Good Healthcare Requires Treatment of Your Mind, Body, and Soul

How To Have A Successful Neurofeedback Therapy Session

21 October 2019 by Hugh Larson

Neurofeedback therapy was originally intended to help patients who are experiencing seizures. However, researchers have found that emotional problems and psychological disorders are often the result of parts of the brain that are misfiring. Neurofeedback therapy is one option when trying to correct these issues and there are many ways you can increase the odds that your neurofeedback therapy is successful. 

Understand What Neurofeedback Is

With neurofeedback, sensors are placed on the head and detect the power and frequency of the electrical signals in your brain. The neurofeedback process is designed to help you regulate your brain waves. For example, you may watch a movie while the therapist monitors brain activity and looks for abnormally slow or fast brain waves. The goal is to try to reduce brain waves that are associated with anxiety or arousal. 

Know What Neurofeedback Therapy Can Be Used For

Make sure that the condition that you are suffering from is one that can be treated using neurofeedback therapy. There are some conditions that are particularly susceptible to neurofeedback therapy, such as personality disorders, phobias, attention disorders, and PTSD. 

Don't Use Neurofeedback Therapy Alone

Use neurofeedback therapy as an alternative when you are trying several other treatment methods. For example, psychotherapy and medications should also be considered. If there are any natural treatments for your condition that you'd be interested in trying, such as acupuncture, you should give this a try as well. 

Don't Expect to Have Immediate Results

The goal of neurofeedback therapy is to slowly train your brain to reach a more pleasant state where you won't feel psychological discomfort. It will require time and repetition to achieve the results you want. Make sure to report back to the therapist any changes in your subjective experience. For example, you may have found in the past that it is harder to fall asleep and you'll want to report whether there are any changes in your sleep pattern.

Don't Assume That There's Only One Approach to Neurofeedback Therapy

Some methods of neurofeedback therapy involve you watching a video. There are other methods of therapy that are more similar to a game. For example, in one program, each frequency is represented graphically as a space ship. There is a target frequency that is represented as a blue space ship, a faster frequency represented as a yellow space ship, and a slower frequency represented as a purple space ship. When your brain reaches the correct frequency, the blue ship outpaces the others. This conditions the brain to naturally seek rewards.

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