Dr Bell & Flor,
Thank you both so much for the work that you do! The last two visits have made a profound difference in my life! During this stressful time I have not binged, purged or binged and purged. For the 1st time in my entire life I feel like I am free of obsessive food thoughts and behaviors that I have had since I was 5 years old.
I have 3 months of freedom during one of the most stressful times in my life. Other than the time I was in treatment this is the longest time I have under my belt. More importantly it’s no longer fighting the urge!
I want to share a few significant situations. I spent 3 days in Denver doing training for my new job. It involved tasting a lot of bread which I do not normally eat! In the past this would have thrown me into the binge and purge cycle. While I was in Denver I took my niece out for a nice meal and we shared 2 desserts! I enjoyed them and let it be. Last weekend I was in San Diego and shared and ENJOYED fish & chips for the 1st time since I was a child. Over the last 28 years I would have NEVER eaten something like that unless I planned to purge.
I do need to come back to work on the chewing and spitting which is significantly improved. My brain is also functioning well on less sleep and in general.
I thank you both from the bottom of my heart!
She has taken the time to explain the why’s and how’s of the process. She has worked with us to fit our needs both financially and time. She seems to care about the people and how they are actually doing.
Dr. Bell and Amy exhibit so much care for their patients. They strive to ensure that patients are making progress. If not, treatment is immediately adjusted. They continuously support patients and their parents by providing meaningful feedback. Hours are flexible, and there is no wait. Patients are always greeted with huge smiles. Any patient with neurological treatment needs would be fortunate to have them!
Dr. Bell exudes a special kind of patience, kindness, and deep listening along with being well-trained and effective neurofeedback provider. To have all these abilities in a single provider is a rare treasure.
The doctor and staff speak directly to my child in a manner that makes him feel comfortable and with respect to his level of intelligence (i.e. no baby talk. He is exceptionally intelligent and there is an awareness of how to communicate). They make him feel at ease about coming in for treatment and he never protests about having to make the trip in to their office. Unlike other therapies, he feels like he is making progress with his health.
Dr. Bell, being a psychologist, understands how we human beings work. She has a calm demeanor and explains things to parents about their child in a way one can understand. Her office was very accommodating to fit my son’s sessions in after school and on certain days. My son has high functioning Autism and after going through sessions I got to see his memory improve, his self-awareness improve, he is more able to focus and pay attention to do his school work. I give him a list of things to go and do and he can remember and do all of them! My son also had high anxiety and that has come down so he is more able to cope with his fears. We are so thankful to have been able to have Dr. Bell help us!
Antonio has always been a happy, loving child, but has always had difficulty with children his age and in social situations and appropriate behaviors. Since starting Neurofeedback with Dr. Bell he seems more comfortable in his own skin. His tics are almost gone. He has become increasingly curious about what’s around him; people, his environment. Doing things he never had interest in before, climbing trees, playing with other kids. He has been trying different foods, asking questions, expressing himself, where before he would just cry or cream because he didn’t know how to say what he wanted.
There are still times when he gets frustrated or upset and he still demonstrates ADHD or Autistic behaviors but everyday he does a little better. These things my husband and I thought he’d have to learn to live with aren’t things he has to live with, but things he has been able to overcome, we feel with the help of Dr. Bell and Neurofeedback.
Sincerely,
My son has been diagnosed with ADHD. After the official diagnosis, he was put on pharmaceuticals to help his problem. The only reason I gave into this method was because, after doing extensive research, experts said that if a child is not given some sort of medication, he/she will seek out drugs or other detrimental methods to cope with their problem.
In addition to this medicine my son was taking (which made him zombie-like), he was also having to see doctors and counselors. This was very time consuming and expensive.
I was lucky to here of Dr. Bell through one of the school counselors. I did my research, and after believing that neurofeedback could help my son, I called Dr. Bell.
After seeing Dr. Bell for less than one month, my 13 year old son was a new person. He still had his characteristic teen behavior, but his anxiousness, moodiness and inability to focus well had evaporated with Dr. Bell’s treatments. I am so happy we found Dr. Bell.
I want to share my support for neurofeedback as an effective treatment modality for the treatment of depression, anxiety, autism, PTSD, TBI, and ADHD and the symptoms that accompany these diagnosis.
I have experienced the benefits of neurofeedback for the treatment of my own depression, PTSD and TBI. It was an effective treatment and supported me in no having to use psychotropic medication and endure the side effects of medication.
