What do health professionals say neurofeedback does for their clients?
An informal survey of several hundred clinicians (psychologists, MD's, therapists, etc) who use this therapy report three common findings:
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Neurofeedback is helpful for a large percentage of mood disorders (depression), anxiety disorders, affect regulation, impulsivity and ADD/ADHD. There were many other CNS related symptoms mentioned also, but these were the most common.
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Training combines well with psychotherapy and medications. Professionally, everyone acknowledges their patients/client get better faster, and they see more progress than with psychotherapy and/or medications alone.
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Medications are often reduced. We've done surveys with over 150 licensed clinicians who use neurofeedback with patients. All of them report that from 50 to 70% of clients end up reducing their meds (under medical supervision) after sufficient training. Most note it is not their goal to reduce medications, but to simply stabilize and improve the client. In professionals conferences, reports of reduced meds are widely discussed in many presentations.
Here are other commonly heard comments.
- From psychiatrists: It's very helpful for patients who aren’t responding well to medications.
- From psychotherapists: "it makes me a better therapist. . . ” They explain that when the client is more stable, or more calm, not as anxious, or just more present - it’s much easier to do therapy. It accelerates the process. They also report it "helps with therapist burnout." (there's only so much talk therapy one can do)
- From neuropsychologists: When combined with cognitive rehabilitation, the amount of recovery and functional improvement with TBI (traumatic brain injury) and acquired brain injury is much greater than with any traditional tools.
- From professionals who work with ADD: There's only so much talking you do with a lot of ADD kids - not to mention many of these kids are just out of control. . I needed a different way to reach them. This calms them down. It makes much more sense to train their brain directly. More and more parents want something other than meds that works.
What do clients often say about neurofeedback?
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