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About Books Neural Therapy™
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Q: What is so different about Books Neural Therapy™ from
other therapies?
A: Our motto is "first things first". We don't
put the cart before the horse. We start with building a healthy
foundation. Just like a building, that foundation needs to be built
correctly and in stages or it won't be able to withstand
stress and strain. By addressing various stages of brain development
and correcting weaknesses (mechanical, neurological, emotional),
Books Neural Therapy™ helps "upgrade" the entire
system thus increasing efficiency with less wear and tear on the
body.
Books Neural Therapy™ addresses learning and health challenges
by incorporating a multidisciplinary approach. For a house to function
well, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, decorators all contribute
to the final product. In human being, for all systems to be working
optimally, it is important to get an overview of various systems.
- Q: Can you give me an example of how BNT checks out the "first
things first"/basic functioning?
A: in a house you wouldn't put down the carpeting before
the foundation was strong and sturdy. You wouldn't put the
curtains upuntil the foundation was laid, the walls were up and
the windows were installed.
Books Neural Therapy™ looks at the foundation level for
causes. If someone notices a vision problem, most people would
go first to the optometrist or ophthalmologist. However, a Books
Neural Therapist would go back to foundational issues and would
therefore check the housing of the eyes (the bony structure that
encase the eyes) and the four cranial nerves that address eye movement
and function.
If the eye muscles are tighter one one side than the other,
it will beimpossible for the eyes to track together and reading
will be slower. Depth perception (so judging distances in sports
or
driving a car) may be affected. These are structural and neurological
problems and need to be addressed at those levels. The person may
still need eyeglasses. But the eye doctor will be addressing near
and far vision, astigmatism, etc. and not the foundational component
addressed in Books Neural Therapy.
-
Q: How do you decide where to begin?
A: First, a very thorough case history is taken, followed by
neurological, structural, educational/cognitive testing. Each person
is unique
and the treatment takes into account the strengths and weaknesses
as well as goals.
A plan is developed and discussed with the patient before treatment
begins; Pre and post testing yields measurable changes. Additionally,
the patient's family is asked to report back to us quality
of life improvements
- Q: You seem to emphasis addressing the nervous system Why?
The nervous system,
like Grand Central Station, has information coming in to the brain
and going out to the body continuously.
"The central nervous system," according to Webster's
Dictionary "consists of the brain and the spinal column,
to which sensory impulses are transmitted and from which motor
impulses pass out, and which coordinates the activity of the entire
nervous system".
The nervous system coordinates body movements and brain function.
Gross motor skills (e.g. running and jumping) need to be in good
working order BEFORE fine motor skills (handwriting) can function
at their best.
- Q: How do you know what part of the nervous system to address?
A: Again, our motto is "first things first". Luckily,
there is a design already built in to us. There are developmental
sequences that have a particular order. If one is skipped or glossed
over, the parts that come after it won't be able to connect
properly. There will be "weak links in the chain."
In biology, psychology and neuroscience, there is much information
available on proper development. Books Neural Therapy™ keeps
up to date on advances in neurosciences and incorporates new findings
into the treatment protocol.
- Q: How do you work on the nervous system naturally, i.e., without
drugs or surgery?
A: Finding the communication/breakdowns in the circuitry (the nervous
system) and then "rewiring" and "upgrading" the
neurology via particular tracts (e.g. spinalthalamic tract) helps
the entire person operate with more ease and efficiency and confidence.
This is accomplished in a gentle, hands on, non-invasive treatment
addressing various areas of the body and a lot of emphasis on the
head. Eyes, ears, TMJ
(jaw joint) allow the trained Books Neural Therapy™ practitioner to address sensory
input and help "upgrade" the functioning and coordination of various
senses.
- Q: Are there any "body clues" that I could benefit from
Books Neural Therapy?
A: Yes. Here are things to look for:
- Have you ever fallen on your head or your tailbone?
