 Welcome to another segment of Shrink Rap Hawaii. My name is Steven Philip Katz. I'm a marriage and family therapist here in Honolulu. And today I'm delighted to say once again my guest is Dr. Sherry Owl. And Dr. Owl says, quote, I process trauma and change behavior more quickly after 30 years of doing psychotherapy. I use EMDR, which resolves emotions attached to disturbing memories and changes behavior effortlessly. I also use LENS, which is Low Energy Neurofeedback, which improves brain functioning immediately. Together, we move you through emotional blocks, shift your self-concept, expand your insights, and supports you in your goals. Welcome back, Dr. Owl. Thanks, Steve. So I'm very interested in LENS. Could you tell us more about that? I don't think we've talked about that before. LENS is a cutting-edge, new neurofeedback. I did a year post-doc in EEG neurofeedback, and people would train their brain for 20 to 40 minutes per session. LENS is counted in seconds. So a first session might be one second. Your brain has to adapt to the lens. A second session might be two seconds. What does the session look like? What LENS does is I attach sensors to the forehead and scalp, and what I'll do is the sensor will pick up your brain pattern, and then it will plant an electromagnetic pattern next to it. It's not electrical. It's electrical. It's magnetic. Think of it as magnetic. You know, magnets? The part that scares me is the word plant. You don't actually put something in someone's brain. No. No. It simply sends a magnetic signal. Oh, okay. And the magnetic signal is so mild, it's imperceptible, it cannot be picked up by any device. And people don't feel it? Most people don't feel it. If you are highly intuitive and highly sensitive, then you might pick it up. I've only had one person, just a few people, who can actually pick it up. And what does it do? It interrupts your brain pattern. So if I have someone with major depression and needs to get snap out of that major depression, well, we use the lens. And, you know, I use thought field therapy intertwined with NDR. And the lens improves brain functioning. That's what it does, essentially. It picks up your rhythm. It suggests a magnetic signal that interrupts your brain rhythm, and your brain automatically optimizes. So it's like rebooting your brain? It's like clearing the cache in your computer. Yeah. When the computer reorganizes, it automatically optimizes. It's called optimization. Your brain does exactly the same thing. Think about it as clearing your room. Your room is going to function more efficiently. Me too. So your brain, when your brain functions more efficiently, typically all kinds of energy is released. There's a three-page questionnaire that people fill out prior to doing the lens. And on that questionnaire are questions regarding all the functions that lens can affect. So, if somebody comes and use it often with people who are experiencing chronic depression? Depression. Virtually. I've used it with children. And I've had three kids. The school calls back. The week that we use the lens, one second. And reports to the parents, oh, he did so much better. Wow. His focus is so much better. Oh, he's paying attention. So much better. So then I have the parents come in and they want the lens too. Sure, why not? Doesn't hurt. So I'm working with families at this point. I actually was targeting children because I work with some children who are adopted and they have these eccentric fears. Fears that nobody knows where they came from or why they have them or it doesn't really make any sense. I mean, like fears of monsters in the closet or something like that? Fear of the darkest one. Fear of heights is another. Fear of speed, like being on a roller coaster is another. But whatever the fear is, we can hear it. Or fear of tight places, elevators. Small room. Like claustrophobia. Yeah. So... Is the treatment different depending on the issue? No, it's not. Because remember, lens improves brain functioning. It doesn't matter what the issue is. It will improve brain functioning. So if I work with the child and we improve his brain function, I used to work in the Department of Health or the Department of Education for, gosh, almost 15 years. And I worked with psychologists there. And I worked with children, you know, disabled children. And it would take me three to four years to, with behavioral modification, to modify the behavior of these children. And what I found was with the lens, I can do it in a month. Wow. Without behavioral modification? I'm not targeting the behavior of modification. Because what I find is that the more efficiently the brain works, the more efficiently the child works. Right. So the behaviors will just disappear. The behaviors tend to disappear when the child can focus. Right. So the complaints I get is he doesn't listen. He, I ask him to do something and he doesn't do it. I have to ask him three or four or five times. Right. Before he'll do it. I tell him something and then he forgets what I told him. Uh-huh. That's me. Okay. So parents. ADHD. Parents typically attribute this to non-compliance. Right. He's doing it deliberately to make me crazy. Yeah. What I find is the better the child's brain functions, the better he's going to function. So as his brain improves in functioning, I've had kids go from DF students to A students. That's pretty miraculous. Well, you would think it's miraculous. Yeah. But when you understand how it improves brain functioning, if we can improve the functioning of the brain, then everything improves. I've had university students who come in and tell me, because they're verbal, they'll tell me, gee, you know, I usually have trouble starting projects, but I didn't have any trouble starting this major