Neurofeedback

Neurotherapy

I am a licensed healthcare practitioner trained as a therapist and neurofeedback provider in order to optimize the healing potential you can achieve for your mental health and wellbeing. Talk therapy provides a space to connect and heal through a safe professional relationship, gain insight into patterns of thoughts/behaviours, and to feel through stuck emotions. As the therapeutic field has included more training from a neuroscience perspective of the mind-body connection and mental wellbeing, more therapists are pursuing training in neurotherapy to be able to provide healing on a physiological level by providing the opportunity for your brain to make new neural connections.

Neurofeedback - Frequently Asked Questions

What is LENS neurofeedback?

Neuroscientists believe that the brain’s defenses against stressors and trauma can create a “neural gridlock.” LENS works around these blockages. Addressing the brain in its own electromagnetic language, LENS allows the brain to “reboot,” restoring optimal functioning.

Neurofeedback is non-invasive, painless, and FDA-approved.

The LENS method was developed in the early 1990s by Dr. Len Ochs, PhD, a California psychologist specializing in neuropathways. It was crafted as an alternative to medication and is frequently used alongside psychotherapy. It was designed as an alternative to traditional neurofeedback where a typical session would involve 30 minutes of active participation by the client, and for some folks with attention limitations or physical limitations it was not possible to sit and participate for that long. The LENS is specifically designed for shorter duration without compromising impact of the treatment.

Still unsure what you're reading about? It may be helpful to know that the brain is a system of electrical activity, and a monitor allows us to see how your brain is functioning by monitoring the dominant electrical frequency of your brain waves in the moment. Neurofeedback utilizes the science of biofeedback to adjust the nervous system response to its environment.

During a neurofeedback session, you are connected to a system that not only monitors your brain's electrical waves but also uses computer protocols to influence the brain’s functioning to help it optimize toward healthier patterns. Each client’s EEG signals (brain waves) are unique to them and constantly changing. The LENS measures these ever-changing signals of the client and matches the feedback to the client’s own physiological (neurological) fingerprint.

With LENS (low-energy neurofeedback system) the machine will read your brain waves and then send a low energy electrical signal back to the scalp to stimulate the brain to reset itself in order to disrupt unhelpful patterns of activity. (The electrical signal emitted from the sensors that your therapist attaches to your head and earlobes are less powerful than the electrical signals coming from your smart watch or your cellphone, to give you an idea). The feedback duration, on average, is a few seconds to several minutes, that's all it takes.

What does neurofeedback help with?

ADD/ADHD
OCD
Addiction
Anxiety
Depression
Head Injury
Panic Attacks
Post-Partum Depression
Sleep issues
Sensory Processing Difficulties
Trauma/Post Traumatic Stress

Overall it helps the brain regulate more efficiently which by proxy helps with focus/attention, improvements in mood, improvement in hypervigilant responses to your environment (ie. more tolerance for sudden loud noises without a strong startle response), decreasing rumination, it can lessen the frequency and intensity of panic attacks, and improve sleep.

For clients who have experienced prolonged incidences of trauma, it can help to do neurofeedback before talk therapy (or in conjunction with talk therapy) because neurofeedback promotes nervous system regulation and for many traumatized folks being in therapy is inherently dysregulating (dread, panic, fear, numbness) as you put yourself in a place to connect with a stranger when you have a history of being hurt by people. It can help soothe your body responses to the therapy environment so that it is easier/safer to connect and heal from your past.

What happens during a LENS neurofeedback session?

You will lay back in a chair in my office, I will place a conductive gel on your ear lobes (or you may put it on yourself if you prefer not to have your ears touched) and then I will attach grounding clips to each ear, I will place conductive paste on two small areas of your scalp and attach a sensor to each site, I will run a test on the computer to make sure the sensors are connected and ready to go, I will check in with you and then count down from 3 before pressing the button to begin the process of the system monitoring your active electrical activity in the brain and creating intermittent brief seconds of feedback, your only task will be to have your eyes closed or a soft gaze at the floor or your lap.

A 30 minute session entails time to follow up after your previous session, discuss any changes noticed by you, time to connect you to the sensors and the LENS system, run the program best fit to you, check in on any sensation experienced during the session, disconnecting you from the system, and booking you in for your next appointment.

How is LENS different than traditional neurofeedback?

There is traditional neurofeedback which is an active form of neurofeedback – active meaning you are given tasks to do during the sessions such as “watch X on screen” or “listen to X” as the system monitors your brain waves and feedbacks the appropriate electrical signal. With the LENS, the client doesn’t need to “do” anything, and there is nothing to learn. The LENS is a specific kind of neurofeedback that operates much more rapidly than traditional neurofeedback and has qualities that make it easier to use with people who are unable to sit still or actively participate.

How many sessions is typical when doing LENS neurofeedback, and how long is an appointment?

The LENS time frame for success is shorter than other forms of neurofeedback with the number of sessions ranging from 9 to an overall average number of 11 sessions when seen on a weekly basis.
When coming in biweekly the average number of sessions is 15-20 to see the changes stabilize.
The ideal treatment plan is coming in twice a week for the first 5-6 sessions and then coming in weekly for the next 5-6. We may decide to stop there, or recommend less frequent visits to help maintain the new functioning, coming in either every two weeks, once a month, or a couple times a year as needed.

The first session is 50 minutes which includes assessment and your first LENS application,
and all follow-up appointments are 20 minutes which includes time to debrief the days following the last appointment and then a LENS application.

LENS seems pricey, why does it cost more than talk therapy?

There is more time outside of the session put towards preparation for your LENS session, which the 20 minute session covers the cost of that time towards your care. This includes attending seminars where I can ask questions to other LENS trainers, research, phone calls to Ochs Lab directly to have help with treatment planning, analyzing the data from the LENS program to determine the next course of action, and the ongoing purchase of equipment required to provide the service.