What to Expect

I’m going to do my best to give you a sense of what to expect during your NeurOptimal® Dynamical Neurofeedback training. You’re also welcome to call 212-877-6923 or email with questions.

Your first neurofeedback appointment

When you come for your first session, the first thing I’ll do is ask you what you’d like to have happen. I’ll also ask you a lot of questions so that we both have a clear understanding of what you want to see change. Usually in the course of this interview, we discover at least a few and sometimes several more possibilities for what might change in addition to the ideas you come in with.

For those of you who have come across an assessment process known as qEEG (quantitative electroencephalogram), the qEEG is often used with linear neurofeedback. There is no need for this tool when using NeurOptimal®. (That’s a substantial cost savings for you.) The qEEG is used to diagnose and to establish protocols for training. With NeurOptimal® your brain will be using the training in the way that is intrinsically right for you. There’s no guesswork involved, no diagnosing, no protocols, no push, and no push created side effects. Your brain uses the feedback to optimize itself in the way that is best for you, making changes in the order and pace that is right for you. Training, not treatment.

The neurofeedback training

Next, we’ll do our first training. You’ll be sitting in a comfortable chair with small sensors attached to your head with a water soluble conductive paste. There will be a total of three sensors on your ears, and one on each side of your head. The sensors read the electricity on the surface of your scalp. During your first training, I’ll show you what this looks like on the trainer screen.

What you, the client, will be doing

One of the first questions most people ask is, “What am I supposed to do?” The answer is that there is nothing to do — consciously. Your brain will do it all. It’s hard-wired to take in information and use it to optimize itself — with no conscious intervention required. It does this masterfully and in the way that is right for you. Nothing will be pushing your system in a direction. That is part of why this state of the art Dynamical Neurofeedback® training is so side effect free.

You are allowing your brain to optimize itself. When you do that, interesting things happen.

You’ll be sitting in that comfortable chair, listening to music and watching an optional moving graphic. Small interruptions to the music and the graphic are the feedback as your brain makes shifts. The interruptions alert your brain to notice the shifts as they are happening, evaluate them for usefulness, and learn from those evaluations. None of that happens consciously. That’s the good news. If you could have fixed your “stuff” consciously, I bet you would have done so already. NeurOptimal® gets the conscious mind out of the way and lets that power house you have in your head do what it does best.

Even though the brain is working quite hard, most people find the sessions relaxing, so you can be prepared to enjoy them.

Because each brain is utilizing the information it is given in the way that is right for that person, changes in people’s lives often take place quite seamlessly. Your only job in between sessions will be to notice what is changing in your life.

How will change happen?

Since every brain is unique, the type, order and pace of change are also unique to the individual. We’re training for increased flexibility and resilience. Most often, people report things like more calmness, being more comfortable, less performance or sports anxiety, increased self-esteem, better sleep management, much more.

For other possibilities, please look at the Benefits and Client Comments pages.

How often should you come for sessions?

Most clients start out training once or twice a week, but we’ll work with whatever feels right for you and your schedule and budget.

How soon will you see changes?

Most people experience changes after one to six sessions, so you should know pretty quickly whether this is right for you.

How many neurofeedback sessions will you need?

New clients ask this, understandably. The answer to this question is that it’s up to you. I have had people complete their training, happy that they got what they came for, having done just a handful of sessions. And I have had people keep coming (or buy their own Personal NeurOptimal® system) because they were curious to see what would happen next or because they had life circumstances that they felt would benefit from ongoing training. Sometimes people come back for tuneups if life has thrown a lot at them, or for another round when they are ready. Bottom line is, you’ll tell us when you feel you are “good to go.”