On a professional level, as a clinical social worker that worked with children that were having difficulties socially, emotionally and academically in the school system, I referred families to neurofeedback along with other treatment options. Many parents did not want their children on psychotropic medications. Some of the children had been on medication and/or medications with varying results. Some children could not tolerate the side effects. Some children had positive results for short time and then the medications stopped working or the side effects became intolerable with increased dosages when tolerance had increased.
I have witnessed excellent results from neurofeedback treatment in children that have followed through with treatment. One example is that of a child with autism. This child had such high anxiety that he would often use various avoidance tactics to avoid coming to school and would also become physically ill with anxiety when it was nearing time to go to school. In addition to anxiety he also was agitated, inattentive and as socially awkward and was unable to decipher social cues. He experienced very little success at the school academically or socially, even though he was intelligent. He was often teased by his peers for his social awkwardness. This child’s parents took him to neurofeedback to treat his anxiety and inattentiveness. The child, his parent’s, his teacher’s and I witnessed a reduction in his level of anxiety and inattentiveness. He did not avoid coming to school as much and was rarely tardy due to avoidance. As he continued with his treatment, I also witnessed a dramatic improvement in his social interactions and academic success. He made more eye contact, he participated in two way conversations with peers instead of reciting information back. As he picked up on social cues he behaved in a more age appropriate and socially acceptable manner, his peers stopped teasing him and he started making friends.
This is one of the many successes I’ve seen with treatment of neurofeedback by Dr. Bell. Neurofeedback fixes the problem instead of medicating the problem and is less expensive over a lifetime.
I am a teacher at Salazar Elementary School and have had several students who have benefited from the neurofeedback therapy services provided by Dr. Pam Bell. They have had various diagnosis including ADHD, and other psychological disorders. My students demonstrated improvement in their ability to focus and complete tasks more readily and those behaviors helped improve their self-esteem and ability to participate more fully in their educational setting.
My adopted daughter, was also a patient of Dr. Bell’s for over a year. She had been taken into protective custody as an infant and had experienced some significant physical abuse. Dr. Bell was able to observe the brain functions that were compromised from her abuse and offer neurofeedback that improved her social skills and help her deal with impairments that affected her ability to process mathematical skills as well.
I am a parent of an ADHD child and am a Registered Nurse. My child began having trouble when he began school. He first presented with sensory integration issues and also behavioral agitation. He was given OT, PT and Social Work, and speech therapy services at school with no significant changes. In kindergarten he showed to be very behind and after feelings of helplessness, I consulted the school Psychologist on what to do. She suggested Dr. Pamela Bell and neurofeedback. In his first treatment it amazed me how I could actually see the facial expression change on my son’s face immediately. He looked and acted more relaxed. We also saw him get into less and less trouble at school over several months. His agitation and irritability decreased and his ability to stay focused and learn in school increased. We saw amazing improvement in his grades. No meds; no counselor. As a nurse I have also referred many of my patients to see Dr. Bell as well as many of these patient’s children that are on medications and are not seeing a psychiatrist. Many have not had a baseline EKG before beginning a medication regimen, which is recommended, their only treatment is medication. Many of these parents have complaints of their children being zombie like or too many additions of medications or dose changes. These are all risky medications that can cause numerous side effects and are not the only mode of treatment. Psycho stimulants should be the last mode of treatment after other modes of treatment are tried. And Neurofeedback having been endorsed as a Level 1 treatment by the Academy of Pediatrics for ADHD should be first on your list.
I have been a school psychologist in northern New Mexico for the past 13 years and prior to that was a nurse for 20 years. With a medical background I began my career as a psychologist recommending medical interventions (exclusively including pharmaceutical interventions) for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and mood disorders. Within the first two years of psychology practice, I had two elementary children who responded to the psychotropic medication with severe psychotic episodes. Other side effects included failure to thrive, gastro-intestinal symptoms, insomnia, excessive anxiety, and neurological symptoms including facial tics. Not only were these side effects a nuisance to the children and their families, but classmates and teachers were often frightened and avoidant of the children who had these responses to their medication regimen.
