Reactive Attachment Disorder - Can Neurofeedback Help?

Sadly, not every child born into this world is held lovingly, wrapped comfortably in warm, soft blankets, and "oohed" and "ahhhed" at by their mother, father, grandparents and other family members. And, many children, rather than looking forward to the ringing bell that signals "schools out!" at day's end, feel a knot in their stomach; they don't know what kind of chaos they are going to encounter, once again, when they get home from school.

Situations such as those described above can lead to Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). When children fail to form the normal attachments to parents and/or primary caregivers, early in life, the "blueprint" they develop regarding relationships may lead to unnecessary conflict later in life.

In order for the part of the brain that is responsible for regulating affection to develop normally, the necessary 'entrainment' between the mother and infant's brain must occur during the child's first 18 months of life. Think of "entrainment" as two people singing in harmony; when they are, it sounds beautiful; when they are not, it can sound like a cat with its tail caught in a mouse trap - not pretty. Brain waves in mother and child very often come into harmony with the brain waves of the other; they are in "sync" if you will. When this entrainment does not have the opportunity to occur, or happens only for very brief and infrequent periods, brain development may be stunted.

The brain of someone with RAD remains in a state of high alert; it is easily triggered by many things that, in truth, do not represent any type of danger. But since the brain interprets the event this way, the person reacts as if there was an actual threat.

Neurofeedback therapy can reduce the arousal in the brain of someone diagnosed with RAD. This is accomplished through sessions that involve the use of an EEG device that, through leads attached comfortably to the scalp, pick up previously invisible energy and transfer it to a computer monitor.

By keeping within the "calmer" brain wave frequencies, a patient will be able to control what happens to a visual display on the monitor, such as a "spaceship" that can be made to fly when the desired brain waves are used. The brain interprets this as a reward, and it will seek to shift into the waves that bring about the reward with greater frequency, and for longer and longer periods. In this way, the brain can learn to not become aroused or alarmed as easily, which usually results in a significant reduction in aggressive and impulsive behavior.

Naturally, these changes don't happen overnight; most people are delighted, however, to notice clear and obvious changes within the first 10 sessions, but to really etch the changes in and make them long lasting, several more sessions will probably be required.

After a number of sessions, however, these changes in brain function will become more permanent. Patients may begin to willingly engage in and even seek out social opportunities. When the brain is able to enter more readily into a calm state, the person who was previously fearful in social settings, is now able to experience feelings other than fear - such as comfort, pleasure and enjoyment - and start to enjoy the connections that often unfold when spending time with others.