- Are your hips slightly uneven (is your belt buckle higher
on one side?)
- Do you have an uneven gait (non-fluid or graceful walk).
- Any TMJ problems (grinding your teeth at night, braces,
popping jaw)
- Ever been knocked unconscious?
- Any scoliosis (sideways curve in the backbone)
- Q. Is there any scientific basis
for Book Neural Therapy? Or is one of those "fluff"/unproven techniques?
A. Neurologic therapy as done in Books Neural Therapy™ addresses the neurobiological
development of the human being. It is foundational work in that it provides often
missing building blocks to a cohesive and smoothly integrated nervous system.
The hottest area in brain research is currently the "basic brain",
which Books Neural Therapy has zeroed in on many years ago. If this hindbrain,
basal ganglia, cerebellum, etc. isn't in proper working order, higher order
learning will have "glitches" in it. . See also Research section.
- Q: What other therapies could I compare this to?
A: One of the problems we've had so far is that the treatment is
so different from other treatment available, it is hard to compare
it to anything. It is actually
an incredibly logical and sequential series of adjustments to the brain and
nervous system which affect brain function. It's just that apparently
no one thought
of addressing the neurological system in a non-invasive, natural way. Our traditional
western medical model focuses on medication and invasive surgical procedures.
Books Neural Therapy™ is a totally natural and non-invasive way of dealing
with natural cause and effect relationships in the brain and body.
Sensory Integration, often performed by occupational therapists,
would have some of the same components, since they deal with sensory
input to the brain.
Chiropractors and Osteopaths who deal with the spine and visceral relationships,
various therapists who do cranial sacral therapy address parts,
nutritionists,neurologists, psychotherapists, all address parts
of this complex.
- Q: What do you do for brain injuries – from
subtle to very serious head injuries?
A: Subtle brain injuries, when a
person wasn't knocked unconscious, for
instance, can still carry enormous impact to the brain. These accidents, common
in high school athletes, for instance, often are brushed off as insignificant.
New evidence shows that if a person sustains a second "subtle" brain
injury before the first one heals, chances of total recovery are endangered.
We see many, many people in our office who look to the world
to be just fine. And many doctors may have told them they are and
that their problems
are
now psychological. But the person knows very well that they are not
functioning the way they did before the accident. (see testimonials
for head injuries)
- Q: Have you worked with very serious head injuries? What do you do?
A: Patients have been rolled in from their hospital beds after
serious car accidents. Other patients from very serious car accidents,
who have been hospitalized for
months, have come in 5-10 years after their hospitalization and received
significant help (see testimonials)
What we do is the foundational work that Books Neural Therapy
is known for. We "rebuild" their
neurological system starting at the very beginning with primitive reflexes
dealing with balance and centering, progressing to hearing (auditory)
and visual reflexes.
Almost like an orchestra conductor, first we work with the one
section. We work with the clarinets, then the saxophones, the flutes.Then
we try playing the wind
section together. ; then the same process with the drums and others in
the percussion section; ; then the brass. When each instrument can play
its part by itself and with others in it's section, we bring the parts to play together in harmony.
And soon we have a full orchestra…with a breadth of possibilities
for health and well being.
- Q: How do you work with the TMJ (jaw joint)?
A: Interestingly, there is a strong and important reciprocal
relationship between the jaw bones and the pelvic area. Both deal
with primitive survival
issues
(eating to stay alive and procreating to stay alive); both deal with
centering and balance.
When a baby goes from crawling to standing, the pelvic area and low back
help stabilize the person. The last "righting" or balancing
mechanism in our bony structure as we stand upright is the jaw. It will
attempt to "right" any
imbalances from the spine.
In Books Neural Therapy™, we address each area separately and
then together. There are many, many steps to this fascinating TMJ
component.
- Q: What do you do with the eyes and eyetracking?
