Neurofeedback

Have you felt stuck in your talk therapy?  Do you have a history of trauma, anxiety, ADHD, OCD, or Depression and other treatments have not been effective?  Would you like to explore medication free interventions to your mental health struggles?  

Neurofeedback is a non-invasive medication free treatment that encourages the brain to create healthier patterns for coping with everyday life.

Matters of the Heart Counseling is providing Neurofeedback services using Passive Infrared Hemoencephalography or pIR-HEG. There are no electrodes attached to the head, no gel in the hair, and no signals sent into your brain.  Everything is completed by monitoring blood flow in the brain with a simple headband.

What can neurofeedback help?

Neurofeedback is effective in reducing symptoms of and the treatment of anxiety, depression, ADHD, Autism, trauma, stress and other mental health diagnoses.*

How does NF work?

The headband monitors blood flow in the brain while watching a movie of your choice.  As the attention shifts from one area of the brain to the other, the movie will stop.  To re-engage the movie the client must refocus and relax at the same time.  It is this exercise that is allowing new connections and pathways to develop while encouraging the emotional and thinking parts of the brain to work together.  It’s a workout for the brain much like going to the gym to exercise.

What are the goals?

As the capacity for our thinking mind (prefrontal cortex) and our emotional mind (amygdala/limbic area) work together clients become increasingly capable of making sense of their emotions. This helps to create thoughtful responses to emotional experiences and ultimately increase emotional regulation.  The individual then becomes more confident and relaxed in interacting with those around.  This increase in self-efficacy then supports the person in their mental health journey. The ultimate expectation of NF is increasing the quality of life.

Neurofeedback and Trauma

Our brain takes in information from our everyday experiences and processes it to make sense of the world around.  Traumatic experiences can change our brain’s way of communicating and can become hypervigilant leading to mental health symptoms.  NF addresses those changes in a way talk therapy does not to help clients achieve better functioning in day to day life.

How long does a single session of NF last?

Each session of NF is no longer than 30 minutes of active feedback.  There may be additional time to talk about the experience and the adjustment to the NF sessions.

To complete NF in its entirety, it is recommended to complete a minimum of 18 sessions (no more than once a week).  Some people need additional NF sessions depending on their history and experienced improvement. It may also be helpful to have “check-in” sessions after the initial set of 18 to maintain the improvements experienced.

What does Neurofeedback cost? 

The time spent using the NF equipment and engaging with the technician will be a self-pay rate of $75 per session.  MOH is offering a reduced rate of $1300 if all 18 sessions are paid for upfront. We are not able to bill insurances for NF services.

For Neurofeedback to be effective, an individual must commit to completing the protocol.  We generally start with weekly sessions and will transition to bi-weekly session.  Every person is different and we tailor the experience to the needs of the individual.  Throughout the process we have multiple check in sessions which involve assessment measures.  When the goal is to establish long term change, it takes time to change the neural pathways and to solidify them to become the default pathway.  There is an additional fee for the initial intake of $155 if you are new to our practice. After sessions 6,12 & 18 we have an additional 30 minute consultation regarding progress noticed while completing NF.  These check in sessions are billed at a rate of $75 and MAY be billable to insurance.

Financial Assistance

We are excited to work with Touchstone Foundation in Lancaster County who has agreed to provide financial assistance for Neurofeedback services to families who qualify.  Touchstone offers a co-pay assistance program and clients can apply to receive the benefit.  Clients must meet the eligibility criteria of the co-pay assistance program (you must live in Lancaster County, income, etc), and may receive up to $40 each session from Touchstone to assist in paying for the Neurofeedback.  Even if you think you may not qualify because of income, please apply anyway.  In the application you MUST state the funds are specifically for Neurofeedback with Matters of the Heart Counseling and the service is not billable to insurance.

Adoptive families may also explore utilizing funds from SWAN for reimbursement as well.  Please talk with your SWAN provider to determine if this is an option.

Please follow this link to apply:  Touchstone NF Assistance

Resources to explore

* Cohen, M (2020) Neurofeedback 101: Rewiring the Brain for ADHD, Anxiety, Depression and Beyond. 

Dr Christine Tyrell, NF Training (2022)  https://wellbeing-cny.thinkific.com/

resources to further explore neurofeedback; NF and ADHD

We are members of the Northeast Regional Biofeedback Society which offers many resources and training.  https://nrbs.org/