The NeurOptimal® feedback loop

Neurofeedback has been around for decades. If you haven't heard of it before, that has little to do with its efficacy and more to do with the finances of healthcare systems. Treating brain chemistry with pills is both economic and profitable. Treating or training the electrical impulses in our brains (the domain of neurofeedback) is costly, labour-intensive and hence overlooked in healthcare. NeurOptimal® was launched in 2000 and is now in its third version. If you're new to neurofeedback and NeurOptimal®, I encourage you to research the system via the official website. The 'Research' section of the site can provide further information on how the system has been used to address the condition you may be dealing with (or related conditions). There are also many videos online, including interviews with the developers, explaining the system at length. If you still have any questions that aren't answered below or during your own research, please drop me a line.

NeurOptimal® is approved as a training device not a treatment device. This means it can be used by anybody to enhance brain and nervous system function. While the system is often used by people diagnosed with serious conditions affecting the brain and nervous system, the developers describe it as 'diagnostically agnostic', meaning that it functions according to the same principles whatever the user's condition. I would never diagnose you and neither does NeurOptimal®. The system is designed to promote self-regulation of the brain regardless of your situation or any labels you may be been given by other professionals.

'Self-organisation', the principle that order can emerge from chaos, is found in many scientific fields. Carl Rogers, the originator of person-centred therapy and the social sciences, referred to the ‘actualising tendency’, observing that all living beings in their rightful environment will naturally trend towards being healthy examples of their species. Self-organisation in living beings is exercised by means of ‘orienting’, the ongoing response of a being’s nervous system to its environment. As human beings, we’ve separated ourselves from our natural environment in every way, interfering with the orienting response and the actualising tendency which, as Rogers observed, inevitably leads to distress. NeurOptimal® trains our brain's orienting response, allowing our central nervous system to rediscover its innate ability to self-organise.

In a word, no. NeurOptimal® does not intervene in the body; it simply reflects the activity of our central nervous system back at itself in order to promote self-organisation. This means there are no conditions that are fundamentally contra-indicated with the system.

While every central nervous system is different, the benefits of brain training might include promoting healthy sleep and relaxation, enhancing calmness and confidence, changing our perception of personal issues and contributing to overall wellbeing and personal development.

For those using NeurOptimal® for peak performance, additional benefits can include enhancing learning capacity and the ability to follow instructions, improving focus and alertness, assisting with problem-solving or multi-tasking and aiding pattern recognition and hand-eye co-ordination.

Of course, many of these potential benefits are also relevant for people who are, or might be, diagnosed with serious learning, cognitive or neurological issues or those dealing with issues such as trauma or chronic pain or fatigue.

Other systems (referred to as QEEG or linear neurofeedback) involve a professional scanning your brain, comparing the data from your brain to 'normative' data', then devising a treatment protocol to treat the 'problematic' parts of your brain with frequencies to 'correct' your brain activity from where it is now to where this professional determines it needs to be. Not only is this method open to subjective error, it also fails to respect the fundamental nature of the brain. NeurOptimal® respects the fact that our brain is a three-dimensional organ that cannot be reduced to two-dimensional graphs or treatment. Moreover, it incorporates the fourth dimension of time. Our brain activity, and hence our internal experience, is not a snapshot; it's an ever-unfolding, dynamic process. NeurOptimal® both respects the nature of our brain and entrusts it with the ability to choose the best way forward. Furthermore, it respects the fact that, not only does the brain constantly change, but that it becomes changed as it changes during training. Hence, NeurOptimal® is referred to as four-dimensional or Dynamical Neurofeedback®.

A NeurOptimal® brain training session lasts 33 minutes plus a few minutes either side for attaching and removing sensors. Preparation is straightforward, with only five sensors to apply before commencing a session. If it's your first in-person session, we'll also run through a few other things beforehand, such as the 'Tracking Tools' you can use in between sessions to notice the 'shifts' produced by your training.

Since NeurOptimal® is the non-diagnostic approach to neurofeedback, clients are encouraged to determine for themselves when they have had sufficient sessions to meet their needs for the time being. Becoming more attuned to our bodies' responses and needs is an essential part of the training. However, since the system is a training device, rather than a treatment device, it works on a cumulative basis, which means regular training is encouraged to experience noticeable changes. For those having one-to-one sessions, this might look like having two sessions a week for a meaningful period but there are no hard and fast rules. Those renting a system can have two sessions a day (recommended maximum) every day if it fits their schedule.

No, you can simply sit back and allow the system to do its work. Your brain is working too, of course, but there's nothing for you to do proactively. You can watch the visuals provided by the software, read a book or even close your eyes and have a nap.

The Checklist and Tracker sheets provided with rental systems are designed to assist users in noticing changes, referred to as 'shifts', between sessions as a result of the training. The old adage that 'you get out what you put in' applies here. Noticing shifts and committing them to paper can help to bring awareness to the changes occurring, solidifying them in the brain, improving engagement with the training process and ensuring regular usage of the system. So I encourage you to use these tools between sessions.

Yes, I'll be on hand to help you get started with the system and to check in with you throughout the month. This includes technical support as well as any other questions you have about the process.

Yes, Clients often rent a NeurOptimal® system for use with more than one person, such as a whole family. My systems come with an unlimited number of sessions available so it's absolutely possible to share the costs of a monthly rental with others.