A: As human beings, we have several balancing and righting mechanisms
in the body. Above the trunk itself, at the level of our head,
our eyes
and ears
do a lot
of the "righting" or correction to our perceptions.
Actually, 94% of what we see is our perception of what we see.
Only 4% is "real".
As human beings, we take in so much information via our eyes.
Many times, however, the eye muscles are not totally coordinated.
This could be from a fall or trauma; or one of the four cranial
nerves that
deal with
eyes might be malfunctioning. Or the sphenoid bones which form part of
the eye socket
might be slightly askew. The sphenoid bone has greater and lesser wings…which
resemble airplane wings. If one wing is higher than the other,
(mechanical or physical problem) the eyes will have great difficulty
tracking together.
If eyes aren't tracking in sync or if the eye movement and auditory channels are out of sync, reading will be much slower.
- Q: Is your treatment reversible? Or can the corrections fade away
over time?
A: One of the wonderful things about this kind of care is that once
the body finally "gets" what
normal is, it wants to stay there. The treatment usually consists of
about 16 sessions over a two to three month period. And after the initial
series of treatments,
we have pre and post measurements that indicate the completion of phase
one. At that point, the corrections hold beautifully. Recently, we have
begun to monitor
patients for an entire year and then retest them at the end of the year
to see how much they have improved not just in the initial three months
but in the next
year.
We have interviewed patients five, ten and even 15 years later,
and the corrections are still holding.
- Q: Can the client get worse during treatment?
No. Maybe three times over the last 18 years, a patient has been "out
of synch" for a day while changes are going on inside the body.
For the most part, people feel an increased sense of wellness, coordination
of body and of
brain function after the first few sessions. Some people feel changes
after the first session. Others, who are less tuned in to their bodies,
feel changes after
several sessions.
On a typical case, around the 12th visit (sixth week), we ask
the patient and parents where applicable, what changes they have
noticed so far;
and what else
they would like to see.
- Q What could cause learning problems?
A: Sometimes the origin of these neurological problems is hereditary,
sometimes due to an old fall to the head or tailbone, sometimes biochemical,
sometimes
severe allergies. Many times, when the problem has some genetic predisposition,
I ask "who in your family looks like you". Even if the problem
in cross generational, there is help available.
- Q: Could this problem really be caused by some old injury in the
brain?
A. Many times, people have had previous injuries which they didn't
consider very serious. When a second injury comes before the first
one is totally repaired, the recovery time is severely slowed down.
- Q: For severe brain injuries, Down's syndrome, Autism, etc:
Will he ever be "normal" again?
A: Good question and of great concern to many people. Unfortunately, there
isn’t
an easy answer on this. Each case is individual. After a thorough case history
and evaluation, the doctor will tell you reasonable goals in your particular
case.
After many years experience, Dr. Books will give you hope where it is realistic
and be truthful when current evidence indicates otherwise.
After many years experience, Dr. Books will give you hope where
it is realistic and be truthful when current evidence indicates
otherwise.
- Q: After the initial phase of care, then what?
A: The initial phase is the most dramatic phase for the majority
of people. However, we all know that it is easy to slip into old
patterns or get with friends or family who don't honor our
new changes. That is why Books Neural Therapy™ likes to monitor
patients for an entire year. That way, we can keep fine tuning
the progress and catching any destructive patterns quickly.
Just like going to the gym, it is important to exercise on a
regular basis to stay in good shape. We take our cars in for tune
ups.
We need to take our bodies and brains in for tune ups too.
- Q: What else can I be doing?
A: After we review your particular situation, we will discuss other
things you can be doing to help strengthen the work we do. Nutrition,
life style, and daily patterns are addressed. We try to assess
your strengths as well as weaknesses and then find ways of allowing
the strengths to help the weaknesses.
- Q: Is there anything I can be doing with diet and nutrition?
A; Many times, diet could use major improvement. And many times
neutraceuticals can help the biochemical end of treatment. Those
will be discussed on an individual basis.
