Below are two EEG screens. While you are training, watching the EEG and its behavior can help give you clues whether the client is learning or responding to the training. Change from the existing pattern is usually an indicator that real training is occurring. In the case below, there were changes in the EEG. They were somewhat subtle. As they changed, the person’s migraine subsided.

The learning doesn’t tell you whether you are training the right frequency, the right site, etc. There are multiple factors that determine what to train, and even multiple approaches. The factors include clinical experience and judgment, client profiles based on intake, and potentially much more. But if you’re doing the right training for someone’s brain, it can help tell you if the brain is learning from it.

Some very good therapists pay relatively little attention to the EEG itself and get good results. As most clinicians gain experience, they do utilize information from the EEG behavior to provide clues about the client’s state or response to training. That being said, the really good clinicians – even before they understand the EEG, tune in to the client and their response to the training rather than watching the EEG. There are differences in style and in approach regarding this issue. In a very good EEG display, even therapists who don’t “understand” the EEG are often able to sense the changes occurring but may not be able to describe them.

Example 2

EEG screen once the migraine had subsided.