Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why should I choose Austin Biofeedback and EEG Neurofeedback Center as my therapy provider?

A: The clinical expertise of our well-regarded staff is unsurpassed. Hundreds of physicians and health care professionals refer patients and clients to the Center. We are proud to say that our largest referral source by far, remains word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied former clients and their doctors.

In our clinic, we use a variety of assessment tools to help us reach a deep understanding of each client’s needs and conditions. The clinical staff functions as a team, bringing a broad-range of expertise to bear on each case. To achieve comprehensive outcomes, we use an integrative approach to therapy, addressing a client’s needs within the context of that individual as a whole person.

We have a proven, long-term record of success and always individualize comprehensive training protocols to directly target each client’s desired outcomes. Our staff also has the ability to bundle and address multiple issues as part of a therapy program. Addressing concomitant (linked) issues at the same time provides our clients the ability to work on multiple goals, accomplishing more in less time!

Please also see our important webpage: “A Note On Choosing A Therapist”

Q: What kinds of health problems or other concerns can biofeedback help?

A: Hundreds of different diagnoses and developmental or learning concerns can successfully remediate with biofeedback and EEG neurofeedback therapy. But having a health or developmental concern isn't the only reason to consider biofeedback and EEG neurofeedback therapy. Even if you are already a talented athlete, an accomplished student or are on an important career path, Austin Biofeedback and EEG Neurofeedback Center can help you improve your current abilities.

Please also see our important multi-part webpage: "Health Concerns, Developmental Conditions, And Performance Enhancement"

Q: What is biofeedback and why is it helpful?

A: People usually have only a vague sense, at best, of the many physiological processes that are constantly going on inside them. Biofeedback is the use of biomedical instrumentation to show an individual in real time, exactly what is going on inside them, in precise detail. This information not only provides the therapist clues to the physiological conditions underlying symptoms or performance concerns but it also provides you, the client, with tools to help you learn to control your own internal systems consciously, without medication.

These ordinarily hidden streams of internal activity are usually thought to be out of the reach of voluntary control but while watching and listening to the feedback and being coached by a trained therapist, you can learn to control them easily. With practice, the skills become routine and the biofeedback is no longer needed to exercise control. This learning process provides you the flexibility to control your own biological responses, and ultimately, gives you more resourceful ways to respond to physical or emotional situations you face in day-to-day life. Biofeedback is not only applicable for health concerns. The process can also be used very effectively to increase performance levels in many areas of life.

Please also see our important webpage: “Biofeedback”

Q: What kinds of things does biofeedback monitor?

A: The biological activity monitored for biofeedback therapy may include things such as muscle tension levels in muscle groups or even specific muscles. For example, our assessment process can determine how tense particular muscles are (even at rest) and which ones chronically "store" the most tension. We can determine which muscles are most reactive when a person is upset and if a person can really relax them to clinically healthy levels. It is not uncommon for people to even sleep tense. These often unrecognized tension patterns are among the most common causes of hypertension, insomnia, headaches, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and many other serious and debilitating health concerns.

Changes in peripheral skin temperature give us information about problems in the cardiovascular system. Galvanic skin response (changes in the skin’s ability to conduct bioelectrical currents) gives us information about what is happening in the endocrine system (changes in hormone levels or blood chemistry, for example). Brain activity, respiration, blood pressure, heart rate variability, blood oxygenation levels, and other measurable indicators also give us clinically useful information and therapeutic pathways.

Q: How is a person connected to the biofeedback equipment?

A: First, Biofeedback is completely non-invasive. There is no discomfort. No electrical currents are ever put into your body. Biological activity can be easily and comfortably monitored through small pickup sensors attached to the body, usually with tape, gel, or a conductive paste.

Q: What is EEG neurofeedback therapy?