- Q: Will Books Neural Therapy™ improve my reading?
A: Yes. Improved reading speed and comprehension is one of the
things Books Neural Therapy™ does best.
Q: Will this help with "focus"?
A: There is a structural and neurological component to focusing
problems. Allergies can also play an important role. Allergies
and nutrition are also part of the "big picture" approach
to treating focusing and behavioral problems.
It has been gratifying over the years to hear all the stories
about how people's entire lives come into focus once Books Neural
Therapy™
is done. People change jobs and get promotions, go back to school,
stand up in front of crowds and speak.,etc.
- Q: Is dyslexia really
reversible?
A: Absolutely. The current thinking is that it is something
you have to learn to live with and compensate for. Books Neural
Therapy™,
by addressing the problem at neurological and developmental levels,
has an 85% success rate of correcting dyslexia. We work towards
a permanent correction.
- Q: "Getting out of survival." What do you mean by that?
A: Many, many people, at some level are locked in survival.
Something may have happened in the past, which is "locked
in" to the nervous system. The person at some level is waiting
for something similar to happen again; and they are at the mercy
of their nervous system which keeps replaying this tune like an
old record. And the person can't by their own conscious control
reset the dial. Very frustrating for the person…and often
for the people around him/her.
For many adults in our "hurry up culture", stress keeps
them locked up in a stressful, almost survival state. For overly
stressed people, the sympathetic (fight/flight or emergency)
part of their nervous system is definitely on overdrive; The parasympathetic
(restorative and replenishing) part of the nervous system isn't
allowed to come in and balance out the system.
Children or adults with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) seem
to have two speeds: fast and stop.
- Q: Why do you call Books Neural Therapy™ "foundational
work"?
A: Books Neural Therapy™ addresses the foundation of our biological
and neurological development.
The foundation, at the level of the brain, includes the reticular
activating system, cerebellum, basal ganglia and other "hindbrain" functions.
Once these basic balance, vestibular systems and survival systems
function are addressed, we graduate to the limbic system and then
the various neocortical/cognitive functions….all in a precise,
developmental sequence.
- Q: Is Books Neural Therapy™ safe? What are the downsides
to Books Neural Therapy™?
A: The goal in Books Neural Therapy™ is to integrate and
normalize various systems in the body and brain. People don't
get worse or develop new symptoms. The worst thing that can happen
is that nothing happens (in about 15% of cases). No harm can be
done with this treatment.
- Q: Who responds to Books Neural Therapy™?
A: People with learning problems, neurological problems (learning
has a neurological component to it!), brain injuries, physical
coordination problems, too much stress….In short, almost
anyone can benefit from Books Neural Therapy™.
It is particularly dramatic, however, for people with learning
problems and brain injuries.
- Q: If I decide to do Books Neural Therapy™, how long before
I see results?
A: Many times, after the first session or the first few sessions,
behavior, sleep patterns, and physical coordination changes are
apparent. Different people respond differently, in their own time
schedule, however. For some people, the changes are more subtle.
Often others around us see changes before we notice them ourselves.
That's why, after the first six weeks, we ask what you're
noticing and what others around you are noticing.
- Q: How long will the changes last?
A:. The wonderful thing about bodies is that they are so willing
to change. Once a person finally discovers what "normal" is,
it want s to stay there.
One of the wonderful things about this work, is that after the
initial phase of three months, the results are very, very long
lasting. This means you don't have to come in forever…
After three months and again at a year, we like to retest people
to see the longitudinal effects of this work (and questionnaires
yearly after that). We have lots of reports of this work "holding" 5,
10 and 15 years later.
- Q: "I'm skeptical. Why would I believe this would work
when I've already spent a lot of money on other things that
didn't work?"
A: Many people who come in say they wish they had tried this first.
