Re: Biofeedback/Neurofeedback

[Anonymous]

I note that this is a small business with a plan that advises you to spend 60-70 sessions with them

over 6 months or so. Obviously there’s a lot of money to be made and I’ll bet even money you’re not

going to get support from any health insurance plan for this essentially homebrew approach.

This solo doctor (It’s a one-woman show over there) may claim that a lot of research supports “NFB”

claims, but even she can only point to a very short list of papers published over the past thirty years,

some of which are only peripherally related to her assertion that “NFB” is an effective treatment.

Any course of training, gadgets or not, is going to help you after several months of continuous effort

because the whole idea behind all of them is to train up in skills to compensate for ADD symptoms.

Play with that kind of thing if you want, because any training will help, but don’t expect that the extra

gadgetry will put you ahead of the other types of training and don’t expect it to be cheap.

Above all, don’t consider it a substitute for proper care by a trained and qualified psychiatrist who has

both the training and authority to prescribe and maintain a proper course of medical treatment.

 

 

I’m sure this Dr. Thompson would agree and hedge her bets against making strong claims in favour

of “NFB” over properly managed psychiatric care. She is not technically qualified to carry out the same

level of treatment even though she is a psychologist, has specialized in EEG tech and has worked up

a training program that can possibly compete with coaching. Though she hasn’t posted the usual

“we are not making medical claims” disclaimers on her website and surely knows better than to steer

people away from the psychiatric profession, I have no doubt that the fine print on her contracts will

clearly define her legal and medical limitations and protect her company and employees from most

possible avenues of litigation and professional consequences which may arise.

 

 

As I keep saying about it whenever asked, neurofeedback and biofeedback is a gimmick that can

help with personal training but it doesn’t have a clear advantage over lifeskills training and coaching

options, it cannot serve as a substitute for those options [unless it incorporates them as part of the plan]

and there is no way it will ever be as effective as good and properly applied medication.

The actual costs of using EEG sensors has dropped to the deck with the availability of inexpensive USB

appliances and software for personal computers so I always suggest that you test drive it for yourself

before plopping down the big bucks. The neurofeedback business may look impressive as presented to

prospective customers but most of the fancy terminology and formalized procedures are merely well-

polished handwaving over what is actually extremely simple technology to help one monitor the results

as one carries out simple mental exercises of pretty much any kind involving concentration and relaxation.

With a laptop and a minimal amount of expense and effort you could easily do all that for yourself and

incorporate any kind of mental activity or training course as the active part of your program. Make it portable

enough and you could even take it to a level beyond the commercial approach, such as getting to a black

belt level in a martial arts course in the same amount of time. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to hear

that an kit for just that sort of active training becomes available for PDAs or more advanced cell phones.

 

 

It’s all about getting improved control over your own mind. Feedback can help but it’s not worth the money

such a business asks for and it’s unlikely your health insurance would pay for it. It’s better for your health

and budget to take courses that give you useful skills and add feedback on by yourself to help you focus.

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