My name is Dr. Julio C. Guerra, and I’m a Board-certified pediatrician with more than 18 years of pediatric and adolescent clinical experience.  Throughout that time, I’ve encountered an increasing number of patients dealing with mental and behavioral issues, from ADHD to Tourette’s Syndrome to Autism.  The most frustrating thing is that the medical community has essentially run out of ways to help these kids beyond medication…and, for many of them, that could mean a lifetime of suffering.

Early on in my career, I had the opportunity to work with premature babies.  It was then that I first began to develop a keen sense of what these children would need as they grew up.  While I was working with high-risk babies, I had the benefit of learning how I could better diagnose and treat high-risk children.  The highlight of my career has been improving the health of these infants, and then watching them overcome their pre-maturity, disabilities, and diseases as they developed into happy, healthy kids.

Still, it’s disappointing for me as a pediatrician to continue to see such a large percentage of children who are not getting the help they need.  Meanwhile, more and more children are being diagnosed with everything from anxiety to mood disorders.  In the last decade alone, we’ve seen major increases in cases of Asberger’s Syndrome and Autism, and the problem of ADD/ADHD continues to grow — currently 7% to 10% of all children in the United States are diagnosed with this disorder — and, unfortunately, one of the only options that has been made available to parents is the use of stimulant medications.  While some children do have some noticeable success in managing their symptoms this way, there are other cases where medications are simply not a viable option, the side effects are worse than the primary problem, or the medicine does not seem to work.  Unfortunately, many teenagers turn to illegal drugs to make them feel better.  This form of “self medication” many times ends up in addiction and eventually their primary problem is exacerbated with worsening health and legal problems.

 I’ve spent the majority of my professional career utilizing different medications and/or adjusting dosages to achieve a delicate balance of improvement for a patient…and, sadly, there are many times when we never strike that equilibrium.  The more we attack these kids’ symptoms with medications, the more side effects are emerging and exacerbating other issues.  All in all, it’s a very frustrating approach to treatment.

That’s what has fueled my inquisitive journey to discover an alternative therapy that’s safe, legitimate, and effective.  And in my strong desire to help children, I truly believe I’ve found something that works in neurotherapy.  The inspiration for me to start thinking “outside the box” for effective therapies in children battling neurological and behavioral disorders came through my own personal family experience.  While I’m compliant to mainstream approaches, I’ve always been searching for other safe options.  So when I first began to read that “Brain Training” could be helpful for children with different neurological and behavioral disorders, my interest was immediately piqued.  Since then I’ve become extremely knowledgeable and well-read on the subject, and recently completed a Neurotherapy Course in Dallas with EEG Spectrum, an international leader in Neurofeedback Technology and Education.

Over the last two or three decades, there have been numerous medical reports and case studies focusing on the subject of neurotherapy and its application in a variety of pediatric and adult disorders.  A great majority of the outcomes have been very successful and exciting.  However, the downside has been that most of these reports have been published by mental healthcare professionals in their own professional journals…and most medical doctors are not familiar with these Mental Healthcare Publications. Recently, these therapies have been receiving a great deal of attention, and I sincerely hope that an influx of double-blind studies and peer-reviewed journal articles will begin to support the more widespread use of neurofeedback and bring it into mainstream medicine in the very near future.  I hope to make important contributions in closing this gap...

Until then, I’m extremely passionate about moving forward and continuing to utilize “Brain Training” with my patients.  A lot of kids need help, and this is my attempt to do just that...

Sincerely,

Dr. Guerra