Don't despair though. Many times, work that you have done
in the past suddenly "synchs in" (like puzzle pieces
fitting together) once we do Books Neural Therapy™. That
previously unprocessed information is still roaming around inside
you waiting for someone (Books Neural Therapy™) to organize
you enough for it to know where to go.
- Q: I don't live anywhere
near a Books Neural Therapist. And I can't come for three
months to you. How can I get help?
Many people from long distances fly or drive in and stay for
five days. Books Neural Therapy™ is administered three to
four times a day. So the patient, in effect, gets three months
of therapy in five days. Many people actually prefer that and
can results faster that way.
Follow up care is still required, and sometimes we have to be
creative on how that can be accomplished.
- What Is A Learning Difference?
- Difficulty with reading, writing or math
- Delayed Auditory
Response (frequent asking to repeat a sentence of phrase)
- Poor
sense of direction (confuses right and left)
- Inability to
concentrate when studying or playing a game.
- Poor motor skills
(clumsy/accident prone)
- Lack of concentration and focus
- Inability to comprehend and
retain reading material
- Problems with carrying out multiple
instructions
- Eye-hand coordination problems (hand writing,
depth perception, etc.)
- Confusing or reversing instructions
- Difficulty making decisions
- Low self-esteem and distorted
self-image
A learning difference can manifest itself in
various ways, often escaping detection because of
the variety of symptoms.
It can account for a bright child or
adult not performing as well as expected.
- How Is Your Approach Different?
WE OFFER A UNIQUE AND COMPREHENSIVE Program that starts with
the very foundation of the learning process – the
body itself. Our brain and our body develop in stages. Books
Neural Therapy™ follows those natural stages.
Foundations
need to be built in stages so they are strong and resilient.
By addressing the various stages of neurological development
and correcting any weaknesses, Books Neural Therapy™ helps
"upgrade" the
entire system; thus increasing efficiency and reducing wear and
tear on the whole person.
Human beings are complex. Addressing
a problem from only one viewpoint often corrects only part of
the problem. Books Neural
Therapy™ utilizes a wide range of therapies including the
latest advances in neuroscience as well as common sense and natural,
non drug methods of enhancing learning, coordination, and self
esteem.
Our goal is not compensation (treating learning differences
as a permanent condition you must learn to live with), but
rehabilitation. We work towards a permanent correction of the
problem. Contrary
to popular belief, learning differences can be temporary
conditions that are treatable.
OUR APPROACH IS DRUGLESS
- What Exactly Will You Do?
FIRST, the body is gently positioned so the nervous system
can perform one of its basic functions—holding the head and
body upright. Walking becomes more coordinated and posture improves;
right and left hemispheres of the brain begin to communicate with
each other as intended.
SECOND, the jaw joint is addressed. An imbalance
in jaw muscles can pull the skull bones out of their normal position
and cause abnormal
pressure on the central nervous system. This causes perceptual
problems associated with learning differences.
THIRD, the cranial bones are realigned since malposition of these
bones in the head can cause disorganization in the central nervous
system. This is especially important after head trauma, whiplash
or accidents to the head or tailbone.
FOURTH, eyetracking, which refers to the coordination of the eye
muscles when reading and writing as well as for balance
and
orientation,
is evaluated and corrected. Reading speed, comprehension
and overall academic performance often improve dramatically
after
this correction.
FIFTH, individualized corrections and
strategies are implemented for reading, writing, math, spelling,
memory,
and auditory
processing.
- How Long Does It Take in the Initial Phase?
TYPICALLY, DR. BOOKS SEES PEOPLE FOR about 16-20 sessions (two
30-minute sessions per week) over two to three months. Follow-up
care is recommended once a month for nine months.
Because many
people fly in from long distances, she also offers an "intensive"
series consisting of 3-4 appointments per day for 4-5 days with
a re-evaluation in six weeks.
Once the initial phase of treatment
is complete, the corrections hold. That is one of the
most exciting things about this process.
The "active phase" of treatment takes approximately three
months, and the effects last forever.
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