Mindfitness Training: Neurofeedback and the Process

Rating:
Summary: Not about Neurofeedback but wisdom, gathered by using it
Review: After reading the title, I expected a lot more about actual information on the technique of neurofeedback. That, I didn't find. However, I felt all along reading the book, that the information the autor shares, comes from years of working with neurofeedback on himself. The thinking process written there is a result of years of work of an introspective mind. For that content I would give 5 stars. For the misleading title it is now 4.

Rating:
Summary: Good Message Bad Style
Review: As a user of Neurofeedback, I can't tell you how disappointed I am with this book. Reading it is like literary dumpster diving: there are nuggets of wisdom to be gleaned here, but at the sxpense of sorting through a lot of garbage.

Initially I was taken in by the subtitle, "Neurofeedback and the Process", and was expecting more detail of how Neurofeedback works and how it may be used to further improve our state of mind. Instead, the book continually harps on and hints at the authors' undisclosed methods of enhancement. At many points, the style remind me of someone on a soapbox in a public square harranguing the crowd. There is a lot of enticement, exciting brief examples of success, but not much substance.

I totally support the underlying premise, modern medicine has become too drug oriented and Neurofeedback holds an unerutilized potential, but there is little presented here to help people accept the alternative of EEG Feedback. The style of writing is a throwback to the "bad old days" when these techniques were seen as a shortcut to Nirvana and associated with Hippies discussing the "power of the high". The authors' work does a disservice to what is really a well founded and researched alternative approach to treating many serious disorers as well as a legitimate means of enhancing our mental processes.

I am giving it one and a half stars because of the message. Unless you are already familiar with the technique, however, no one will likely be positively influenced by the this book. I can't give it the one and a half stars it really deserves, so I'm rounding it up by giving the authors an extra half star for at least trying.

Rating:
Summary: Mind Expansion
Review: Revue of Book MINDFITNESS TRAINING: Neurofeedback and The Process by Adam Crane and Richard Soutar, Ph. D. Writers Club Press, 2000.

This fascinating book blends science, psychology, philosophy and mysticism into an inspirational and highly authoritative exploration of the mind. Seldom does a purportedly scientific book take what at first glance, judging by the title, appears to be dry, clinical research data and transform those brain wave analyses into an expansion of individual and collective consciousness. However, this is exactly what the authors attempt to do and, I would argue, in fact do. After reading this book, or should I say savoring this book, I felt a connection between the rhythms and patterns of my own brain and the rhythms and patterns of the Universe. It was probably a liminal moment to which the authors allude.

Adam Crane is an entrepreneur thoroughly credentialed in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback with 30 years experience in medical / educational biofeedback and applied psychophysiology. He is the President of American BioTec, Director of BioMonitoring International and BioTec Corporations, and Founder of Health Training Seminars. Richard Soutar, Ph. D. is a professor at Arizona State University and is Director of Biofeedback Services for the Neuro Performance Center in Phoenix. He lectures and gives workshops on social psychology and clinical neurofeedback. They are on a mission with Adam's MindFitness Training program to expand the consciousness of humanity so that our individual minds learn how to access Universal Mind. This is not the typical mission statement for a neurofeedback specialist, but through a program called The Process, it seems they are picking up where Carl Jung left off with his treatises on psychoanalysis. On a less grand scale, it seems possible to provide life and performance enhancement learning through these techniques.

The idea that we can modify our perceptions and our states of consciousness is an ancient idea and has been suggested by cultures throughout time. All have given great importance to Attention as the method by which this is done. In the MindFitness program , with the technology of neurofeedback, the authors discuss a method to help clients attain Profound Attention which is defined as the ability to see with brain and heart. The MindFitness Training program includes The Process with its nine stages. In raw form, The Process sounds like the ancient teachings of Raja Yoga, the study of the mind through the yogic tradition. The authors allude to this connection and define Raja Yoga as the royal road to `union' and the maximization of one's unique potential. The Process includes nine two hour modules for how to develop Profound Attention to what is.

The Process is part of a lifetime of learning as a human being which is a continual work in progress in order to be the best `artist of living' possible. In brief, the content of the nine sessions includes the following concepts and sound like training to be a Yogi or Yogini: (1) Extraordinary life enhancing changes are possible through the use of these techniques, (2) Each `artist of living' must bring a sense of mission to the journey, (3) The `artist of living' must include learning about the mind through learning about and fully experiencing the body, (4) The `artist of living' will bring Attention to his/her thinking to bring about higher orders of intelligence, (5) Attention to Attention brings about flexibility of thought and dimensionality to the thinking processes, (6) Improving the quality of sleep improves the quality of awake time, (7)Economic order and well-being provides the freedom to self-actualize as an `artist of living,' (8) Eliminating negativity and the unnecessary frees artist's energy for focus on fully living, (9) Awakening to the ability to love provides the creative, healing energy so necessary for the fully awakened life of a true `artist of living.'

Although the book focuses on the expansion of consciousness, it does cover a learned discussion of the more common uses of neurofeedback, including the treatment of addition, alcoholism, anxiety, ADHD/ADD, chronic pain, conduct disorders, depression, epilepsy, learning disabilities, and sleep disorders. Research data is quoted to substantiate treatment protocol effects. However the primary focus and majority of the book deals with The Process.

