and validate the important role neurotherapy should play to improve substance abuse treatment outcomes, the differential magnitude of change would likely have been far greater had the subjects received neurotherapy throughout their treatment program.

In addition to being cost-efficient for treatment centers and able to be administered in a group therapy format, the NeuroAdvantage™ Trainer is easy-to-use and affordable for home use.  This makes it an ideal tool for clients to use as part of their recovery plan because it reinforces, and helps them further develop, the skills they learned in acute treatment.

The Trainer is particularly helpful for people working to recover from addictions and cravings.  In addition to its immediate positive impact, the Trainer provides a 22 to 35-minute structured intervention with audio coaching that clients can use whenever they become vulnerable to relapse.

NeuroAdvantage™ professionals provide telephonic coaching to assist clients in maximizing their benefit from using the Trainer and encourage them in following through on their recovery plan (e.g., working with their sponsor; 90 meetings in 90 days; etc.).  The Trainer combined with telephonic coaching should increase clients’ likelihood of sustained recovery.  The clients from treatment centers who contract with NeuroAdvantage™ receive a $300.00 discount for the Trainer and NeuroAdvantage’s telephonic coaching services.


References:

Biederman, J., Wilens, T., Mick, E., Milberger, S., Spencer, T.J., & Farone, S.V. (1995).  Psychoactive substance abuse disorders in adults with ADHD:  Effects of ADHD and psychiatric comorbidity.  American Journal of Psychiatry, 152(11): 1652-1658.
Hirshberg, L.M. (2007).  Place of electroencephalographic biofeedback for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.  Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 7(4): 315-319.
Peniston, E.G., & Kulkosky, P.J. (1989). Alpha-theta brainwave training and beta-endorphin levels in alcoholics.  Alcohol: Clinical & Experimental Research, 13(2): 271-279.
Peniston, E.G., & Kulkosky, P.J. (1991). Alcoholic personality and alpha-theta brainwave training. Medical Psychotherapy, 2(1): 37-55.
Saxby, E., & Peniston, E.G. (1995).  Alpha-theta brainwave neurofeedback training:  An effective treatment for male and female alcoholics with depressive symptoms.  Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51(5): 685-693.
Scott, W., Kaiser, D. Othmer, S. & Sideroff, S. (2005).  Effects of an EEG biofeedback protocol on a mixed substance abusing population.  American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. 31(3): 455-469.