A: EEG neurofeedback therapy is also called EEG neurotherapy, EEG biofeedback or “brainwave biofeedback”. The feedback instrument used is an electroencephalograph (EEG) which monitors brain activity in great detail. This form of biofeedback is focused directly on retraining brain function in ways very specific to the particular diagnoses or conditions being addressed. It is a comprehensive training system that promotes growth and change within the brain at cellular, functional, and neurotransmitter levels.

EEG neurofeedback therapy can help you develop increased mental stamina and flexibility. That in turn gives you more and better options when responding to tasks or situations that are part of your daily life.

For instance, if you are a student, it can give you the ability to concentrate and to study more effectively for longer periods of time. Of course, to master your subjects you still have to develop good study habits and you will still have to study. The good news is that EEG neurofeedback therapy can make that process much easier. For many students, mental abilities are not an issue. Other factors such as test anxiety may be the problem. EEG neurofeedback therapy can resolve these kinds of problems, as well.

EEG neurofeedback therapy offers help for a long list of health problems. In cases of seizure disorders for example, EEG neurofeedback therapy can reduce or eliminate the need for medications to control seizure activity.

Please also see our important webpage: “EEG Neurofeedback”

Q: What advantages does EEG neurofeedback offer compared to drug therapy?

A: EEG neurofeedback is non-invasive, holistic, and there are no significant negative side effects. It resolves (remediates) problems instead of temporarily suppressing them. The patient's own internal systems develop the ability to perform well on their own, without having to depend on drugs. In some cases, patients can thrive on reduced dosages of medication and in other cases medication may be eliminated entirely.

It is important to note that for all patients who come to Austin Biofeedback and EEG Neurofeedback Center, management of medications and dosages remains entirely within the purview of the prescribing physician and the patient. When EEG neurofeedback therapy begins to take effect, the patient may begin to experience signs of over medication. They (and we) can communicate with their physician so that the dosage can be titrated down.

At Austin Biofeedback and EEG Neurofeedback Center, we recognize the value of modern pharmacological science for all of us. When patients on medication come to Austin Biofeedback and EEG Neurofeedback Center, it is important that they continue medication until therapy begins to replace the need for it.

Please also see our important webpage: “Want To Reduce Dependence On Medication?”

Q: What is the success rate for QEEG-guided neurofeedback training at Austin Biofeedback and EEG Neurofeedback Center?

A: Our overall success rate shows improvement and goal achievement in well over 90% of cases. In the same way one achieves success in an exercise program, success in therapy is driven by personal commitment. State-of-the-art QEEG-guided EEG neurofeedback training is usually successful if the patient takes an active role in therapy. Length of time to reach stated goals can vary with diagnosis and case.

Please also see our important webpage: “What Is A QEEG?"

Q: Why don't more practitioners use EEG neurofeedback?

A: There are several common reasons:

• Because of its complexity, most health care practitioners in central Texas currently refer to experienced, licensed biofeedback specialists like those at Austin Biofeedback and EEG Neurofeedback Center. A significant time commitment (in years) is required to get the extensive training and experience necessary to become expert in these technologically and anatomically intensive specialties, which include EEG, QEEG, and the various modalities of EEG neurofeedback and biofeedback.
• Clinical-grade equipment is very expensive.
• The economic model for many modern health care modalities requires cycling as many patients or clients through therapy as possible each day. By their nature, Biofeedback and EEG neurofeedback therapy sessions require an extensive time commitment from the legitimate therapist to each client, both during therapy and during analysis of data and therapy planning afterward. This time commitment may be not be economically feasable for many practitioners.
• Although the science behind EEG neurofeedback is generally considered to have been discovered during medical research done in the 1960's (and has been well-validated since), public awareness of its benefits has only become widespread in the last ten to fifteen years. Therapy using advanced QEEG–guided EEG neurofeedback has only been recognized more recently.

In the last few years, however, awareness levels have been changing rapidly. Medical students and graduate students in other health-related fields now rotate through Austin Biofeedback and EEG Neurofeedback Center to learn about its benefits and when referral is appropriate.