About eight years ago, Dr. Pam Bell began offering neurofeedback treatments for children with ADHD and mood disorders. I researched the procedures in my professional journals and felt hopeful that this may be a viable alternative for my most critical students. I have repeatedly seen children who were on strong stimulant medication, SSRI’s, and/or anti-psychotic medications, make miraculous recovery once they received neuro-biofeedback treatments. Not only have these students been able to discontinue their psychotropic medications but their mental health conditions have been stabilized and in every case, I have been able to exit each child from special education services. Is this not our goal in serving patients and disabled students: to treat them and advance them towards a normal life with their peers?
Over the past five years, when I evaluate a student for mental health issues and testing is positive for mental health diagnosis, I discuss with families alternatives for treatment and I always suggest neuro-biofeedback with Dr. Bell as my first choice of treatment intervention. I tell parents that there are other treatment modalities we can try including behavior interventions in school and psychotropic medication prescribed by their pediatrician or child psychiatrist. I like my parents and students to be educated about their treatment options, however, I am always clear that, in my opinion based upon my research and personal experience, neurofeedback is a positive solution and often can be a permanent treatment.
Thank you for this opportunity to express my admiration and appreciation to the wonderful work that Dr. Bell does with children. I initially heard about her from a colleague of mine who was being treated by Dr. Bell, so I know she does some great work with adults as well as children. How fantastic though, if we can treat children with mental health disorders during their childhood and give them the opportunity to reach their full life potential.
There is a growing body of evidenced based research supporting the long-term, positive impact of neurofeedback therapies for psychological disorders (as compared with placebo as well as with both pharmaceutical-based treatments). I have been referring clients to Dr. Bell for several years, and feel that she provides a very valuable service for individuals who have a limited ability to benefit from traditional psychotherapy approaches. Specifically, I have referred three clients to Dr. Bell, all whose history, presentation, and intractability of symptoms suggested an underlying neurological basis to their problems. Two of these clients were children, who I referred on because traditional cognitive-behavioral approaches were ineffective in sufficiently helping these children with their anxiety, depression, and explosive behaviors. I was aware that neurofeedback training offers more lasting change, in many instances, than either psychotherapy or psychotropic medications… Because these children did not return for subsequent services,…I was not able to follow up on the success of their treatment. However, I see a profoundly deaf client who I had originally referred Dr. Bell several years ago. This young man had been suffering from Bipolar II symptoms including hypomanic episodes and severe, recurrent depression with suicidal ideation. He had been compliant with psychotropic medication and had been participating with me… in psychotherapy for several years, still with very limited success. This client participated regularly with Dr. Bell …counseling and neurofeedback training. He reports that neurofeedback changed his life. For the past year or more, he has experienced only minor fluctuations in mood, mostly connected with situational factors. He has suffered from no episodes of crippling depression or suicidal ideation….
Sincerely,
My name is Genia, and I was a patient of Dr. Pamela Bell. My young life was characterized by intense pressure and adult responsibilities. I left home shortly before I turned 13 to begin training at a Conservatory. I began living alone and working in the theatre in NYC at 15. Shortly after I finished college, I found myself on 42nd St. in NYC one sunny September morning. I was there; I saw plenty. In the couple of weeks following 9/11, I volunteered, bringing supplies to the workers at ground zero, carrying them into buildings that we were told could collapse at any minute, ministering as best I could to the people working there. It was 6 months later that I fell to my knees in the middle of the street, crying uncontrollably. Around that time, bits of memory started popping up, unbidden: the plates of food at the Javitz center, rotting, because no one was alive to eat.
I am immensely grateful for the time I have been under Dr. Bell’s care. We have worked with both bioenergetics and neurofeedback. I rarely have a morning now when I wake up afraid, wanting to climb under the bed and stay there for the day, hiding from everyone and everything. The insomnia I have had has decreased to a pretty negligible amount and I am not feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and depressed.
Bioenergetics has helped to reconnect me. That certainly begins with my physical body, but it extends beyond that, to the world around me. The amount of tension that has been held in my body is pretty remarkable. With bioenergetics, I felt that beginning to release, affording me more mobility of my limbs, as well as more access to myself. I have begun to learn how to let energy flow through my body, rather than being bound in it. I can imagine a world now in which I don’t keep my mouth shut, enduring but never expressing. I don’t have as many chest pains now, as I used to.
