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BioSound Healing Therapy in Pennsylvania

How BioSound Healing Therapy Can Be Used for Addiction Treatment

BioSound Healing Therapy integrates biofeedback, sound healing, guided meditation, and healing vibration during therapy sessions. The BioSound Therapy System consists of a vibrating memory foam platform with an integrated audio and visual system.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a holistic treatment program offers the best outcomes. A holistic approach to treatment involves using both traditional and complementary therapies to address a wide range of issues of body, mind, and spirit.

BioSound Healing Therapy is a complementary therapy that’s used by a number of high-quality treatment programs. At Silvermist, we are proud to offer BioSound Healing Therapy at our Pennsylvania addiction treatment and recovery center.

If you would like to learn more about BioSound Healing Therapy or any of our addiction treatment modalities, we invite you to call us at (724) 268-4858 or contact us online.

Brain Waves & BioSound Healing Therapy

BioSound Healing Therapy is all about utilizing brain waves to promote a deeper level of healing. Brain waves are produced by the synchronized electrical pulses emitted as billions of neurons communicate with each other. Detected by placing sensors on the scalp, brain waves are ever-changing, depending on what we’re doing and feeling. Brain waves are measured in Hertz, or cycles per second. The brain has five different types of waves, and these operate at different frequencies.

The five different types of brain waves are:

  • Gamma waves: Gamma waves are the fastest brain waves, with a frequency of 30 Hz and above. The gamma brain wave state is associated with high-level cognition, memory recall, and peak awareness.
  • Beta waves: Beta waves have a frequency of 13 Hz to 30 Hz and are associated with outward-focused attention, thinking, and problem solving. In the beta state, the brain is active, alert, and focused.
  • Alpha waves: Alpha waves have a frequency of 8 Hz to 13 Hz. When you’re in an alpha state, you’re calm but alert, relaxed and focused inward, such as in light meditation or while doing a relaxing task. Alpha waves are associated with stress reduction and positive thinking.
  • Theta waves: Theta waves have a frequency of 4 Hz to 8 Hz. They occur most often during REM sleep, but they’re associated with deep meditation. Theta waves are associated with deep relaxation, creativity, and vivid imagery. In this state, we’re more intuitive and in closer touch with our subconscious.
  • Delta waves: Delta waves are the slowest brain waves, clocking in at 0.1 Hz to 4 Hz. The delta wave state is associated with deep, dreamless sleep and the healing and regenerating of the body.

The Components of BioSound Healing Therapy

BioSound Healing Therapy combines a variety of therapies to offer a relaxing, immersive, and positive experience. These include biofeedback, binaural beats, guided meditation, positive affirmations, and whole-body vibration.

Learn more about each of these in detail here.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a powerful tool for stress reduction. According to an article published in the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, biofeedback has been shown to normalize brain rhythms and frequencies for improved psychological states. By teaching you to control your body’s response to stress, biofeedback can help you manage a wide range of physical and mental ailments, including anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.

Because stress is a major factor for relapse, biofeedback is widely used in treatment settings. During biofeedback, a therapist attaches sensors to your body to monitor functions like heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, muscle tension, and brain wave activity. This information is fed back to you on a monitor. The therapist teaches you relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing exercises, guided meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation and as you practice these techniques, you can see your body’s functions change on the monitor. This teaches you to notice and control your body’s stress response.

A BioSound Healing Therapy session starts with biofeedback to help you learn techniques to reduce negative emotions, lower stress on the spot, and achieve a sense of calm and well-being.

Binaural Beats

Binaural beats are a form of music therapy, and they’re an important foundation of sound healing. Also known as “brain wave entrainment,” binaural beats are at the heart of BioSound Healing Therapy.

Binaural means “relating to both ears.” Brain wave entrainment involves playing a different tone in each ear. Each tone has a different frequency. For example, the tone playing in the left ear may be 200 Hz, and the tone playing in the right ear may be 210 Hz. The tones travel separately to the inferior colliculus, which is the part of the brain that handles auditory input. Once in the inferior colliculus, the two tones are married and produce a “beat” at a new frequency, which is the difference between the two incoming frequencies—in this case, the new frequency is 10 Hz.