Q: How does EEG Neurofeedback therapy work?

A: EEG Neurofeedback therapy is a complex process working with one of the most complex parts of human anatomy. In a nut shell, EEG neurofeedback equipment monitors electrical activity produced by the brain. A neurotherapist (a licensed EEG neurofeedback professional) can correlate this brain activity with symptoms, conditions or behaviors. Feedback derived from this information is then "fed-back" in visual and auditory form to the client. This feedback is designed to challenge the client's brain to improve specific functions, in specific areas where it is not currently performing as effectively as it could. Over time, the brain's ability to perform these activities becomes stronger and symptoms abate.

Q: Why is EEG neurofeedback therapy an effective treatment modality?

A: Most importantly, because it taps into the natural mechanisms that make a brain learn and grow and heal itself. EEG neurofeedback therapy, in some ways, is like weight lifting. If you challenge a weak muscle to lift more weight than it is used to lifting and you repeat the exercise over and over, the muscle, in time, develops the ability to lift the heavier weight effortlessly.

In the same way, EEG neurofeedback therapy challenges certain areas of the brain to perform specific kinds of brain activity more effectively. Repeat the exercise over and over, and in time, the brain develops the ability to perform those activities effortlessly and for longer periods of time. The areas of the brain targeted for feedback and the specific kinds of brain activity chosen for development depend on presenting symptoms, conditions and the stated therapeutic goals of the individual client.

Q: What happens when I stop therapy?

A: When you stop lifting weights, the muscles you trained will slip back into their weaker state. Your brain is very different. When you “exercise” your brain with EEG neurofeedback therapy, research shows that the gains attained are retained. Early studies on adolescent children tested before and after therapy and again in longitudinal studies have shown retention of the initial gains they achieved into their mid-thirties, so far.

Q: How frequently should EEG neurofeedback therapy sessions be done?

A: EEG neurofeedback can be compared to a process called operant conditioning. It is a learning technique that requires repetition. If initial therapy occurs less than 2 times per week, progress achieved may regress a little between sessions and more sessions may be required.

Most people train at frequencies between 2 to 10 times per week. Regardless of the number of sessions per week one is able to schedule, the number of sessions required to achieve a given goal will remain the same but with more frequent training, results are seen more quickly. After goals are achieved EEG neurofeedback therapy almost never needs to be repeated.

Q: How long is a session?

A: A typical session lasts 45 minutes, but actual time doing biofeedback or EEG neurofeedback will vary depending on the number of sites selected for feedback and how soon brain fatigue is reached. During the session, time must be allowed for evaluation and consultation, feedback preparation, clean-up, and debriefing. Feedback periods rarely exceed 30 minutes. Effective feedback is not time dependent; that is, effective therapy does not depend on longer periods of feedback. In fact, research shows that longer periods of feedback may be counter-productive in some cases.

Psychotherapy, counseling, hypnosis or other therapeutic modalities, when provided separate from a feedback session, may require differing time lengths but will usually fall within one or more sessions of the usual 45 minute scheduling structure.

Q: What is EEG neurofeedback therapy like?

A: Imagine yourself in a comfortable chair in a pleasant room looking at a computer monitor. In some cases (most often requested by children or teenagers) you may be playing a video game. As you sit watching a computer animation, your brain is busy as it always is. Your brain’s activity consists of the constant play of billions of very, very tiny electric circuits. To pick up this activity, small EEG sensor cups are placed on the surface of your scalp with a kind of water soluble, conductive paste. The EEG transmits information from this ongoing brain activity to the feedback computer. At no time is electricity is ever put into your head from the neurofeedback equipment. Feedback signals derived from your brain's activity are "fed back" to your brain from the computer in auditory and visual form.

Actual feedback may last up to a half hour depending on how fast your brain tires from the work. In some sessions, more than one training site (area of the brain) may be worked. Sometimes you will receive the feedback with your eyes open and sometimes with them closed. Sometimes you may receive feedback while performing a task (such as reading or some other mental task).