I had a difficult time explaining to people how tired I was, how much effort everything took. Apparently I’m extremely high functioning, so I can look, from the outside, like a very productive person. Only I know the cost, and it had been impossible to try to explain it to anyone; they simply didn’t believe me, as the evidence of their eyes did not match what I was telling them. Dr. Bell was able to literally see what I was talking about, with neurofeedback. After a session, I would feel a turn around, where I was calmer internally, felt more energy and more support physically, and felt like myself again. I have spent an awful lot of time not feeling like myself, It has been so important to have a modality that not only can see what I am talking about, but can help. I can watch my numbers change. For these “invisible” ailments, it has been a blessing to have a treatment protocol that is so practical and effective. I used to run and hide when the doorbell rang. Now, some days I may flinch, but I go and open the door. I am so much calmer. Before I would appear calm; now, I can be calm.
These two modalities, bioenergetics and neurofeedback, have been instrumental in turning my life around. I have tried a lot of things; these are two that worked. My life has changed; my numbers have changed. I know there are very few practitioners out there who know what to do, how to treat to actually bring about improvements in conditions. Most only know how to medicate, which can sometimes hide but never heal. I have a science background; I attended MIT. The empirical evidence is rock solid for bioenergetics and neurofeedback; coming from a place where I doubted my own experience that was reassuring. I really did feel better; I really was coping better. As time has passed, I have seen that more and more in evidence, not only in the numbers, but in my life and my interactions with others. I know there are so many people out there who have PTSD, who are overwhelmed, who are always tired. I hope for each of them, that they can find a Dr. Bell, who can help lead the out of the pit. There is nothing I have come across, in many years of searching that has come anywhere close to being as effective as my treatment with Dr. Bell. When I wake up tomorrow morning, I will not be afraid.
My husband and I adopted two children under very unusual circumstances. The older of the two Jack, had been placed in foster care due to a severe traumatic brain injury. And his sister, Susan, as well as Jack had suffered years of neglect and abuse, which took its toll on them.
Jack has cognitive and behavioral challenges due to his brain injury. As a child and adolescent, he performed poorly in school. Assignments were not completed and test anxiety caused acting out in class. Attention to task varied day to day. He fought with his classmates and defied his teachers. He received social work services through school and attended private counseling from third grade through middle school. His situation was not improving.
My husband and I decided to try another path. Jack became a client of Dr. Bell as he entered high school. Dr. Bell recommended that Jack begin neurofeedback. He was seen twice a week for approximately two years. Jack is now better able to identify and use strategies necessary to avoid potentially problematic situations. He is more aware of the feelings of others and accepts responsibility for his actions. Angry outburst that once occurred on a daily basis, are a rarity. He is more clam and better able to handle his emotions. His attention and focus have also improved. Jack is currently a senior at New Mexico State University and is on the Dean’s List!
Susan was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. She also struggles with sensory integration problems. Susan’s mood swings became startling when she was in seventh grade. One morning I received a call from the school saying that Susan had been found cutting herself. I made an appointment to see Dr. Bell that same day. With Susan we talked about treatment options of Neurofeedback and Bioenergetics. Susan said her cutting did not hurt her physically and took her mind off of “her problems”. She began treatment with bioenergetics to help her connect with her body. Neurofeedback was added to help with sleep disorder and racing thoughts. She was a client of Dr. Bell in middle and high school.
Susan is also attending college at the University of Arizona. She is no longer a cutter and has learned to employ identified strategies to help her relax and sleep. Though ADD is still an issue for her, and could use more neurofeedback for this, she is attending and passing all of her classes. She is on track to graduate with a degree in business. Her treatments with Dr. Bell have proved to be invaluable. It is heart breaking to think that she might have continued to harm herself without appropriate treatment. Both of my children were born into situations few would have survived, yet today they are happy, functioning members of society.
My family and I believe that Jack and Susan might not be on such positive paths, if it were not for Dr. Bell and the services she provided at crucial times in their development.
I am David’s domestic partner, and we have a 19 month old son who we are raising together now. I must tell you I saw a lot of changes in David since he started neurofeedback with Dr. Bell and I’ve known him for 9 years. In the past, he would stay in the bed and sleep for all day or days at times. He was a night owl and would watch television until 3 a.m. It drive me nuts! When things became too stressful for him he breaks down easily and becomes very depressed that it frustrates me. He was very negative and holds grudges. Now he is calmer and able to function better while handling the stress without being overwhelmed with emotions easily. I used to feel like I am walking on eggshells with him. Now, he is able to do his part as a father without shutting down as he used to. I could not imagine him raising a child before he started seeing Dr. Bell. I also am impressed that David is able to handle full-time student status while sharing responsibilities with raising our son. For the first time, I saw that David is hopeful with finishing the school and build a future for us.