project. Hmm. I usually kind of procrastinate and procrastinate and wait until the last minute. And I cram everything. Right. But I didn't have, I'm completely finished. And I've got a week to go. That's amazing. Yeah. I'm learning so much better. Normally I struggle in the classroom. I have to write everything down, or I have to tape record everything, because I'm not going to remember it. But I'm comprehending what I'm hearing. Or I'm comprehending what I'm reading better so that I don't have to flip back and reread over and over again. Right. Yeah. You wrote that it works for just about everything, except anxiety. Yes. Why that exception? I can't actually tell you why that exception. Just experientially. It doesn't work with anxiety. And probably the only time I've had it not work was with Restless Leg Syndrome. Uh-huh. I was working with someone, and they said they had Restless Leg Syndrome. Yeah. I didn't think of that as anxiety. So I thought, then she asked me, you know, will the lens work with this? I don't know. Uh-huh. Why don't we try it? See if it'll work with it. Yeah. Well, I said one Restless Leg, then she had two. Uh-huh. So that tells me, okay, this is an anxiety. This is a psychosomatic anxiety symptom. Right. So it's not going to work with anxiety. What did you try after that? You know, that's what she targeted. Yeah. So we didn't. Oh. Yeah. Theoretically, we would be trying anything that makes her anxious right during the day, or childhood anxieties that are being triggered. Uh-huh. Or trying to go back to the original trauma. Right. But no, she wasn't interested in continuing after the lens didn't work, because she came in specifically for the lens. For the lens. Uh-huh. Right. Thinking that it could cure Restless Leg. So she still got a Restless Leg when she went somewhere else. Probably. Probably. Yeah. Yeah. That's a hard one to work with, I think. That's one that I don't think most MDs diagnose as anxiety. Uh-huh. Restless Leg is in and of itself a symptom. Right. Yeah, but what part of it is questionable? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So. So, but I mean, it sounds like from what you're saying is that you can use this except for the anxiety with just about everybody. That's right. I have seniors that come in. Uh-huh. And after one second, they tell me, oh, I have so much energy. Wow. Sounds better than drugs. Well, when they have the lens sessions, they usually report, what? Did it already happen? Was that it? Yeah. And I tell them, yeah, it was one second. So, you know, seniors with seniors, they go up very slowly. The brain takes longer to reorganize. What do you mean when you say you go up very slowly? I go up from one second to two seconds to three seconds very gently because the brain takes a little longer to reorganize. But it's still, it's such a gentle thing that even if it's three seconds long, most people don't feel it. Most people don't feel it. Yeah. Yeah. But you will know, think about the titrating of those psychiatrically. Uh-huh. Even if you need 200 milligrams, the psychiatrists will typically start with 10 to 15 milligrams. Right, right. And then he'll raise it gently to 25. Yeah. And then he'll raise it again to 2550. So this is similar. This is similar. Start with the minimum. Start very gently. Yeah. Just to see what the reaction is. Have you ever had an adverse reaction? That was the restless light. Yeah, but that wasn't even an adverse reaction. That was just no reaction, right? That was having two restless lights instead of one. That was an adverse reaction. Oh, you mean is the second leg happened after the lens? After the lens. That's weird. I don't know. I don't know another word for it. That's an adverse reaction. Or feeling compelled to constantly get things done. That's an overdose. Oh, like too much Adderall or something. I accidentally overdosed myself. And I found that I was working all day from 8 to 5. And then I was running errands all night. Wow. And I just felt like I needed to take care of things. So is it something that you repeat, like weekly or monthly or something? The lens is permanent. And think about your room. How often does it get messy after you clean it up? What? Immediately. Okay, then you may want to come in for a brush up session. After someone has a good stable level, they can go for 4 to 6 weeks, 2 months, longer. It doesn't change. It's just what happens in your life. Are you going through traumas in your life? Are you having fights with your family or your coworkers? Really cluttering the energy circuits? Uh-huh. We have to go to a break and don't touch the dial or the mouse. We'll be right back with Dr. Sherry Al. Aloha. I'm Marcia Joiner. Inviting you to join us as we navigate the journey. The journey to the end of life. The journey of looking at our possibilities of choices and options. And this is a conversation. We want you to join us in this conversation as we visit with people of different traditions, different religions, and different cultures and see what they do toward the end of life. It is a wonderful time to enjoy, to talk about things that we don't usually talk about and that we should talk about before the intensive care, as well as the elephant in the room. The elephant in the room is healthcare. And we really need to look at that as we approach the end of life. So join us as we navigate the journey. Aloha. Welcome back with Dr. Sherry Al. I am still Steve Katz. And we were just talking about the lens which stands for low energy neurofeedback. What's the S? System. It's the fastest neurofeedback system in existence currently. I'm the only person in Hawaii that has this system. And you were telling me that the machine is very expensive. It was a $13,000 start-up. Is it a big thing? It's