Non-Medication Options For Improved Mental Health
Updated: Aug 17, 2024
Written by Eileen Borski, Therapist
Eileen Borski is a therapist who specializes in providing brain-based care to individuals to address roadblocks in career, academics, sports, creativity and relationships. Her approach includes techniques that influence brain patterns using EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and neurofeedback.
Frequently, as a mental health therapist, I get phone calls asking questions about non-medication options to enhance mental health. One of those questions is “Why should I consider neurocounseling versus traditional therapy for anxiety, depression or PTSD?" That is a great question and one we will explore together. My first response is that neurocounseling represents a critical shift in combining the brain, or neuroscience, and mental health fields. This remarkable shift focuses on the rise of cutting-edge, non-medication approaches to improve mental health and brain health. Moreover, the approach merges traditional counseling therapy techniques with the latest advances in neuroscience. This innovative practice offers new hope for health issues, including improved outcomes for individuals seeking relief from anxiety, depression, trauma, traumatic brain injuries, and more. Moreover, research and client’s personal stories support the emerging understanding that neurocounseling is highly effective and efficient.
What is neurocounseling?
First, neurocounseling makes sense when considering options to improve problems held in the brain. With neurocounseling, brain structure and function are directly integrated into an approach to improve brain and mental health. For example, neurocounseling integrates concepts of neuroscience into the therapeutic counseling process by honoring and recognizing the connection of the body, brain, and central nervous system. Unlike traditional counseling, which primarily focuses on talk therapy and cognitive behavioral techniques, neurocounseling combines these with methods that directly target and engage brain function to support improved mental and brain health. For example, neurocounseling and complementary techniques based on neuroplasticity include IASIS Microcurrent Neurofeedback, biofeedback, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and neurostimulation therapies.
How does neurocounseling work?
A key concept in understanding neurocounseling is neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to adapt, change and reorganize. ¹ Moreover, "These changes can either be beneficial (restoration of function after injury), neutral (no change) or negative (can have pathological consequences)." ² Neurocounseling leverages this adaptability by using interventions that help restore the brain's neural pathways. For instance, IASIS Microcurrent Neurofeedback involves monitoring brainwave activity in real-time using ultra-microstimulation to promote healthy brain wave patterns. In addition, microcurrent neurofeedback has a soothing and stabilizing impact on the nervous system, resulting in resiliency and peak performance. Moreover, after engaging in a series of sessions, clients report improvements in function related to mood, cognition and well-being.
Moreover, EMDR, another counseling technique based on neuroplasticity, helps individuals process traumatic memories by engaging the brain's natural healing processes. The counselor guides the client through the eight phases of the EMDR, from history taking to reevaluation during 60-90 minute sessions. The counselor uses guided eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation to reprocess painful life experiences, reducing the associated emotional disturbance and helping clients move forward by promoting healing from long-held, distressing memories. EMDR is based on the adaptive information processing, or AIP model, addressing the brain's and the body's underlying role in the development of maladaptive symptoms and beliefs when an individual's distressing experiences are left unprocessed.
Benefits of neurocounseling
One of the critical benefits of neurocounseling is its ability to address mental health issues at their root—within the brain's functioning and acknowledging the neuroplasticity of the brain. This benefit can lead to more effective and lasting results compared to traditional talk therapy alone. Some of the notable benefits include:
Enhanced treatment of trauma
Neurocounseling is particularly effective for trauma survivors, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Techniques like EMDR have significantly reduced symptoms by helping the brain reprocess traumatic memories in a safe and controlled environment. In addition, microcurrent neurofeedback activates rejuvenation in the brain's neural pathways.
Improved anxiety and depression management
By directly influencing brain activity, neurocounseling can help regulate the brain's mood centers, offering relief from anxiety and depression. Neurofeedback, for example, trains the brain to produce more balanced brainwave patterns, which can alleviate symptoms and improve emotional regulation.
Support for cognitive function
Neurocounseling can also aid individuals dealing with cognitive issues such as memory problems, brain fog, or difficulties with focus and concentration. Clients report that microcurrent neurofeedback enhances mental performance, making this approach valuable for those with ADHD, traumatic brain injuries, or age-related cognitive decline and more
Non-Invasive and drug-free
One of the appealing aspects of neurocounseling is that it offers a non-invasive, drug-free alternative for managing mental health and brain health conditions. This is particularly important for individuals who prefer to avoid medication or who have not found success or want to avoid traditional pharmacological treatments.
The future of neurocounseling
As research in neuroscience continues to advance, neurocounseling is poised to play an increasingly significant role in mental health care. Neurocounselors’ ability to offer personalized, brain-based interventions makes it a powerful tool in the hands of trained, licensed professionals. With its growing significance, more mental health practitioners seek certification in neurocounseling techniques, ensuring this approach will become more widely available in the coming years.
Conclusion
Neurocounseling represents a significant leap forward in mental health, offering innovative approaches that achieve improvements often unattainable with conventional techniques. Neurocounseling provides individuals with the tools they need to overcome mental health challenges and achieve lasting well-being by making use of the brain's natural capacity for change. As the desire for non-medication options to improve mental and brain health based on neuroplasticity continues evolving, it promises many a brighter, healthier future.
Start your journey today
Engaging on a journey toward better mental health and brain health can be overwhelming because of the many options available, including medication, traditional talk therapy, dissociative anesthetics, and, more recently, the non-medication options of neurocounseling. You do not have to face it alone. Take the first step towards understanding how neurocounseling can support your brain and mental health goals by checking out the benefits of EMDR and microcurrent neurofeedback on my website. Whether you're striving for peak performance as an athlete, a student, or a professional, or you are struggling with brain and mental health problems, know that you can move toward positive change. If you're ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment, book a free 15-minute consultation to discuss the benefits of neuroscience-based counseling. I offer in person sessions including IASIS microcurrent neurofeedback and EMDR in Montgomery, TX, and I offer EMDR via telehealth throughout Texas, Florida, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Read more from Eileen Borski
Eileen Borski, Therapist
Eileen Borski is a highly-specialized mental health provider focused on modern, evidenced based interventions to improve brain function. The neurocounseling techniques focus on resetting overstimulated areas of the brain and promoting metabolic clearance in the brain. She is the owner and founder of Authentic Brain Solutions providing licensed professional mental health care in person in Montgomery, Texas and virtually in Texas, Florida, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
References:
[1] Kennedy, N. C. (2021). The role of neuroplasticity in stroke nursing.
[2] Puderbaugh M, Emmady PD. Neuroplasticity. [Updated 2023 May 1]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available here.
