AboutNeurofeedback

Sam Roura, MD, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (also practices Adult Psychiatry)

Interview by Michael Cohen  

(click on any question to hear the response)

1) You've prescribed medications for many years.  Why bother adding neurofeedback? 

      He was pushed by his patients.  Many south Miami mothers didn't want medications for their children.
                       

2) How did you get introduced to it?
                      

3) You works with difficult kids and adolescents.   For kids who don't respond well to medications, does neurofeedback help? 

     "The difference this has made in their life. . ."
                          

4) You describe some of the progress with neurofeedback.  Don't you get similar changes with medications?
                                 

5) Do you ever get relapse of patients after doing neurofeedback? Do parents ever get mad at you because you've put someone on neurofeedback (as they do with meds)?

Would stabilization for this schizophrenic patient ( described in 5) been difficult on medication by itself?                  

6) You have a lot of working clients.  How do they deal with the amount of time and cost neurofeedback takes?

7) Who does the neurofeedback?  You?  Staff?

8) You've mentioned using neurofeedback for Peak performance in golf, or for executives . . .  

9) What role do you think psychiatrists play in helping expand this new modality?

10)  What's the implications for the elderly?

11) Many good psychiatrists won't see Medicaid patients. You're one of the few that still do. How do you do that?

12) Psychiatry used to be a calling. Money has caused many people to get in medicine for the wrong reasons. Some are now leaving because the money's not there. . .

Very interesting comments about psychiatry and medicine. .

Sam Roura, MD is a highly respected psychiatrist in South Miami, with a very busy practice. He's recently spoken in front of the Florida state legislature in support of open access to medications (Florida is trying to restrict access). When you meet him, it's quickly obvious he cares deeply about his patients. 

Dr. Roura did his training at the Child and Adolescent psychiatry program at Miami. He was one the key presenters at the American Psychiatric Association workshop on Neurofeedback in 2005 and will present there in 2006.  He has taught at the university level.

Dr. Roura has been instrumental in the development and progress of Mental Health Agencies, Residential programs for Court appointed juvenile offenders, Drug Rehab Programs and Educational Institutions including private and federally funded programs.

His clinical experience includes psychiatric work at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in the State of Maine, evaluations in the Juvenile Detention Center and Level Six facilities in Miami-Dade County and clinical work at various area hospitals. Dr. Roura has taught at the undergraduate and graduate level at Interamerican University and at Miami Institute of Psychology. He is currently the Psychiatrist for the Florida International University.

He makes hospital rounds daily, often 7 days a week, and runs a full time private practice. We caught up with him on a Saturday afternoon right after he presented at a large meeting in Ft Lauderdale about mental health sponsored by NAMI. 

He sees a wide range of problems in his psychiatric practice and reports he now uses neurofeedback as an intervention with all of them who choose it, in conjunction with medications.  In the interview, he talks about his clinical success with neurofeedback, and the positive response from his patients.  He gives some examples with ADD, autism, and describes the results with a difficult schizophrenic patient.