What is Direct Neurofeedback?
Direct Neurofeedback is a drug-free, painless, and non-invasive therapeutic approach that utilizes real-time monitoring and gentle feedback to optimize brainwave patterns, promoting improved mental well-being with heightened focus, reduced anxiety, and overall cognitive balance.
Effortlessly paving the way to a healthier mind, this cutting-edge approach offers rapid results beyond traditional methods. By monitoring and guiding your brain’s electrical activity in real-time, our skilled practitioners use gentle feedback to encourage self-regulation, fostering improved emotional balance, stress reduction, and cognitive function.
Explore a groundbreaking path to mental well-being that is both science-backed and tailored to you.
Benefits of Direct Neurofeedback
Unlike traditional methods, Direct Neurofeedback operates swiftly and efficiently, promoting cognitive balance and offering a transformative journey toward mental health.
Here are some of the benefits you can expect after just a few sessions of Direct Neurofeedback:
- Calms racing thoughts
- Shifts Depression
- Eliminates Panic Attacks
- Overcomes Anxiety
- Lifts Brain Fog
- Increases Social Comfort
- Boosts Self Confidence
- Improves Sleep
- Increases Energy
- Resets the Nervous System
- Breaks Free from Stuck and Frozen Patterns
Unlock mental wellness with Direct Neurofeedback – contact us to schedule your sessions.
Direct Neurofeedback: Getting Started
In your first Direct Neurofeedback (DNF) appointment, individuals can expect an introductory discussion where the practitioner explains the process and assesses the individual’s concerns or goals. Electrodes are then placed on specific scalp locations to measure brainwave activity, and the practitioner provides imperceptible feedback in response to this activity.
The individual may or may not feel sensations during the feedback, which generally lasts 30 minutes to an hour. The practitioner observes responses, makes adjustments as needed, and discusses the session’s outcomes. Post-session effects vary, with some reporting increased relaxation or improved focus.
Get started by scheduling your first appointment today!
Frequently Asked Questions About Direct Neurofeedback
Your mental states are reflected in your brain’s electrical activity: what is known as your brain wave patterns.
Neuroscience has shown us that by changing our brain we can change our mind.
Anxiety, depression, dysfunctional thinking and trauma are associated with stuck patterns of either overactive, underactive or disturbed brain wave activity.
During a Direct Neurofeedback session, tiny sensors are applied to your scalp, behind your ears, and on the back of your neck. The sensors allow us to read the very delicate electrical activity of your brain, in the same way that an EKG reads your heart.
Very weak, imperceptible, electromagnetic signals, specific for you, are sent to your brain. These signals (that are 1000 times weaker than simply holding a AA battery against your forehead) cause a slight fluctuation in your brainwaves that disrupts frozen, stuck patterns of the brain, and allows your brain to re-organize itself and re-establish healthy neural pathways.
This brief signal to the brain, that cannot be felt, does all the work. Although signals are very weak they produce changes in brainwave activity by allowing the brain to relax and reorganize itself towards greater self-regulation with initial results as early as the first session.
With immediate results, fewer and shorter sessions, as well as ease and simplicity, Direct Neurofeedback is an easy choice with tremendous benefits!
The brain is like your body, it can be trained to be stronger, more efficient and have greater stamina. All of which makes you more resilient.
Direct Neurofeedback helps your brain in four major ways.
Research indicates that anxiety, trauma, depression and concussions are frequently associated with stuck patterns of overactive, underactive or disturbed brain wave activity, usually in the part of the brain associated with the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response.
Direct Neurofeedback stimulates the brain to promote healing, and enhance overall performance in 4 ways.
- First through gently unblocking neuropathways that are ‘stuck’ or ‘frozen’ as a result of overwhelming traumas or fears.
- By reducing the activity in the ‘sympathetic’ part of the nervous system, associated with the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response.
- By enhancing the response of the ‘parasympathetic’ system, responsible for the calming effect resulting in relaxation, which can then allow the mind/body to heal itself.
- And finally it increases overall normal brain functioning.
Although the conditions treated with HPN may have very different causes, they all have the same common denominator: they are stuck in dysfunctional patterns. Direct Neurofeedback disrupts these patterns, regardless of their origin, and allows the brain to return to it’s previous optimal functioning and/or create new healthy pathways. This is supported by the recent findings in neuroscience on “neuroplasticity”.
Unlike traditional forms of Neurofeedback that would treat one specific area of the brain, Direct Neurofeedback aims to restore the overall functioning of the brain.
People with anxiety, depression or trauma tend to have either an over-active or under-active nervous system, which is often experienced as hyper vigilance (being on guard at all times), intrusive thoughts or memories, insomnia, abrupt mood swings, hyperactivity, difficulty concentrating, lack of energy and more.
This means that the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response is overactive, creating hyper or hypo arousal of the nervous system. Some people talk about feeling always “ON”.
Direct Neurofeedback works directly on reducing the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response, to allow the brain and body to relax and the nervous system to reset itself.
This improves resilience, increases calmness and restores the ability to better handle stress.
At the end of each session, you are likely to feel more relaxed, ‘lighter’, and yet energized.
After completing a full course of treatment these benefits become lasting and sessions are no longer needed.
AlthoughDirect Neurofeedback has been found to be effective in a wide application of symptoms we specialize in usingDirect Neurofeedback for:
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Depression
- Bipolar disorder
- PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
- Mood swings that seem hard to control
- Difficulty concentrating
- Low mental and emotional energy
- Problems with procrastination
- Insomnia and poor sleep
- Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD and ADHD)
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) – Concussions
- Tics
- Mental fogginess and lack of clarity
- Chronic pain
- Fybromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue
Recent scientific advances in brain neuroplasticity has helped us understand more specifically the impact of trauma on the brain and also what kind of therapies and interventions work best to treat trauma.
Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk, in his recent book “The body keeps the score” outlines the importance of body centered therapies and the effectiveness of neurofeedback.
You can hear Dr. Van DerKolk speak about the impact of trauma on the brain here:
YES! Children and teenagers respond more favorably and quickly to the treatment of Direct Neurofeedback. Helping younger ones to restore proper functioning of their brain while the brain is still developing is most important.
While everyone is different, it generally takes about 18- 20 sessions for effect of Direct Neurofeedback to become lasting. Clients frequently notice changes within the first session, often before getting out of the chair. Sometimes this improvement is dramatic. At first, improvement is temporary, lasting from a few hours to a few days. By the completion of the appropriate set of training sessions, improvement is expected not only to last, but to continue increasing slightly on its own over time.
Most people notice an initial change within 3 to 4 sessions, occasionally a little longer. The average number of sessions for most problems is 18 to 20. Once treatment has been completed, additional sessions are usually not necessary. Occasionally clients may like to get a “booster”.
It is recommended that people come twice a week for the first 10 to 12 sessions. Three times a week is also acceptable. After the initial 10 to 12 sessions it is usually suggested that we continue the treatment once a week.
Unlike traditional neurofeedback in which you actively regulate your brainwaves, Direct Neurofeedback does not require you to do anything. It is effortless. While the client sits in a chair, sensors are applied to the scalp by the clinician. The clinician determines what protocol would be best suited to the client. The computer then tracks the activity of your brain and based on the choice of the protocol, the computer program regulates what signals to feed back to your brain.
The sessions are completely painless and require no conscious effort on the part of the client. You may notice yourself become quite relaxed or even sleepy, and at the same time energized.
Family and friends often begin to notice shifts in your moods and/or behavior within the first 6 sessions.
There is not a single known reported case of someone being worse off for having usedDirect Neurofeedback or any type of neurofeedback, and no lawsuit for adverse effects of neurofeedback.
Direct Neurofeedback is 100% non-invasive, drug free and is extremely safe. Neurofeedback has been used by practitioners for over 30 years.
There are also no published reports demonstrating permanent negative effects from Neurofeedback.
The Direct Neurofeedback system is implemented using FDA approved and registered EEG processor/amplifier (510 k) hardware. It utilizesDirect Neurofeedback protocols (software, hardware & procedural sequences).
People will often notice effects shortly after a session or a few hours later.
Most of the time people will feel: calmer, more clarity, more energy, a sense of well being and possible decrease in pain.
Temporary side effects are not uncommon and include: feeling tired, wired (as in giddy or anxious), lightheaded, a slight headache, or at times nausea. These are always temporary and are actually a positive sign the your brain is responding to treatment.
These side effects are usually mild and typically last from minutes to hours and are always temporary. There is no need to be alarmed.
You may notice a temporary change in sleep and more vivid dreams.
You may have a temporary flare-up of those symptoms that were bothering you initially.
All these experiences are always temporary, and are a good sign that healing is occurring at a deep level.
Medication does not diminish the effectiveness of Direct Neurofeedback treatment. There is no need to stop or reduce your medication. We advise that you avoid making changes in your medications before beginningDirect Neurofeedback treatment. And only make changes with the help of your medical doctor.Direct Neurofeedback is not a substitute for medication, however it may reduce your symptoms to the point where you don’t feel the need for them.
Often the choice is not an either or. Many of the people who come to try Direct Neurofeedback have not found enough improvement in traditional talk therapy and have felt stuck. This is likely because the brain is frozen in rigid patterns.Direct Neurofeedback offers an effective strategy to help the brain get out of frozen, repetitive and inflexible patterns.
However, most clients usually find thatDirect Neurofeedback is a good adjunct to their counselling, especially if they are doing some form of ‘body centered therapy’, as many of the therapists practice at out clinic. ‘Body centered therapy’ incorporates awareness of the body and mindfulness skills in the treatment. The insights that arise out of therapy are better integrated and the tools and techniques offered are more easily implemented. Depending on affordability some people may choose to doDirect Neurofeedback and therapy concurrently, while others may do theDirect Neurofeedback for a while and then start or resume their counselling.
The 8 week workshop, provides a psycho-educational program that teaches you practical tools and skills to help your manage the distressing feelings and thoughts associated with anxiety and depression. This class contains information that cannot always be taught during a therapy session, since counseling is more focused on you and your story.
This workshop is again a great complement to therapy and often in itself with Direct Neurofeedback provides enough guidance and help to promote healing. It’s certainly a great place to start your healing.
We find that a combination of good educational support, effective therapy along with Direct Neurofeedback provides an integrated, mind/mind/soul approach to life’s difficulties.
Neurofeedback has been used and studied since the late 60’s. Direct Neurofeedback is a recent development in neurofeedback that provides more immediate results, in fewer and shorter sessions with a greater ease of treatment.
In traditional neurofeedback, the sensors placed on the scalp transmit brainwave activity to the computer, which the client and clinician can observe. Then the client works at trying to change his brainwaves by performing certain tasks, the results of which can be monitored in real time. This feedback provides the information to guide the client’s efforts at using his/her mind to train his/her brain. There are no electromagnetic signals sent to the brain in traditional neurofeedback. This approach usually takes about 30 sessions or more and sessions last 45 min. to an hour. In Direct Neurofeedback, there is no effort on the part of the client. Rather than training your brain, the computer generated short pulses act directly on the brain as a way of restoring it’s functionality.Direct Neurofeedback sessions last half an hour or less.
For a comprehensive list of studies on Neurofeedback click here:
