DR. LAWRENCE RAY WEATHERS, PH.D
Social Work at Jamieson Rd, Spokane, WA

5725472, Mar 10, 1998

Dec 18, 1995

8/574196

Lawrence R. Weathers - Spokane WA

A61G 1000

600 21

A psychotherapy apparatus and method for inputting and shaping new emotional, physiological and cognitive response patterns in a patient includes an enclosure for isolating a patient from external stimuli, lights and earphones for respectively generating and presenting visual and auditory stimuli to the patient, an air flow delivery tube, an air flow fan for delivering a flow of air to the patient for inhalation by the patient, an electro-thermal heat pump coupled to the tube and fan being operable for controlling the temperature of the flow of air delivered to and inhaled by the patient to thereby control the temperature of the patient's hypothalamus, and a flow control valve between the heat pump and tube and being operable to control the proportion of heated and cooled air entering the tube. The apparatus also includes a computer-implemented expert system for developing a patient's treatment program and for coordinating and timing the occurrence of the visual and auditory stimuli and the controlling of the temperature of the flow of air delivered to and inhaled by the patient so as to operate the same in a desired predetermined coordinated fashion as determined by the patient's treatment program.

5219322, Jun 15, 1993

Jun 1, 1992

7/891696

Lawrence R. Weathers - Spokane WA

A61M 2100

600 27

A psychotherapy apparatus and method provides treating of an undesirable emotional arousal of a patient through coordinated and controlled presentation of visual and auditory stimuli to the patient. The operative steps of the psychotherapy apparatus and method include presenting visual stimuli observable by a stationarily-positioned patient at right and left extremes of the patient's range of lateral eye movement, alternately switching the visual stimuli laterally between the right and left extremes of the patient's range of lateral eye movement, presenting auditory stimuli to the patient's ears, alternately switching the auditory stimuli between the patient's ears synchronously with alternately switching of the visual stimuli between the right and left extremes of the patient's range of lateral eye movement, monitoring physiological responses of the patient to the visual and auditory stimuli, and, in response to such monitoring, controlling the presenting and switching of the visual and auditory stimuli so as to elict a mental imagery of a negative experience of the patient and to eliminate the undesirable emotional arousal evoked by the negative experience and to substitute a positive experience reinforcing a desired new behavior.