a very little thing. These little... I have the sensors right. I will start with one sensor. We'll start with one site. So you use this in conjunction with other therapies too? I use it with EMDR. I use it with thought-field therapy. I use the... Well, let me share. With EMDR, if I have a contained trauma, I like to use EMDR because it will resolve it into a tangible insight. What do you mean by contained trauma? A car accident. Oh, a specific incident. Not a continued thing where somebody got beat up for 16 years? For the continued thing where somebody got beat up for 16 years, I'd rather switch to thought-field therapy to work with a pervasive trauma. So I'm really implementing much more thought-field therapy. And then to improve brain functioning, I'll use the lens. I use thought-field therapy sometimes too. And when I explain it to clients, I tell them about my own experience, and I was glad that when I was taught, I had them do an experiment where I had a phobia about getting injections. Right? So we worked on that, and we did the tapping thing. And every time I'm going to go get a shot now, or they're going to take blood, or they're going to go near me with a needle, I do that, right? Right beforehand. Right. And then nothing, right? Which amazed me, right? Because I really like when I first thought about thought-field therapy, you know, I thought this is a little woo-woo, like I don't understand how this works, and I still don't understand how it works. And that's what I say to my clients. I don't know how this works, and it may not work for you. And if it doesn't, it's not going to hurt, right? Above all, do no harm. But it worked for me. Here's what I tell them. Yeah, what do you say? I tell them this is based on the Chinese acupuncture... Right, the whole Meridian thing. Right. And this is called sham acupuncture because the research indicates that it gets exactly the same results as putting the needles in, or we're not using needles. Right, but I don't even understand why the acupuncture needles thing works. I mean, western medicine doesn't even recognize the Meridians. Well, you know I'm Chinese, right? So is it going to work better for you? I recognize the Meridian system, it's the electrical system of the body. And all we're doing is we're hitting highways, we're hitting intersections on the highways of the body. So when they... So is it similar to the... I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm just thinking when you said highways, I'm thinking how the magnets of the lens interrupts that. So does this interrupt that in a similar way, I think? Sort of a little jolt to the highway? It actually clears the block in that specific acupuncture point. So I tell them that, you know, we're going to do some movements, particularly when you do the nine gamut, we're going to do movements, and they may seem silly, Right, look up, look down, throw your eyes around, right? When you're looking down, you're accessing kinesthetic. When you look up, you're accessing visual. When you look sideways, you're accessing auditory. And what is the humming doing? When you look right, you're accessing left hemisphere. When you look left, you're accessing right hemisphere. If you hum out loud, you're accessing Brocazeria, the cingulate gyrus. You're activating different parts of the brain, and you're doing that while you're vibrating a specific acupuncture point. You have a much better chance of hitting the point, if you're tapping it, then if you're trying to put a needle in them, because the points are slightly different on every individual. All right, the tapping gets much more points. Right, by throwing a pebble into the pond with the reverberation. So I always ask people, do you feel the vibration? Ah. Do you feel the vibration? If you don't, you're not tapping hard enough. Ah, ah, that's good to know. And what about the counting to five thing? You're also accessing Brocazeria and right left hemisphere. The humming is music, right hemisphere. Ah. So you are actually activating different parts of the brain while you're going through the nine gamut, which incidentally is taken directly out of Paul Dennison's work, Educational Kinesiology, the nine gamut. I didn't know that. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, because it's amazing the different problems that it works with, the TFT, you know. You know, another reason the lens was important to me is because you know I work with abuse. Yes. And I find that people coming in often are oblivious to abuse. Hmm. Oh, at least there's one thing and he does another. I don't know what that means. Oh, well he's had a couple of affairs. I don't know what that means. That's emotional abuse. Right. Right. And minimizing it, right? Right. Not recognizing it. Right. Or I've had people come in and say, hey, I have no abuse in my history. None whatsoever. I was never sexually molested. I was never raped. Nothing. I just got some licking. Well, what did the licking constitute? Oh, my dad would pick up anything he could and hit me. Yeah. That's a beating. So that's abuse. And oh, my dad, my mom had a mouth in her. My dad had a mouth on him. And well, what would they say? Well, they would say, you blankety, blankety, blank kid, you worthless, blankety, blank, but that's verbal abuse. Yeah. If you don't recognize it, you're not going to work with it. Yeah. You're not going to see the effect on you. And when I have people come in and their esteem is trodden down, I'm asking them, well, where do you, why do you think? And more often than not, I get, oh, well, that's not abuse. That's just licking. Oh, that's not abuse. That's just how my mom and dad talk. Right. That all has an effect. Right. Also, I mean, like, when you have nothing to compare it to, as a kid, that's normal. Exactly. Exactly. But here's the bottom line. In the research, individuals who suffered verbal abuse who had never hit, who never experienced any physical abuse, their brain autopsies look exactly like the brains of Vietnam vets. Who had physical problems, obviously. The brain experiences verbal abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse in exactly the same way. The brain can't tell the difference. There are measurable differences in the gray matter, in the hippocampus, in the hypothalamus. You know, throughout your brain, your brain is being affected. Mm-hmm. So what Gottman says is, you know, his 30, 35 years of working with couples. Couples, yeah. Is that when an individual is partnered with an abusive couple, the most common outcome is chronic fatigue. