Which professionals use Neurofeedback?
It's estimated between 2500 to 3500 health professionals now use EEG Neurofeedback. The majority are licensed psychologists, neuropsychologists, therapists, marriage and family counselors, and social workers. There are a growing number of psychiatrists and MD’s, licensed nurses, and other professionals. Some hire technicians to run the sessions which they supervise to help serve more people. Most do neurofeedback in addition to other therapies.
Most of the clinicians in the US using neurofeedback are in private practice. A number are associated with universities. Several professional organizations have been created around the world to support increased professional education for this emerging modality.
For the last four years, a group of psychologists and psychiatrists have presented a workshop on neurofeedback at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting. It's been very well received there. In May 2006 in Toronto, a group of four psychiatrists and two psychologists will be presenting a workshop and a symposium at the next annual APA meeting.
So far, there has been little institutional involvement for neurofeedback in the US. That means few schools, and very few hospitals, psychiatric units, large mental health centers incorporate this modality. There are no large neurology or pediatric practices using it that we are aware of. NOTE: There are a number of major mental health and addiction programs in Mexico.
The use in schools is a whole story in itself. (click here for more).
Here's our speculation about institutions, based on observation over many years. It's not so complicated.
1) Committees
It's easy for individual clinicians to decide on their own. In a larger institution, there's always a committee. All it takes is one committee member who says - I don't think there's enough research, and then everything stops. Regardless of whether it works. Neurofeedback works well.
We've addressed those issues and research questions elsewhere in the FAQ. There's plenty of research to try neurofeedback. But getting a committee to read it all and have a balanced response to it is another question. Professionals who dig into the field, the research, the neuroscience, largely become supportive. It's the education that takes time. It's the education of a committee that would create the opportunities in institutions.
The reason there are a number of institutions in Mexico using neurofeedback successfully? One therapist, Michael Hoffman, had high level contacts at some major addiction centers through his work with the US Government. After learning neurofeedback, he spent significant time doing educational seminars at one of the largest centers in Mexico. Once the first group understood it, they supported it for addictions. It's been so successful, that it's now spread to many of the top centers in Mexico. It's been adopted for use in depression, anxiety and other major psychiatric disorders. But it started with education.
Following that lead, a major addiction center in the US allowed onsite in-service training for staff, supported by their Medical Director. They have now started the first major US program for addictions using neurofeedback. We think this will lead to significant growth as other US institutions watch.
2) Lack of Marketing
There is no company targeting institutions or larger practices to adopt neurofeedback. It's takes a major effort to get ANYTHING approved by institutional or large practice committees. Companies who succeed have large marketing forces and spend a lot to educate key members of committees. Because neurofeedback is non-proprietary technology, there's no company that has funding to provide a targeted marketing effort.
3) Lack of MD support.
Frankly, those most attracted to neurofeedback are psychologists, LCSW's and other mental health providers. In institutions, it's MD's who rule the roost. They help drive treatment decisions. They have not been targeted by any neurofeedback organization and most simply don't know of it's impact. Decisions for the centers in Mexico and the addiction center in the US all were driven the medical directors.
4) Funding is everything. Neurofeedback is not a big money maker - at least it can take 2-3 years before it would make significant money. There are always questions about reimbursement and the financial model. In today's world, spending money on something that only helps patients - but doesn't make any significant contribution to the bottom line is hard for many institutions.
How is Neurofeedback being used clinically? next question
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