How It Works

What Is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a form of therapy that regulates brainwave patterns by reinforcing healthy brain function. We use positive stimuli such as pleasant feedback tones and screen fading to “reward” optimal brain activity and gradually eliminate dysregulation.

Neurofeedback is essentially a training in self-regulation. Through it, we reward the brain for changing its own activity to more appropriate patterns. This is a learning process that applies to any aspect of brain function that we can measure, with applicability over a wide range of situations.

Conditions We Treat

Anxiety

Depression

ADHD

Sleep

Trauma/PTSD

Peak Performance

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Our Process

1

Brain Mapping

Brain mapping, also known as QEEG, allows us to look at your brainwave activity at 19 distinct locations. Each brain has a unique “electrical fingerprint” that we call a Brain Map. We compare your brain map to a database of many other brains. From years of extensive research, we know the biomarkers or common traits of many disorders. For example, children with ADHD all have excessive slow-wave activity in the front of their brains.

Brain mapping will identify the irregular activity in your brain that is causing you to seek treatment. By seeing which areas have abnormal activity, we are able to develop a custom training protocol that is unique to your circumstances and goals.

We perform brain maps in the morning on location. The process takes about an hour to complete. A tech will place a cap with 19 sensors on your head. We will then measure the activity with both your eyes open and closed while the sensors capture the brain activity. The data will then be processed through our database to produce your Brain Map.

2

Consultation

Each patient attends a 1-hour consultation at our Chattanooga or Brentwood office where our neurotherapist reads their brain map. As part of the consultation, the EEG results are simplified, revealing the brain activity. Combining the symptoms each patient experiences and the brain map results, a customized training plan is created. This includes what areas of the brain will be trained with neurofeedback, the recommended amount of sessions, and any other health or dietary suggestions that combine to make the process most effective.

3

Neurofeedback Therapy

Neurofeedback trains the brain to operate at an optimal or beneficial level through operant conditioning. During 30-minute sessions, clients either watch a TV show with their eyes open or listen to calming music with their eyes closed. When the brain activity in the specific training locations reaches the desired range, the client is rewarded with a pleasant tone and, in the case of eyes-open training, a brighter screen. The tone and screen brightness are the “feedback” in neurofeedback. Your brain desires to hear the tones or see a brighter screen, and the process of self-training is underway. With each tone, your brain further trains itself to operate at the more desirable range. With 40-60 sessions of neurofeedback training, your brain will have rewired itself to naturally function at the desired level, which normally leads to a significant reduction or complete elimination of symptoms.

Neurofeedback (NFB) heals the brain. Psychotherapy heals the mind. Together, neurofeedback and psychotherapy can create lasting change and recovery. Neurofeedback improves brain function so you can better engage in a variety of life circumstances, and make more conscious, healthy decisions for yourself.

Most clients come 2-3 times per week for neurofeedback training. Each session is scheduled for 30 minutes. Some clients participate in intensives coming for multiple sessions per day for a period of 1 week.
Typically, a full course of neurofeedback therapy consists of minimum 40 sessions, at minimum 2 sessions per week.

4

Follow Up

We prioritize client care and outcomes above all else. Once you have completed 20 sessions of neurofeedback, we highly recommend a follow-up brain mapping session, which is included in our package. The second brain map shows quantifiable changes in the activity that have resulted from the neurofeedback training. Although training frequency may change after the second map, we generally recommend 40-60 sessions of consistent neurofeedback in order for the brain to hold lasting change.

FAQ

Simply put, an unregulated brain tends to be over-stimulated when it is supposed to be calm and under-stimulated when it is supposed to be attentive. Sometimes, the brain self-corrects. When it doesn’t, this dysregulation becomes “the new normal”. By harnessing the brain’s built-in ability to change itself, we are able to re-train the brain to function optimally, the way it was designed. When your brain is better regulated, you have more agency to change behaviors and thoughts. In neurofeedback training, we work in conjunction with other treatments like talk therapy, speech therapy, and medical care.

We use state-of-the-art sensors that are placed directly onto the scalp to measure the electrical frequencies that your brain outputs (alpha, beta, delta, and theta waves). This information is fed into a computer that analyzes your baseline output. As the software analyzes your brain waves, you are rewarded with tones and screen fading to encourage your brain to continue producing healthy, regulated waves.

Not at all! It is very relaxing and comfortable. Clients generally look forward to their sessions.

No. The only known side effects may result from prescribed drugs you are taking when dosage is not reduced as the sessions progress.

On average, most people require 10-15 sessions to experience symptom changes.

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Get in touch with us to book your first appointment and learn more about neurofeedback results and benefits.

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