EEG Biofeedback for Alcohol Dependency and Depression of a 42-year-old male

Wenz Education & Counseling, Inc

42 year old, married, Caucasian male. Sought treatment for alcohol dependency and depression. He was facing a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm. He has a past history of breaking and entering and passing bad checks. All of the charges stem from addictive behavior, either alcohol or cocaine related.

With 14 years of education he has a management position in a national corporation. He has been with the corporation for eight years, serving in management for the past three. His supervisors were supportive of his seeking treatment ant) he was able to return to his position upon completion of six weeks of intensive treatment.

He reports that his alcohol abuse began at the age of 14. He had one prior treatment attempt in 1985, after which he was able to abstain for 3 months. Since that time he states that the longest time he has been alcohol free is for two weeks. He has a history of alcoholic blackouts, shakes and other withdrawal symptoms.

Initial intake was on referral by his attorney. At that point in time he requested outpatient detox and weekly outpatient sessions. He was placed under a physicians care for detoxification, enrolled in outpatient and planned to begin attending Alcoholics Anonymous.

In spite of severe legal problems and the very real prospect of a prison sentence, he was unable to remain abstinent and was admitted to intensive partial hospitalization 4 months later.

During his six weeks in intensive treatment he attended individual, group and family therapy. He attended relapse prevention training, grief resolution and a structured 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

In addition, after comprehensive assessment, he was placed on EEG neurofeedback. During the period of his hospitalization he recieved a total of 43 EEG neurofeedback training sessions (10 SMR, followed by 30 alpha-theta, followed by 3 SMR sessions).

At the completion of 10 SMR sessions he was reporting that he no longer craved alcohol. Depression lifted during the second week of treatment. During alpha theta training he was able to revisit traumas that occured during childhood and deal with these issues as they arose with his therapist and group.

The MCMI-111 was administered upon admission and after the 40th EEG training session.

He was discharged in March. I spoke with him six months later after discharge. He reports quality sobriety, has had no relapses, is no longer depressed and states that he does not crave alcohol nor any other mood altering substance.

THANK YOU
PAT WENZ
WENZ EDUCATION & COUNSELING, Inc.

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