How is Neurofeedback Being Used Clinically?

Migraines, Headaches and Chronic Pain

Thearapists and MDs report that the frequency and intensity of migraines are often reduced- and sometimes eliminated. It appears the increased brain stability reduces the brain’s susceptibility to migraines. Clinicians report that improvements tend to holds, and medications can often be reduced. Chronic pain improvements (how the brain manages pain) are often significant, even in the most sever pain syndromes such as RSD.

• Sleep Dysregulation

One of the first changes clients typically report with Neurofeedback training is sleep. Changes often include improvement in insomnia, bruxism, poor sleep quality, difficulty waking, frequent waking, and nightmares.

• Autism, PDD, and Reactive Attachment Disorder

Autism, PDD, and RAD are the fastest growing areas of Neurofeedback. The calming effects of Nuerofeedback produce noticeable results quickly in these severely affected populations.

• Substance Abuse

In a study soon to be published, Neurofeedback was compared with a 12 step program. The population was a crack, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroine users. Sustained abstinence was 5 times greater with the group that got Neurofeedback taining. This confirms previous published studies with equal results for alcoholics. Substance abuse is an obvious form of poor self-regulation, and self-medication. 50% of this population is ADD/ADHD, many have mood or sleep disorders.

• Epilepsy

Multiple peer-reviewed studies show a reduction in seizures that are non-responsive to medications- and that the training effect holds. An MD recently reported on a 7 year old patient experiencing up to 100 seizures a day. He was uncontrolled on medication, under supervision by Boston Children’s Hospital. With extensive Neurofeedback, he is now seizure free and off most medications.

Neurofeedback is not a treatment that “fixes” these problems. All of these problems at least in part relate to some type of brain dysregulation. Particularly since the 1990s, neuroscience has identified “brain problems”- departures from a normal population that can be seen in a qEEG, SPECT scan, or other types of brain map. EEG training helps improve brain regulation, which usually helps reduce symptoms related to brain dysregulation.