Some people wonder whether neurofeedback can ever make anyone feel worse and whether it has any side effects.
It is important to remember that the neurofeedback I use (NeurOptimal) does not put anything into the brain. That is, it is totally naturopathic. The device merely measures the electricity already coming from the scalp. Therefore it doesn’t have any side effects in the same way that medication has side effects, because medication is introducing a new chemical into the system. Neurofeedback does not introduce anything new into the brain.
I work frequently with mothers and babies who have experienced birth trauma. Sometimes after a particularly traumatic birth, a baby can fail to thrive or meet his/her milestones. Neurofeedback heals and calms the baby’s nervous system so he/she can begin to flourish. Naturally we could not use anything dangerous on a newborn, so you can be sure that neurofeedback is totally safe.
More often than not people feel calmer after a neurofeedback session. Nevertheless, about 5 per cent of my clients actually report feeling worse in the first few sessions. I particularly find this in cases of clients who have such severe anxiety that it is significantly impacting their ability to function and be out in the world.
Does that make these clients a poor fit for neurofeedback? Not at all. In fact, neurofeedback is one of the most successful therapeutic interventions in existence for severe anxiety. The way neurofeedback works is to re-orient the mind back into the present moment, because only in the present moment can we become aware that there is usually no immediate danger (we are rarely being chased by a tiger) and we can let go of our worry. Habitual worry means the brain is stuck in the future — worrying about what could go wrong. Ruminating on past hurts is also an unhealthy state for the brain to get stuck in. Both worry and rumination elicit unhealthy electrical frequencies. Today psychologists know that training the brain to be in the present moment is the healthiest state for the brain - that’s why everyone is teaching mindfulness these days.
But training the brain to be in the present moment also means that those with especially severe anxiety may temporarily feel a little worse at the start of their neurofeedback training. Because if the brain is becoming more present, the person may also be becoming more aware of how uncomfortable their anxiety feels. The neurofeedback is not increasing their anxiety — they are just a little more present to the discomfort in their body now, so they feel worse.
In the minority of clients who have experienced this paradox, I have assured them if they can get over this initial discomfort for the first three or four sessions, their brain will relax a little bit thereafter and they will slowly start feeling calmer after that. That is, it usually takes just a few sessions for this initial discomfort to go.
So if this happens to you (remember only about 5 percent of my clients will feel worse at the start of their treatment) rest assured that if you can get through the first 3 or 4 sessions, your anxiety should slowly start to decrease after that.