‘‘Time’’ is as precious as ‘‘space.’’ Factoring patients’
schedules to fit an integrative mental health approach is not
as easy as one might think. The beauty of an inpatient
integrative rehab is that patients are able to receive all of
their treatment services in one central location, rather than
the alternative, which might comprise driving around town
to go to an integrative therapy, then to see the psychiatrist,
then across town to pick up prescriptions, and finally to
group therapy someplace else. Clearly, offering myriad
primary and integrative therapies on one campus is
advantageous. Nevertheless, systematizing 80–100 patients
a day to receive several different integratives alongside
meetings, groups, and meals is a bit of delicate work.
Complicating this issue is that not all integratives are
created equally: Some require more sessions than others,
and biofeedback tends to be one of those therapies. The span
of biofeedback’s efficacy can range anywhere from six
sessions for heart rate variability (HRV) training (Lehrer,
Vaschillo, & Vaschillo, 2000) to 20 or more sessions for
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) neurofeedback
(Kirk, 2007). Furthermore, we do not always meet our
patients during their first week of treatment, which could
pose a problem to implementing conventional protocols.
So how do you offer a sustainable program that reaches
all patients, integrates well with other integratives, and
significantly contributes to patient overall recovery? You do
so by integrating the integrative: by creating a program
capable of flexing protocols that are concentrated, syner