I want to thank you for the ongoing neurofeedback treatments that you provided to me. The treatments were very beneficial in that the out-of-sync brain waves were slowly, but surely, manipulated back into a more normal process, especially the delta waves which improved my ability to sleep. The treatments also provided assistance in moderating my mood swings. The work you provided helped me get back on a more normal track with everyday living and working. I say that because I had a C5-6 spinal cord injury in 1961 (and was in a coma a bit over two weeks), which also provided anoxic brain injury. I also had a previous brain injury in 1960 from a motor scooter accident and a subsequent brain injury from a three-wheel motor cycle accident in 1986. I remember you asking me how I had functioned for so many years with such brain trauma. Thank you for the work you provided that improved my mental health and overall function.
Last summer our eight year old son was fortunate to receive a series of neurofeedback treatments with Dr. Bell in New Mexico. WOW! Our lives are transformed. Constant, intense nervousness & disturbed sleep replaced with calm, deep rejuvenation. The bottom line is that our entire family feels happier and well-rested. Our son has more confidence and inner freedom. Dr. Bell is a compassionate, experienced, smart practitioner….patients who find their way to her are indeed fortunate. We are deeply grateful for her treatments.
My son, Isaiah was treated successfully by Dr. Bell for ADHD and PTSD. I wish I had found her in 2006, when Isaiah was first diagnosed. For years Isaiah struggled in school and has had an Individual Education Plan, (IEP) which only lessened his work load so he could keep up with the other students in his class. In 2010 Isaiah had a particularly rough year and that is when our family doctor recommended us to Dr. Bell. His treatment started well into the school year and behaviors were already set in place. He was angry all the time, forgetting everything he needed to do, not able to focus and getting frustrated because he could not keep up with his classmates. Isaiah was giving up, but change for the good started to trickle in. Isaiah did not pick fights with his brother as often as he would before Dr. Bell’s treatment and his teacher began to approach me about Isaiah’s improved behavior in the classroom. Isaiah’s grades had always been a C and D level, but he finished his 8th grade year with a 3.4 GPA. His treatment with Dr. Bell was complete and Isaiah is a whole new child now. He is happy and more confident. His IEP no longer reduces his workload so he is able to work at the same level every other child is able to. He does not feel singled out anymore and finally feels he can play sports again because he is able to keep up with both class work and practice. Every time Isaiah finds an opportunity to share his story with others he does and he always say he owes his success in school to Dr. Bell.
I am writing this letter as a testimonial in support of the incredible work that Dr. Bell facilitated to help me finally move forward in my life.
To summarize, I had been dealing with years of moderate to severe depression and anxiety as well as numerous symptoms of ADHD. Needless to say that my life was more than challenging on a day to day basis and very unsatisfactory. I was intensely unhappy. I had trouble getting through the day because I was so depressed and anxious, had lots of trouble with concentration and focus, and had very little self-confidence. And I had honestly tried every medication and treatment modality possible for the prior 20+ years of my life with little or no significant change. It wasn’t until I was lucky enough to hear about Dr. Bell and her therapy that my painful life began to really change for the better.
Detailed ways in which the therapy benefited my life included: great reduction in depression and anxiety symptoms over the months, increased ability to focus and concentrate so that I could once again become a more successful and contributing member to society. I reduced the amount of medications that I was taking while working with Dr. Bell and was also able to begin to sleep better. I also began a new relationship during the time I was in therapy and feel that she and the therapy helped me so much at that time to work through any issues, anxiety and fears that I was having. Where I would have sabotaged the relationship before due to fear and emotional instability, now I was able to move forward and enjoy it. I am so excited to say that I recently married that man I was in a relationship with and we are moving happily forward as I am a very different woman. The amazing thing is that even though I am no able to currently utilize the therapy, I am continuing to maintain all of the benefits. I continue to move forward and am enjoying life of a much more mentally and emotionally stable woman and person.
On a final note, I felt that Dr. Bell really cared about me and my healing which is so rare in a therapist these days. She always worked very hard every session to ensure that I received the best possible therapy for my situation at the time. I will continue to recommend her to my friends, family and anyone that I meet that could benefit for her expertise.