By Siegfried Othmer, PhD

This is the title of an article by Simkin and Lubar that recently appeared in Psychiatric Times. I suspect that much of it was written by Simpkin rather than Lubar because parts of it do not read like his papers. Also some of the content is quite startling.

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By Siegfried Othmer, PhD

The Los Angeles Times today (4/19/17) focused on the issue of faith healing and its sanctioning under the law in Idaho. Leading off was the story of a mother who had lost four children. Yes, she confessed to some anger at God at the loss of her four children, but matters were in His hands, and State law did not allow for interference by medical or other State agencies.

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As submitted by her mother, Lisa Taylor, a neurofeedback practitioner:

Morgan was an energetic, outgoing child with a whole lot of personality. She had all the confidence in the world, even with Tourette’s Syndrome. We taught her that people stare because they are concerned and wanted to make sure she was okay, or that they could not figure out what she was doing. We taught her to take that opportunity to educate people with a smile and tell them that she had Tourette’s Syndrome, and that she could teach people… That she did! She would smile her 1000-watt smile and explain her peculiar behaviors and movements. Nothing slowed her down. We lived in Bozeman, Montana, and our family members were avid horsemen—active outdoors and in the community. Morgan played tennis, basketball, and snowboarded. She won awards at school for leadership, and was described as inspiring and remarkable by teachers, peers, and even strangers.

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By Siegfried Othmer, PhD

A good many years ago a writer for Fortune Magazine inquired with business managers about how they kept tabs on employee theft. The answer surprised him: “We ask the employees.” It turns out that those who steal from their employers assume that everyone does so, and they strategize that it would simply appear unbelievable if they didn’t own up to at least some of it. So the managers get a ‘good-enough’ answer to the question. The purloining employees essentially called themselves out.

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By Glen Martin (Part III of III)

If I had chosen the route of medical referral for my son for his bipolar behaviour, or the medical recommendation for my father for his dementia, the outcomes would have been dramatically different. Over the years I saw hundreds of children whose medications activated a genetic predisposition for a mood disorder. Understand that a genetic predisposition does not necessitate that a particular condition will develop. Proper preventive measures (e.g. diet, exercise, supplements, stress management and neurofeedback) are often effective in keeping a condition from ever being activated. Recent research in gene mapping has shown that genes can even be turned on and turned off. A genetic predisposition can therefore be modulated in its gene expression. Medical interventions and especially EEG biofeedback can be effective in deactivating or moderating many conditions, and they can do so synergistically. They naturally complement each other. But inappropriate medical remedies can also exacerbate latent vulnerabilities, as the following anecdote will illustrate.

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By Siegfried Othmer, PhD

Integrating the Field: The Panel Discussion

The integration of our field was the topic of the opening panel discussion at the 2016 Annual Conference of the Western Association for Biofeedback and Neuroscience (WABN). The event was an auspicious beginning for the meeting. It reflected the very spirit of mutual acceptance that is required to bring about the desired re-integration.

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