Even though the book is dedicated to the mother and wives who nurtured and encouraged these authors / seekers on their journeys, it could as easily have been dedicated to The Hero with a Thousand Faces as Joseph Campbell described the thousand heroes on the journey within.

In conclusion, I think that if Neurofeedback as presented in The Process were simply a new drug being touted by pharmaceutical companies with a promotional campaign behind it, this treatment would be catapulted into the mainstream and could supplant many of the drugs of which we are currently enamored. The beauty of this treatment is that it does not involve medication, but rather the training of the mind, which is what good therapy is supposed to be, but seldom is.

DeAnsin Goodson Parker, Ph. D., Director of the Goodson Parker Wellness Center, developer and author of Yogababy tm, and Director of the Foundation for the Development of Human Resources.

Rating:
Summary: Mind Expansion
Review: Revue of Book MINDFITNESS TRAINING: Neurofeedback and The Process by Adam Crane and Richard Soutar, Ph. D. Writers Club Press, 2000.

This fascinating book blends science, psychology, philosophy and mysticism into an inspirational and highly authoritative exploration of the mind. Seldom does a purportedly scientific book take what at first glance, judging by the title, appears to be dry, clinical research data and transform those brain wave analyses into an expansion of individual and collective consciousness. However, this is exactly what the authors attempt to do and, I would argue, in fact do. After reading this book, or should I say savoring this book, I felt a connection between the rhythms and patterns of my own brain and the rhythms and patterns of the Universe. It was probably a liminal moment to which the authors allude.

Adam Crane is an entrepreneur thoroughly credentialed in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback with 30 years experience in medical / educational biofeedback and applied psychophysiology. He is the President of American BioTec, Director of BioMonitoring International and BioTec Corporations, and Founder of Health Training Seminars. Richard Soutar, Ph. D. is a professor at Arizona State University and is Director of Biofeedback Services for the Neuro Performance Center in Phoenix. He lectures and gives workshops on social psychology and clinical neurofeedback. They are on a mission with Adam's MindFitness Training program to expand the consciousness of humanity so that our individual minds learn how to access Universal Mind. This is not the typical mission statement for a neurofeedback specialist, but through a program called The Process, it seems they are picking up where Carl Jung left off with his treatises on psychoanalysis. On a less grand scale, it seems possible to provide life and performance enhancement learning through these techniques.

The idea that we can modify our perceptions and our states of consciousness is an ancient idea and has been suggested by cultures throughout time. All have given great importance to Attention as the method by which this is done. In the MindFitness program , with the technology of neurofeedback, the authors discuss a method to help clients attain Profound Attention which is defined as the ability to see with brain and heart. The MindFitness Training program includes The Process with its nine stages. In raw form, The Process sounds like the ancient teachings of Raja Yoga, the study of the mind through the yogic tradition. The authors allude to this connection and define Raja Yoga as the royal road to 'union' and the maximization of one's unique potential. The Process includes nine two hour modules for how to develop Profound Attention to what is.

The Process is part of a lifetime of learning as a human being which is a continual work in progress in order to be the best 'artist of living' possible. In brief, the content of the nine sessions includes the following concepts and sound like training to be a Yogi or Yogini: (1) Extraordinary life enhancing changes are possible through the use of these techniques, (2) Each 'artist of living' must bring a sense of mission to the journey, (3) The 'artist of living' must include learning about the mind through learning about and fully experiencing the body, (4) The 'artist of living' will bring Attention to his/her thinking to bring about higher orders of intelligence, (5) Attention to Attention brings about flexibility of thought and dimensionality to the thinking processes, (6) Improving the quality of sleep improves the quality of awake time, (7)Economic order and well-being provides the freedom to self-actualize as an 'artist of living,' (8) Eliminating negativity and the unnecessary frees artist's energy for focus on fully living, (9) Awakening to the ability to love provides the creative, healing energy so necessary for the fully awakened life of a true 'artist of living.'

Although the book focuses on the expansion of consciousness, it does cover a learned discussion of the more common uses of neurofeedback, including the treatment of addition, alcoholism, anxiety, ADHD/ADD, chronic pain, conduct disorders, depression, epilepsy, learning disabilities, and sleep disorders. Research data is quoted to substantiate treatment protocol effects. However the primary focus and majority of the book deals with The Process.

Even though the book is dedicated to the mother and wives who nurtured and encouraged these authors / seekers on their journeys, it could as easily have been dedicated to The Hero with a Thousand Faces as Joseph Campbell described the thousand heroes on the journey within.

In conclusion, I think that if Neurofeedback as presented in The Process were simply a new drug being touted by pharmaceutical companies with a promotional campaign behind it, this treatment would be catapulted into the mainstream and could supplant many of the drugs of which we are currently enamored. The beauty of this treatment is that it does not involve medication, but rather the training of the mind, which is what good therapy is supposed to be, but seldom is.

DeAnsin Goodson Parker, Ph. D., Director of the Goodson Parker Wellness Center, developer and author of Yogababy tm, and Director of the Foundation for the Development of Human Resources.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult to judge this book
Review: This is a difficult book to write a review for.
I agree with most/all of what the author writes but found the style highly annoying. The book contains huge amounts of waffle and very little real advice.

I am using Neurofeedback for personal growth and hopped this would have some practical advice. There was very little of this.
I understand it is difficult with an area like this to not be a bit of a salesman but way too much sales going on here.