The idea is that your brain syncs to the new frequency, putting you in a particular brain wave state. In the example above, binaural beats that produce a new brain wave frequency of 10 Hz will put your brain into the alpha state.

Binaural beats have been shown to reduce anxiety and stress and improve sleep. A study published in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine found that listening to binaural beats five times a week for four weeks significantly reduced anxiety in mildly anxious participants. Another study, published in the European Journal of Sports Science, found that brain wave entrainment significantly improved sleep quality and the post-sleep state in athletes. Brain wave entrainment has also been shown to reduce pain and improve behavioral problems in children.

BioSound Healing Therapy utilizes binaural beats to produce a theta brain wave state.

Guided Meditation

The theta brain wave state is characterized by very deep relaxation. Theta brain waves are used in hypnosis and REM sleep. The mind is extremely creative in the theta state, which lies between consciousness and the subconscious and directs our beliefs and behaviors. The theta state is somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, and it can be reached through meditation.

Meditation is an important tool used in treatment to help improve clients’ self- and thought-awareness. It has numerous proven benefits for physical and mental health, including reducing stress, anxiety, and depression and improving mindfulness. According to an article published in the journal NeuroReport, meditation even changes the brain’s physical structures, increasing cortical thickness and reducing the volume of the amygdala, the brain region responsible for fear, stress, and the fight-or-flight response.

Guided meditation is a form of meditation that’s guided by voiced instruction. It typically uses guided imagery to lead you to the theta brain wave state, and it helps you maintain that inward focus for the duration of the meditation session. BioSound Healing Therapy utilizes guided meditation to hold participants in the theta brain wave state.

Positive Affirmations

In the theta brain wave state, we’re more open to suggestions. The BioSound Healing Therapy guided meditation includes positive affirmations that help improve your self-concept and promote positive thoughts.

Learning to think in more positive ways is a major focus in treatment, and positive affirmations can help bring about a shift in your thinking patterns. Positive affirmations are simply positive statements about yourself. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that repeating positive affirmations improves self-control. Another study published in the journal Psychological Science found that daily affirmations improve self-confidence and promote more positive interactions with others. Replacing negative thoughts and self-talk with positive thoughts and self-talk can lead to real and meaningful change from the inside out.

Whole-Body Vibration

The BioSound Healing Therapy system includes a vibrating chair for whole-body vibration therapy. Although the research on vibration therapy is in its infancy, some studies have found a range of benefits. NASA uses vibration therapy to improve bone mass in astronauts, and a study published in the journal PLoS One found that whole-body vibration improved attention and cognition in healthy individuals and in those with ADHD.

Whether or not vibration therapy is a viable therapy to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression remains to be seen, but there’s no question that lying on the vibrating platform induces a relaxed state similar to that which comes from getting a massage.

BioSound Healing Therapy in Addiction Treatment

People who have undergone BioSound Healing Therapy find it extremely enjoyable. It has a number of benefits for people undergoing addiction treatment.

These benefits include:

  • It improves mood and well-being during detox. The detox process is physically and emotionally draining, and it can be uncomfortable and stressful as well. BioSound Therapy during detox can improve mood, reduce stress, and alleviate some withdrawal symptoms.
  • It helps during crises. BioSound Therapy is often used as an intervention to help bring someone in crisis back to a state of calm and well-being.
  • It reduces early discharges. Treatment programs that use BioSound Healing Therapy report fewer early discharges. Clients who are determined to leave will often have a change of heart after a BioSound Healing Therapy session.

  • It can be used as an incentive. Because people find the experience of BioSound Healing Therapy so enjoyable, it’s often used by treatment programs as a reward for engaging in positive behaviors.

When used along with traditional treatment therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy, BioSound Healing Therapy can help with development and ongoing healthy thought patterns. The deep relaxation state it produces reduces stress and improves mood and feelings of well-being, which can help through the challenges of early recovery and beyond.

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