Services
EEG-Biofeedback
I’ve heard of Bio-feedback before… What is Biofeedback or EEG Biofeedback?
Biofeedback is a treatment technique in which people are trained to improve their health by using signals from their own bodies. Psychotherapists use it to help clients learn to physically and mentally relax, or to train the brain and/or body to work in a balanced way. Specialists in many different fields use biofeedback to help their patients cope with pain.
Chances are, you have used biofeedback yourself. You’ve used it if you have ever taken your temperature or stepped on a scale. The thermometer tells you whether you’re running a fever, the scale whether you’ve gained weight. Both devices “feed back” information about your body’s condition. Armed with this information, you can take steps you’ve learned to improve the condition. When you’re running a fever, you go to bed and drink plenty of fluids. When you’ve gained weight, you resolve to eat less and sometimes you do.
Clinicians rely on complicated biofeedback machines in somewhat the same way that you rely on your scale or thermometer. Their machines can detect a person’s internal bodily functions with far greater sensitivity and precision than a person can alone. This information may be valuable. Both patients and therapists use it to gauge and direct the progress of training. For patients, the biofeedback machine acts as a kind of sixth sense which allows them to “see” or “hear” activity inside their bodies.
So what’s the EEG part?
EEG Biofeedback (also known as Neurofeedback) is a process of training the brain’s arousal patterns in order to facilitate better cognitive processing and/or physical functioning. Neurofeedback is direct training of brain function, by which the brain learns to function more efficiently. We observe the brain in action from moment to moment by using an amplifier that shows the electrical activity (EEG) of the brain. We show that information back to the person in the form of a video presentation or video game (accompanied by sounds). And we reward the brain for changing its own activity to more appropriate patterns by allowing the video game to respond to the desired brain activity. This is a gradual learning process. It applies to any aspect of brain function that we can measure. Neurofeedback is also called EEG Biofeedback, because it is based on electrical brain activity, the electroencephalogram, or EEG. Neurofeedback is training in self-regulation. It is simply biofeedback applied to the brain directly. Self-regulation is a necessary part of good brain function. Self-regulation training allows the system (the central nervous system) to function better. (adapted from EEG.com) There are many excellent resources on the web, two of the best are EEGspectrum.com and EEGinfo.com
What do you feel while doing the training?
Typically, you won’t feel anything more then relaxed immediately during the training because the EEG is simply reading your brain activity and feeding it through software so that you can see the results on the training screen. It is teaching your brain to work better by feeding back a series of rewards to your eyes and ears through the monitor and speakers.Some people say that they feel sleepy while doing the training, but the sleepiness usually stops when the training is over, and the person becomes physically active again.
What does EEG biofeedback help with?
There are many things that EEG can be helpful with because it is process of teaching the brain to function optimally. The areas that I have found it to be most helpful often correspond to a persons counseling needs. EEG can be a very effective tool for helping with reducing attention deficit problems (children & adults), calming anxiety and stress issues, calming post traumatic stress symptoms,and also in eleviating the bodies elevated pain response in some chronic pain sufferers. EEG training can very effective in reducing the frequency and severity of migraine headaches in many people who suffer from that issue. In counseling better brain function equates to an increased ability to work through the root cause of presenting issues in a more effcient manner.
Is EEG biofeedback covered by my insurance?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, if it is part of a larger counseling treatment plan, many insurance companies do cover it as part of counseling. No, in that if it is used as stand alone treatment (such as for chronic pain or migraines) many times it is discluded from reimbursement. Insurance companies vary widely on this subject and it is best to ask them, or myself as to what your specific plan will cover. I do offer a reduced fee for those who are uninsured or whose plan does not cover this training.
If it is so effective why don’t all insurance companies cover it?
This answer gets more involved. Insurance companies base their coverage on many complex appraiasals of effectivness of treatments. This includes cost, studies to support efficacy,and existing treatments that are “more proven” or quicker by their standard. These are just a small number of factors. Until recently it was somewhat difficult to identify a significant number of studies which support the efficacy of neurofeedback. There were literaly thousands of anecdotal stories of changed lives, but little in the way of double blind studies, as such studies are very expensive. This has changed dramatically recently and with new studies and proven results insurance comapnies will hopefully start to see the advantage of using biofeedback as a tool for health that they will pay for on a broader scale. For more info on studies see EEGinfo.com
