Articles

SUWS of the Carolinas Welcomes Christopher Hinds as the New Clinical Director

SUWS of the Carolinas, a premier therapeutic wilderness program for struggling or underachieving youth, is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Clinical Director, Christopher Hinds, ACSW, LCSW, effective November 21, 2011. Hinds joins SUWS with 30 years’ experience with child and adolescent treatment programs.

“We are pleased to welcome Chris to the SUWS team,” said Shawn Farrell, Executive Director of SUWS of the Carolinas.  “His extensive leadership and involvement in the design and development of state-of-the-art adolescent treatment approaches will greatly benefit the growth and direction of our program.”

Hinds’ brings over 12 years of executive experience that includes the role of Director at three mental health/substance abuse treatment programs. He also has a vast amount of clinical experience, having worked with adolescents and pre-adolescents as a psychiatric social worker, group therapist, family therapist and consultant in inpatient, outpatient, partial hospitalization, residential, private practice and high school settings. Most recently, he spent eight years at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH, providing support service initiatives and extensive counseling to a population of 3,400 high school students. Chris received his BSW at the Rochester Institute of Technology with additional study at the University of Oslo (Norway), an MSW from the Boston University School of Social Work in 1985, and advanced clinical and family therapy training at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Yale Psychiatric Institute from 1989-1992.

As an accomplished substance abuse practitioner, Hinds was the Founder and Program Director of a 45-day, residential substance abuse treatment program for adolescents called “New Choices” at the Children’s Center of Hamden, Inc. in Connecticut. Through his leadership, this program received accolades from the State of Connecticut DCYF as a “model short-term program” and accreditation with commendation from The Joint Commission.  The program was featured prominently on the television documentary “CNN Presents” in 2002.

“SUWS of the Carolinas is one of the oldest, safest and best-established wilderness programs in the U.S. for pre-adolescents and adolescents. It was significant program integrity and the management team’s attention to quality care that attracted me to Aspen Education Group and SUWS of the Carolinas”, says Hinds. “As Clinical Director, I look forward to playing a role in its future growth.”

SUWS of the Carolinas is a licensed treatment program with a focus on clinical intervention and assessment. Set in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, the program uses the outdoors as an alternative to conventional treatment settings, while engaging students using traditional therapeutic methods. SUWS is a program of Aspen Education Group, the nation’s leading provider of therapeutic education programs for struggling or underachieving young people.  Aspen’s services range from short-term intervention programs to residential treatment, and include a variety of therapeutic settings such as boarding schools, outdoor behavioral health programs and special needs summer camps, allowing professionals and families the opportunity to choose the best setting to meet a student’s unique academic and emotional needs.  Aspen is a member of CRC Health Group, the nation’s largest chemical dependency and related behavioral health organization.  Since 1995, CRC Health has been achieving successful outcomes for individuals and families.

An Introduction to Neurofeedback

Focus Centers of Asheville
Phil Ellis, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Board Certified Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback (also known as EEG Biofeedback) is one of several new technologies that represent a blending of the fields of mental health and neurophysiology. In 1971, Barry Sterman, Ph.D., at UCLA was able to demonstrate that epileptic patients using this form of biofeedback could be trained to either stop or reduce their seizures.  After several studies with epileptics were replicated by Dr Sterman, it was discovered that Neurofeedback also appeared to be helping patients improve their concentration. One of his students, Joel Lubar, Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee was able to prove that Neurofeedback was an effective treatment for ADHD.

Now, 40 years later, EEG biofeedback meets the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry criteria for clinical guidelines established for the treatment of ADHD, seizure disorders, anxiety (OCD, GAD, PTSD, phobias), depression, reading disabilities, and addiction disorders.

Focus Centers of Asheville is a Psychological company registered in the state on North Carolina. Their staff currently operate three neurofeedback programs in Asheville. One is located inside of a local public school treating ADHD and Learning Disorders, another is located inside of an outpatient clinic in Asheville and now, the third, at SUWS of the Carolinas.

Neurofeedback essentially is a way of teaching clients how they can change brain waves to regulate their nervous system. By using Neurofeedback, our clients are able to improve their sleep, mood, anxiety, concentration, perception and behavior.  As sessions are repeated, the brain learns to condition itself to hold the changes. In 40+ years there have been no documented instances of long term negative side effects. Many of our clients discontinue or lessen their prescription drug dosages while they are in treatment.

What is It?

Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback. Biofeedback uses sensitive instruments to detect subtle physiological measures of bodily function and then amplify them so that they are readily perceived by the patient in auditory and visual form. Heart rhythms, breathing patterns, blood flow, muscle activity and skin temperature are just some of the measures that can be detected and then regulated with the use of biofeedback instruments. These measures, brought under the control of a patient, can provide relief from stress, anxiety, pain, emotional, behavioral, neurological and learning disorders.

Biofeedback treatment has been available in hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices for nearly 50 years. It has been a reliable adjunct to medical and psychiatric services. Since the 1970’s technological advances have led to much more powerful and longer lasting forms of biofeedback. One such advancement, Neurofeedback, amplifies brain waves and then uses operant conditioning to create beneficial changes in the autonomic nervous system of the patient.

After decades of research at such institutions as UCLA, The University of Tennessee and NASA, these new methods of treating emotional, behavioral and medical disorders are finally becoming more readily available to the public. It is a potent and yet easy to learn method for obtaining relief from distressing symptoms and disabling disorders.

How Does It Work?

Sensors are attached with paste to the patient’s scalp. These sensors allow for the direct observation of brain waves on a computer screen. Changes in these brain waves are then fed back to the patient in dynamic visual and auditory displays (via a simple video game!). The patient then learns to make changes in the game’s display by concentrating their attention on the video game. As they make changes on the screen, they are simultaneously making changes in their brain waves!

Changes in brain waves can create changes in symptoms of a disorder within hours, sometimes within minutes. The patient goes home after each session and completes a log of their responses to the biofeedback. Once the clinician and patient decide they have found the optimal response, that training is simply repeated until the response is conditioned.

Endorsements

"The literature, which lacks any negative study of substance, suggests that EEG biofeedback therapy should play a major therapeutic role in many difficult areas.  In my opinion, if any medication had demonstrated such a wide spectrum of efficacy, it would be universally accepted and widely used”.  Frank Duffy, MD, Neurologist, Head of the Neuroimaging Department and of Neuroimaging Research at Boston's Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Professor

"In my experience with EEG Biofeedback (also known as Neurofeedback) and ADD, many people are able to improve their reading skills and decrease their need for medication. Also, EEG biofeedback has helped to decrease impulsivity and aggressiveness. It is a powerful tool...(Change Your Brain Change Your Life, pp.143-144):"   Daniel Amen, MD, Noted researcher and author, ADD specialist

"Among the newer approaches to managing ADD, the most exciting is a learning process called neurofeedback.  It empowers a person to shift the way he pays attention.  After more than twenty-five years of research in university labs, neurofeedback has become more widely available.  This is a pleasing development because neurofeedback has no negative side effects (The ADD Book, p. 205)."
William Sears, MD, Noted pediatrician and author

Phoenix Outdoor Becomes One of the First Wilderness Therapy Programs to Offer Neurofeedback for Teen Substance Abuse

Research has shown that neurofeedback is an effective adjunctive treatment for substance abuse. After being used for decades in the treatment of ADHD, learning disabilities and other disorders, now this exciting therapy is being offered at Phoenix Outdoor’s wilderness rehab program in North Carolina.

Phoenix Outdoor utilizes a unique base camp model that combines wilderness expeditions with experiences at base camp. This program structure gives struggling teens the opportunity to develop new skills in the wilderness and then test those skills in a structured, real-life setting.

Every two weeks during their time at base camp, teens in the wilderness program participate in three 30-minute neurofeedback sessions, for a total of 24 sessions. These sessions are conducted by Phil Ellis, Ph.D., a psychologist who is board certified in neurofeedback.

Neurofeedback, also called EEG biofeedback, is a training system that promotes changes in brain wave patterns. Using a computer and sensors that detect brain waves, teens view images on a screen that change as their brain waves change. Much like a video game, teens concentrate their attention on the game and hear or see signals that indicate when their brain is in the target zone. With practice, this process becomes automatic, eliminating the need for ongoing neurofeedback sessions.

“Phoenix Outdoor is one of the first wilderness therapy programs in the country to offer this cutting-edge treatment to teens struggling with drug or alcohol abuse,” said Shawn Farrell, MEd, the wilderness program’s executive director. “So far, the results have been promising.” 

After just a few weeks of neurofeedback training, the staff and students at Phoenix Outdoor have observed the following benefits:

• Improved ability to focus and pay attention
• Decreased impulsivity
• Better ability to cope
• Less anxiety
• Improved ability to maintain sobriety

“We are fully committed to integrating the latest evidence-based therapies to benefit our students and their families,” said Farrell. “Neurofeedback is one of the many ways that Phoenix Outdoor is staying ahead of the curve in the treatment of adolescent substance abuse.”