Q: Can you give me more details about how EEG neurofeedback therapy works?

A: After being picked up and sent to the computer, your brain’s activity is “fed back” to you through movements and color changes on a computer monitor and through changes in sounds, tones, and chords from the computer’s speakers or a headset.

Your brain works at blazing speeds. When the feedback information streams back to your brain through your eyes and ears, it matches your brain’s activity at near real-time. It is almost like holding a mirror up to your brain to show it what it is doing as it is doing it! This interchange is taking place faster than your conscious mind can keep up with but that is okay, because your brain can keep up with it easily.

When your brain’s activity is less effective it receives one set of feedback signals. When its activity is more effective it receives a different set of feedback signals. Your brain soon recognizes that when it receives one set of signals it is performing more effectively, so it will begin to try to recreate more of that kind of activity. Over a number of therapy sessions the brain begins to develop an increasing ability to produce more of the effective activity (and less of the ineffective activity). If, based on your initial goals, the effective brain activity is recognized by you consciously as the ability to remember, for example, you should begin to notice your memory improving.

Your therapists can adjust the feedback to make the challenge easier or more difficult. They will want your brain to be challenged enough to get a good workout. What you will probably notice as your brain completes each workout is a calm relaxed feeling, or relaxed alertness. Your therapist will be watching for signs of the emergence of these states. When the therapy session ends, or soon thereafter, clients often report feeling energized or very clear-headed.

Q: Will you ever be putting electrical currents into my brain or body?

A: No. With both biofeedback and EEG neurofeedback, the sensors will only be transmitting information from you to the feedback equipment. Feedback only comes back to you as visual and auditory signals from the computer’s monitor and speakers or headset.

Q: How many sessions will it take?

A: Every client’s situation is unique. Some clients can begin to see alleviation of symptoms quickly (after 10-20 training sessions) while others may require longer training programs. Some conditions such as stroke rehabilitation or autistic spectrum disorder may call for substantial periods of therapy. The thing to remember is that EEG neurofeedback therapy is a process; it is a retraining of the brain. With consistent training, clients will feel improvement building to the point where their therapeutic goals are reached. It is our goal to help our clients reach that point as quickly and effectively as possible.

Q: Once training is complete, will I need to come back?

A: Gains made in therapy will transfer into day-to-day life and are usually retained. Generally, clients will find themselves more resilient and resistant to the stressful events that may come up in their lives after therapy but on occasion, events in life cause a client to feel that they are slipping into an old pattern. If so, they can come in for a short “tune-up” and soon be back on track.

For especially traumatic events that may occur after therapy, such as divorce, loss of employment, death in the family, or discovery of serious illness, psychotherapy and other kinds of counseling interventions that are a part of our integrative services along with biofeedback and EEG neurofeedback, can be instrumental in helping our clients to get their lives back under control.

Other post-therapy influences such as serious stroke, head injury, or other physical trauma may dramatically alter brain function and thus affect the improvements from previous therapy. Additional EEG neurofeedback therapy specifically targeting these injuries directly can be very valuable.

Q: Will my insurance cover this kind of treatment?

A: Each client’s coverage is unique. It is important for you to consult with your insurance carrier to verify coverage. Although we no longer contract directly with insurance companies, we will be happy to provide you receipts with the appropriate diagnostic and billing codes so that you can file for reimbursement. We also have an insurance expert on staff to help you.

Q: Why are parents so pleased with EEG neurofeedback training?

A: Recent news releases and the growing volume of research about the adverse effects of drugs used for ADD/ADHD and other developmental disorders have many parents concerned. Other parents are concerned that some children are selling their medications to peers who want these prescription drugs for their "speed-like" effects.

EEG neurofeedback is a drug-free alternative that remediates both ADD/ADHD and other developmental disorders. To know that children (and adults) can function normally without the use of drugs is a big relief for parents.

Please see our important webpage: “How To Get Started”