Neurofeedback Therapy
50-minutes, $150 investment
Flexibility is one of the brain's most important jobs. We need to be able to respond to a wide variety of situations in innumerable ways in order to function at our best. Problems such as anxiety, sleep disturbances, migraines, and traumatic responses often happen because our brain becomes stuck and unable to shift between states of fight-flight-freeze and rest-digest-befriend.
Neurofeedback is like yoga for enhancing your brain's flexibility! Through direct training of brain function, your brain learns to function more efficiently and improve self-regulation. It is completely painless (we do not apply any voltage to your brain!), and most people find that in addition to seeing changes over time, sessions are physiologically and emotionally soothing.
How is Neurofeedback done?
Sensors are attached to the scalp with EEG paste which then pick up brain wave activity. It is painless and does not involve the application of any voltage or current to the brain, so it is entirely non-invasive! A computer processes your brainwaves and then extracts certain information from the activity, sending this information back to you in an ebb and flow manner. For you, this looks like simply watching a meditative screen or even a television show. I will use this information to set rewards and frequencies that fit your brain the best, making the training unique and completely personal to you!
What does Neurofeedback help with?
Neurofeedback is especially useful for brain-based and stress-response problems. This includes sleep problems, anxiety, fatigue, teeth grinding, nightmares, migraines, and trauma responses. Because neurofeedback is brain-based, people who may find talk therapy unhelpful, overwhelming, or retraumatizing may find neurofeedback particularly helpful.
Here is a great resource for what the research says about the applications and mechanisms of neurofeedback.
What benefits can occur from Neurofeedback?
In my neurofeedback work, I find that most people experience an improvement in mood and emotional state regulation, a reduction in stress/ anxiety, and an improvement in sleep quality. When working specifically around emotional or physical trauma, many people report gaining a sense of control and acceptance, a reduction in flashbacks and triggers, and a lessening of the emotional intensity of the trauma. We are helping the brain integrate what has happened and make sense of it as part of your story (instead of defining everything about you).