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. So we talk about psychosomatic, chronic fatigue, is your physical manifestation of psychosomatic symptoms, right? That's your psychosomatic. I guess it's one of them, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's a way of withdrawing. Debilitating cognitive and physical symptoms from being with an abusive partner. Right. Well, the same as it might happen when you're a kid, right? Yep. You withdraw. Yeah. Or you run away, if you can. Well, because of the cognitive injuries, they're called insults to the brain. The individual is not going to be functioning optimally. They cannot. Yeah. So can ADHD be created? Yeah, you bet. Uh-huh. In dysfunctional families, ADHD can have a completely normal child without ADHD to develop ADHD because they're in a chronic state of hypervigilance, waiting for the next shoe to fall. Right. Okay, they're living under a constant threat. What am I going to be yoga? What am I going to be hit next? Yeah. Do you work with couples a lot? I work with some couples. Yeah, because that's about half my work. And it's difficult when you have a situation like that. Well, let me share with you. Most therapists are not prepared to deal with abuse. Mm-hmm. And I've watched therapists work with abuse. It's typically a slap on the hand. Oh, you know you shouldn't be doing that. And that's it. Mm-hmm. When I was in an abusive relationship, I went to four different psychologists. Mm-hmm. Because you don't work on your own. You don't do therapy on yourself. Right. Or your family. Okay, so the first psychologist blamed the victim. Blamed you? Yes. The second psychologist was female, and my partner refused to see a female. The third psychologist used active listening and assertive communication. Mm-hmm. And if you know anything about active listening and assertive communication, excellent skills, but they don't do anything for abuse. Right. They are not going to stop abuse. Right. The fourth psychologist decided to develop rapport with the perpetrator. And now, this is what most partners feel, oh, I'm so glad you have somebody to talk to. Mm-hmm. I'm so glad somebody understands a man who can reach him. Well, whenever you develop rapport with a perpetrator, you have just supported that individual in being a perpetrator. Mm-hmm. So, typically, the abuse escalates, which is exactly what happened. So, formerly, I was experiencing, this person explodes a few times a month. Mm-hmm. What is, I, you know, I don't understand. This didn't happen before, and now it's happening. I don't understand what's happening. The abuse escalated to weekly. The screaming. Mm-hmm. Now, I was never hit. Mm-hmm. But I felt like I was being hit. Yeah. When a grown man is screaming at a woman, women have smaller lungs, smaller musculature, smaller heart, you don't stand a chance. It's terrifying. It is scary. Yeah. You don't know what's going to happen next. Right. And there's always that threat. Right. Of the physical. Okay. So, as the abuse escalated, I decided, okay, this psychologist is not helping me to get out of this relationship because I went into therapy to get out of the relationship safely. Mm-hmm. What he did was he perpetrated, he perpetuated the relationship for six months longer. Oh. While the abuse was escalating to multiple screaming, tirades a day. Mm-hmm. This is insane. And I decided, that's it. I'm going to do this myself. I'm out of here. You just left. Yeah. Yeah. And I cut all contact. Right. But I have a background and I have training. Yeah. So, I know, you know, that's not an easy thing to do. Very hard to do. Very hard to do. Yeah. How would you handle it if that couple came into your office? I spell it out. Okay. And I have. Yeah. When you hit, when he shouts, when you're shouting at her, that is verbal abuse. Mm-hmm. And it impacts her brain. Right. It's exactly what her dad did. Mm-hmm. And you are causing cumulative trauma. Mm-hmm. When you hit him, because you're angry at him, shouting at you, that is physical abuse. Mm-hmm. So, what's the outcome of verbal abuse and physical abuse? It's escalation and you will end up separated or with criminal charges. You just lay it out and you say, well, if you continue to do this, that's the end product. So now, what are you going to do to change? What typically happens is when someone doesn't know that their behavior is abusive, they immediately change it. When they find out, when they realize it. When they find out it's abusive. Mm-hmm. You know, I grew up with a father that is screamed all the time. Yeah. He's a steel construction worker. Mm-hmm. So, I grew up thinking screaming was normal. As a young woman, I would scream. And then I started to learn in my education, oh my God, this is verbal abuse. I can't do this. And it was really difficult, catching myself. I would catch myself. They just, it wasn't abuse, but they told me that our show's over. Okay. And I have to stop. Thank you. It's always wonderful.