Biofeedback Training Options and COVID-19 Update

Dear Clients and Parents,

The health of our clients is our top priority; thus, to reduce the chance of any community spread of COVID-19, the ADD Centre will be postponing all in-person training sessions as of March 18 for 2 weeks. The regular schedule for training sessions and assessment bookings will resume April 1. If this schedule should change, you will be notified by email or phone.

The ADD Centre staff are committed to keeping your training and progress going forward without long pauses. To this end, we wish to be regularly in touch with you by phone and on-line. For those of you who wish to continue some training at home we are investigating the best methods to help us continue training with you but in your own home. We recognize that this presents some disruption and new learning and hope to make this as simple as possible.

While we are not able to meet with you in person, we can provide the following options for you:

1. Phone consults/counselling sessions will be available:
   1. Those who have regular counselling sessions with Lynda can do these by phone. We will be connecting with you by email to confirm these appointments will move forward as planned.
   2. Clients who wish to have counselling, consultations or online trainings with Andrea can book these via email.
   3. Online counselling sessions for clients or parents can also be booked with Lena, a registered psychotherapist.
   4. We offer an online working memory training program called Cogmed www.cogmed.com. If you are interested in working through this program while you are social distancing at home, please let us know. We would arrange an intake interview with Lena to set up the program. This program is entirely remote. It is a 5-week program involving 5-days-a-week on-line exercises. (See the attached BODES hand-out for details.)
   5. Our full time training staff may provide metacognitive training sessions by phone or using Gotomeeting software by request. If you wish to book this type of appointment, please indicate what you would like your child to learn about from the following list and we can arrange for a phone meeting between your child and one of our full time staff members/trainers (Erik, Maya, Zifeng). These would be 30 minute meetings:
      1. Homework strategies
      2. Test taking strategies
      3. Math, Reading, Writing Strategies
      4. Organizational skills

6. We are working on some further remote training options that may include iLS listening, neurofeedback, Heart Rate Variability & Biofeedback, and light and sound. We will inform you when these services become available and how to access them.

In the meantime, try some of the interventions outlined in the attached BODES hand-out that some of you will already have received at the time of your assessment. The helpful tips include details about taking fish oil supplements, doing effortless diaphragmatic breathing and keeping to a regular sleep schedule. You can download a free-for-a-month breathing app called “EZ Air” from www.bfe.org to help your practice of effortless diaphragmatic breathing.

Helping you be your best is always our goal, whether we do that in person or in other ways. This crisis presents an opportunity to be flexible and show resilience. We are grateful for your understanding. Wishing you and your families good health, we remain,

Sincerely yours,

Lynda Thompson, Ph.D., C.Psych. Andrea Reid-Chung, M.A., C. Psych. Assoc.

Executive Director Clinical Director