Workshop #382): Head and Heart: Combined Modalities: The LENS neurofeedback and HRV training

Since 2002, I have used Heart Rate Variability training along with the LENS neurofeedback, to help patients with anxiety and concentraition problems especially; although the protocol seems also to help with acute chronic pain, insomnia and other problems of dysregulation. The primary modality of the LENS, as a passive form of neurofeedback, needed some kind of "homework" approach, in this case involving the HeartMath protocol to train diaphragmatic breathing along with positive visualization and thinking. The combination helps people both function better neurologically, and have a useful form of self-management when things get tough.

Dr. Larsen will accompany this powerpoint presentation along with experiential demonstrations in achieving coherence in HRV and neurological balance.

Plenary #384): The LENS Neurofeedback With Animals

Since the work of Dr. Barry Sterman with Cats and Sensory-motor rhythm, and Neal Miller, on conditioning models using pleasure center stimulation on rats to slow or speed cardiac rhythms, there have been explorations of using biofeedback/neurofeedback with animals. Stephen and Robin Larsen have been using the LENS, a passive neurofeedback method, using low energy electromagnetic stimulation as the feedback, with animals such as Horses, dogs and cats. In this presentation they use powerpoint, with EEG topographic brain maps, and quick-time clips of the animals before and after treatment to show how effective the method can be. The presentation includes discussion of the paper coming out in the Winter edition (2006) of the Journal of Neurotherapy, an issue devoted to the LENS.

Plenary #383): The Mything Side of the Mind: (The Perilous Rapture of Fundamentalistic Thinking)

Pre-Conference #385): Basic Training in LENS Fundamentals: 3 Day Pre-conference Training

The LENS form of Neurofeedback has been in development for about seventeen years, and now has achieved a reliable protocol, and training procedure. It is quickly becoming recognized as one of the most effective treatments for generic CNS dysregulation. It has shown extreme effectiveness in work with very small children with CP, or PDD, and even animals. It helps with attentional problems and autism, anxiety and depression, and is possibly the premier treatment for TBI, and PTSD. The method also has considerable potential for aiding optimal performance.

In this three day training for professionals, Dr. Stephen Larsen will take beginning LENS students through the basic Intake Procedure (a little different for LENS than other forms of neurofeedback), the administration of the CNS Questionnaire, and the Sensitivity/Reactivity Questionnaire. How to run the basic computer programs of USE 3 and The Report Generator. Also covered are how to do and interpret the Offset Procedure and make a 21 site Topographic Brain Map, how to conduct treatments sessions, and evaluate the results of treatment.)

This workshop prepares qualified professionals to take the intermediate/advanced track for LENS practitioners, scheduled adjacent to major conferences and also conducted regularly at Stone Mountain Center and various locations in the Bay areas by Dr. Larsen and Dr. Ochs. (In the original announcement for this training, it was scheduled to be 4 days, and taught by Dr. Ochs. Since he will be out of the country, he asked Dr. Larsen to substitute.) The new duration for this introductory training is 3 days or 21 contact hours. The training qualifies for one third of the 60 hour requirement for A.I.B.T (American Institute of Biofeedback Technologies) certification at "technician" level and can be deducted from the overall tuition. Contact Stone Mountain Center for more details.) It can also provide "continuing education" credits by special arrangement with BCIA.

Day 1: The LENS within the fields of neurofeedback and biofeedback. Disentrainment; the concepts of sensitivity and reactivity. Reading LENS topographic brain maps. The role of the Offset. Preparing treatment Protocols

Day 2: Conducting an Intake Interview, evaluation of suitability for treatment, the CNS Questionnaire and the Subjective Symptom Rating Scale SSRS. The LENS with animals and infants, evaluating the results of treatment

Day 3: Feeling confident with USE 3 and the Report Generator, Hands on practicum of participants treating each other and evaluating treatments. Clinical examples of treatments using maps, offsets and treatment protocols. Research validation of the LENS

Workshop #382): Head and Heart: Combined Modalities: The LENS neurofeedback and HRV training

Plenary #383): The Mything Side of the Mind: (The Perilous Rapture of Fundamentalistic Thinking)

The thesis of this paper is based on Dr. Larsen�s forthcoming book entitled: Perilous Rapture: On the Dangers of Fundamentalistic Thinking. Larsen takes the position that some kinds of myths are extremely dangerous, and polarize our duality-prone nervous systems still further, into dysfunctional and even pathological patterns. The thesis dates from an idea of Joseph Campbell�s that our brains are the hardware, and culture the software, of human functioning. Taking into account both structural features, such as laterality in the hemispheres, and dynamic features such as EEG asymmetries, Larsen shows how we can utilize our neurobiology dysfunctionally or, on the contrary, optimally, depending upon the myths we hold, and how we conduct our habitual mental lives. Neurofeedback can provide us with an alternative to concrete and literalistic thinking. Optimal performance is achieved through flexibility and synchrony of the regions of the brain. (25-45 minute presentation with Power Point slides). Questions and Discussion encouraged (the theme could also be brought to a panel with Karl Pribram, Siegfried Othmer, and Sterman--which I would join or even moderate.