The revolutionary new non-drug treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury, neurofeedback, has once again proven highly effective. Local Tucson resident, Ken Willingham, is a new testimonial of the benefits of neurofeedback therapy.

Picture of human brain

On December 29, 2003, while on vacation, Ken rode his Ducati motorcycle into a K-Mart parking lot when suddenly a speeding automobile crashed into his motorcycle, crushing his helmet and knocking him unconscious before speeding off. The hit and run driver has never been found.  The accident happened about 12:30 p.m. that day.

Fortunately someone saw Mr. Willingham and the wreckage of his motorcycle and called an emergency ambulance rushing him to the University Medical Center to save his life. His wife did not find out about the accident until after 6:30 p.m. that evening. He was unconscious for a long period and when able to gain consciousness he could not remember anything about the accident. He was diagnosed with moderate to severe Traumatic Brain Injury. The top-of-the-line helmet he was wearing at the time of the accident was badly damaged.

At the hospital he had zero memory for several weeks and was eventually moved to Health South for rehabilitation. He was there for three weeks and eventually after 40 days gained some memory back.  His wife Barbara Stahura has written a journal on the entire experience as it happened. Besides the TBI he was diagnosed with a stable occipital condyle of the spine and was fitted with a neck brace.  He had to wear the brace for 5 ½ months. Mr. Willingham was retired from I. B.M. as a computer programmer and had taken a job at Raytheon as a programmer at the time of the accident.  He eventually was able to go back to work for about 2 hours a day and in time worked up to 4 hours. Unfortunately even though he could work a few hours a day he suffered working memory problems. Returning to his old occupation was extremely difficult.

The medical profession advised him “he was as good as he was ever going to be after two years from the accident.”   He continued attempting to work but suffered severely with his working memory and his speaking ability. He found it extremely difficult to talk and be understood.  To give you an example of the difficulties he endured is to understand how he works. He has two monitors on his desk. One is for the files and the other for where it goes. (conceptual and procedural)  Within 3 seconds of making a decision he would have total loss of memory and not know what he did or where he put the file.

It was seven long years and lots of struggle before he found out about neurofeedback.  In October of 2010 he started taking his first treatments at local MindWorks Studio in Tucson with Larry Honig PhD, a  neurofeedback practitioner. At MindWorks Studio they use a number of programs depending on the circumstances and needs of the patient.  With Mr. Willingham they used the method called LENS. (LENS stands for Low Energy Neurofeedback System) It has proven to treat TBI victims with great results. There are several other programs at MindWorks Studio that have also proven highly effective for TBI.

By the fourth LENS session his memory began to improve substantially and his stumbling with words ceased. After 13 sessions his computer programming ability dramatically improved and his conceptual and procedural ability rapidly returned. He has scheduled 7 more treatments and feels he should be back to his full mental capacity before the accident after these treatments.  While interviewing Mr. Willingham I could not tell he ever had a memory or speech problem, which speaks highly for the neurofeedback methods used at MindWorks Studio.

Mindworks Studio is located at 2230 East Speedway, Suite 120, Tucson, AZ 85719. Phone: 520-762-7642     email: info@mindworks-studio.com

If you did not read my first article published last September here is the link that features the founder of MindWorks Studio, Deborah Dusold, a victim herself of TBI before discovering neurofeedback.  http://tucsoncitizen.com/art/2010/09/22/neurofeedback-a-revolutionary-new-drug-free-treatment-for-ptsd-add-adhd-traumatic-brain-injury-depression-and-other-maladies/

For anyone wanting to find out more about the LENS method Mr. Willingham recommends reading Healing Powers of Neurofeedback by author Steven Larson. http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Power-Neurofeedback-Revolutionary-Technique/dp/1594770840

Below are links that will give you more details about Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurofeedback:

These youtube.com Medical videos explain Traumatic Brain Injury in an easy to understand manner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMS8aOmK1M&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmAML1-F2LE

This is a good text source for understanding Traumatic Brain Injury http://www.traumaticbraininjury.com/content/understandingtbi/causesoftbi.html

These are two excellent sites to help your understanding of neurofeedback . These companies have created some of the best neurofeedback programs available to practitioners.

http://brainpaint.com/

http://www.eeginfo.com/

http://www.eegspectrum.com/

This book will give you a good history of biofeedback and neurofeedback: A Symphony in the Brain,The Evolution of the New Brain Wave Biofeedback by Jim Robbins

ISBN: 0-8021-4381-4 / ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-4381-5

This video site will give you an introduction to Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD and author of “My stroke of Insight.” A good examination of the brain.

Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD author of  “My Stroke of Insight”  explains the brain in this video and its healing ability.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

***This is the second in a series the author Charles Spillar is writing on the benefits of neurofeedback. The next one scheduled will be on the treatment of PTSD with neurofeedback. It has been proven highly effective with positive results for our returning GIs from the battlefield. ***