Neurofeedback (NFB) is training for the brain.   From childhood on, our brain develops automatic patterns of response to adapt to our environment.  Unfortunately, the response that might have made sense when we were 8 years old doesn't necessarily make sense at 21, 35, 47, 60.  NFB invites the brain to become more flexible and resilient, to respond more efficiently and appropriately to life's variety of experiences.

NFB is used with positive results for many different issues - depression, anxiety, PTSD, addictions, ADHD, insomnia, optimal functioning/peak performance and more.  For information on the many conditions that NFB helps, please click here.  To have a look at the research, click here for a full list or here for a pared down list of 50 important papers.

How Does It Work?

Medications, like anti-depressants for example, work with the brain's chemistry.  Neurofeedback, on the other hand, works with the brain's electricity.  The brain sends and processes information and decisions by making electrical connections between neurons.  NFB machines are capable of detecting these electrical changes by simply placing some sensors on the head, much like ECG sensors pick up the electrical changes of the heart.  And just like an ECG is not doing anything to your heart, NFB sensors are not doing anything to your brain; they are just reading the electrical charge your brain is emitting.

To “train” the brain, a computer is connected to the NFB machine and monitors the brainwaves that the sensors detect. It plays a video or some music if the brain is producing the new pattern, and stops the video or music when its not producing it.  That is the only feedback the brain receives.   Our brain finds the stopping irritating, so tries to see if it can do anything to make the music or video play. Our brains are incredibly amazing and they figure this out really quickly.  So within a couple of minutes, the brain starts making more of the new pattern! 

If the person responds well as a result of this new pattern - if they feel calmer, more alert, less depressed - then we continue to train it. And once the brain has had sufficient training, it will continue to be able to access this new pattern on its own, without any more NFB input. We have a more flexible, stable and happy brain!

The Assessment

For the assessment, I put a few sensors on your head that can read the electrical current your brain produces.  I will ask you to close your eyes, or open your eyes, I will move the sensors around to see what different part of your brain are doing, and then you are done.  The actual assessment only takes a few minutes; it will take longer for me to keep moving the sensors around on your head than to do the actual assessment!

I will combine the information I get from this with information you tell me, to come up with a "training" plan for your brain.  Together we will have identified issues you would like to address, and the brain assessment will tell us how the brain may be stuck, or imbalanced, and how we can help guide it to find a more flexible, balanced way of operating.

Training Sessions

When you come for your first training session, I will again put sensors on your head to monitor your brain waves. The computer will then stop and start the video or music to give the brain the info it needs to change its habitual electrical pattern. You do not have to try to make that happen. All you do is look at a computer screen, or, if it is training that requires your eyes to be closed, you just listen to music.

The assessment gives us a starting place, but because every brain is unique, our first job in training is to take the assessment info and narrow in on the particular brain waves that your brain responds well to. After that, we continue to train until we reach the desired level of change. And once we have that, we train a bit more, to ensure that the brain has taken the new pattern on as “new normal”.

People usually begin to feel positive effects within the first 1-5 sessions, and typically may need between 20-80 sessions for lasting change.