Neurofeedback
Some struggles aren’t really about understanding. You already know what you should do; you just can’t make your brain do it. Anxiety that lives in your body before any thought arrives. Focus that slips out of your hands the moment you try to hold it. Sleep that refuses to come even when nothing is wrong. PTSD that bypasses every reasoned argument and floods the room.
These are nervous-system problems, not thinking problems. Neurofeedback is a way to train the nervous system directly.
How it works
You wear a light sensor cap that reads your brain’s electrical activity. A computer interprets what your brain is doing — when it’s regulated, when it’s drifting into the patterns associated with anxiety, sleeplessness, inattention, or hypervigilance. The computer shows you a screen (often a film, a game, or moving visuals). When your brain produces patterns associated with regulation, the screen responds smoothly. When it doesn’t, the screen falters.
Your brain learns. Not because you’re consciously trying — because the feedback loop is faster than thought. Over a series of sessions, the brain settles into the more regulated patterns more easily on its own.
What it’s effective for
Anxiety — especially anxiety that lives in the body more than the mind.
ADHD and focus problems — sustained attention, working memory, executive function.
Sleep difficulties — insomnia, frequent waking, non-restorative sleep.
PTSD and trauma — particularly for people who find that talk therapy hits a wall because the nervous system won’t settle long enough to do the work.
Emotional dysregulation — the bigness of feelings, the slow recovery after a small upset.
What a course of treatment looks like
Most clients do between 20 and 40 sessions. Sessions are 45 to 50 minutes. Many people see meaningful change by session 10 to 15; we keep going until the change is stable.
I’m one of very few clinicians in BC who combine neurofeedback with therapy. For many people the combination does more than either alone — neurofeedback settles the system enough that the therapeutic work becomes possible.
Evidence and what to expect
Neurofeedback has been studied since the 1960s and has a substantial evidence base for ADHD, anxiety, PTSD, and certain sleep disorders. It’s not a magic cure — no therapy is — but for the right person it can do what nothing else has done.
Fees and insurance
Sessions are $150 CAD. Some private insurance plans cover neurofeedback under their counselling or biofeedback benefit; ICBC and FNHA have covered neurofeedback for specific clients in my practice. Call or text and I’ll help you check yours.
Your first 20 minutes are free. Call or text any day between 9am and 9pm — I respond within a couple of hours.