The Ultimate Guide to Help You Get Started with Neurofeedback at Home
You’ve read about neurofeedback so you know it can help improve your mental and physical wellness. You’ve even heard that you can do neurofeedback at home…but you still have lingering questions.
If you’re still wondering how you can get started with neurofeedback at home, this article gives you all the information you need to understand how it works. Neuroptimal® is an advanced brain training system that anyone can use. No extensive training is required to operate the equipment and no fancy brain mapping is needed.
You buy or rent machines for at-home use to:
- Help with sleep management
- Assist with weight loss goals
- Cope with stress
- Improve mental and emotional resilience
- Increase peak performance
- Improve mental acuity and focus
How Can You Do Neurofeedback at Home?
You might be asking yourself:
“Isn’t there a lot of equipment involved with neurofeedback?”
“Do I need a trained technician to help me?”
“How is it even possible to do neurofeedback at home?”
Let’s talk about how easy it is to do neurofeedback at home with Neuroptimal.®
Once you buy or rent equipment, it ships to your house. Your equipment includes:
- A Microsoft Pro Tablet
- A small box called the zAmp
- Sensors and clips
- Conductive paste
Once you receive your equipment you’re ready to get started. Setting up NeurOptimal® neurofeedback is extremely easy.
- The sensors and clips are attached to a small box called the zAmp.
- Attach the zAmp to the tablet with the USB cord.
- Apply the conductive paste to the scalp sensors and ear clips.
- Attach them in the appropriate places – 3 on your ear and 2 on your scalp.
You can do this yourself or have someone help you. Don’t worry, this setup is very user-friendly and it’s actually hard to put the sensors in the wrong place.
If you get your equipment from Whole Family Neurofeedback, we provide resources to help you with the setup. We have dedicated customer service 7 days a week.
Once you’ve completed your setup you can power up the tablet and start your session. During the session, you listen to music or watch a movie while the sensors detect and monitor your brain’s activity. This information goes from the zAmp to the tablet and the software interprets it.
Don’t worry… there is nothing going into your brain – the sensors are there to watch the electrical activity and patterns in your brain.
Remember: true neurofeedback doesn’t add any electrical current to the brain. The machine is only there to detect differences in your brain activity and alert the brain of changes.
Each session is 33.5 minutes long. They’re quick sessions and really easy to fit into your schedule.
So that’s the setup and a general overview of how you can do neurofeedback at home. Now you’re probably wondering how does all of this actually help me?
How Does At-Home Neurofeedback Help Me?
As you go through your session, the device detects when the brain shifts in an unpleasant or uncomfortable way. It then signals the brain through a slight pause in the music. This pause allows the brain to self-correct.
The pause is so slight you might not even notice it but it triggers a brain reflex called the orienting response. The orienting response is just a way for the brain to bring itself back to the present moment.
It’s like you’re holding up a mirror to the brain and allowing it to observe itself. Your central nervous system already works to detect differences and minimize discomfort. The neurofeedback machine helps the brain do this by giving it information about itself.
Neuroptimal® non-linear neurofeedback doesn’t tell your brain what it needs to do. Instead, it recognizes patterns that are unpleasant and helps the brain change course by bringing your awareness back to the present moment. Over time, this trains your brain to adjust to stressful experiences. It also improves your physical, mental, and emotional health.
NeurOptimal® measures the activity of the brain 256 times per second and takes four different measurements which is more than any other neurofeedback system. So feedback is given in real-time.
Is Doing Neurofeedback At Home Safe?
The FDA designates Neuroptimal® at-home neurofeedback as a general wellness product. It helps you become more flexible and resilient so coping with any chronic condition is easier. It’s safe, natural, easy to use, and has no known side effects.
This type of neurofeedback is personalized because it detects what’s uncomfortable for you and helps you make adjustments quickly and efficiently, based on the situation.
The goal isn’t to stop feeling unpleasant thoughts or feelings forever. The goal is to manage them better.
For example, if your child is feeling anxious about a test, maybe their thoughts are so severe they can’t focus and they feel panicked. In that case, the anxiety isn’t productive – it’s causing distress.
But not everyone responds that way. Another person might feel low-level anxiety about the test and use those thoughts to their advantage and study for the test.
No two people are the same so neurofeedback should be tailored to your needs.
Neuroptimal® is dynamic in that it responds to the way you perceive a situation and helps train your brain to respond better to unpleasant situations.
Can My Kids Do Neurofeedback?
Yes, the whole family can do neurofeedback. My family saw so many positive changes after doing neurofeedback that’s exactly why I started Whole Family Neurofeedback.
Many of our clients use neurofeedback for the whole family and report amazing results! In fact, Whole Family Neurofeedback is built on the foundation that everyone can benefit from it.
We believe the whole family doing neurofeedback is more impactful. When one person is in distress in the family – everyone feels it. So everyone can benefit from doing neurofeedback at home.
Many kids have used neurofeedback and have reported improvements in:3
- Focus
- Mental acuity
- Concentration
- Sleep
- Peak performance
Doing neurofeedback at home with your kids is great because doing it in a familiar environment eases any worries they have about it. At-home neurofeedback also means no appointments – you can work it right into your schedule.
Neurofeedback helped my daughter immensely. Before neurofeedback, she was struggling in school and had difficulty with focus and concentration. We tried everything. She had 504 plans at school, we did all the necessary family work – we even tried acupuncture, supplements, and diet changes. Getting her to do homework was a constant struggle. After neurofeedback, I’d catch her upstairs, quietly working on her homework – without even being asked.1,2
Because of the profound impact neurofeedback has had on our family, we want to make neurofeedback accessible to anyone who wants to try it.
How Can I Get Started?
Remember, at-home neurofeedback isn’t a cure for any chronic condition. But it helps you respond better to stressful situations. And it has a positive impact on the way you perceive your own personal struggles.
Neurofeedback helps you stabilize the brain, and when you stabilize the brain, you see a cascade of impact. This cascade results in potentially better management of anxiety, depression, insomnia, ADHD, and PTSD.
Whole Family Neurofeedback always ensures you’re well supported and that your sessions are seamless with:
- Plug & Play Tech – easy for anyone to use
- Dedicated customer service 7 days a week
- Videos to help you understand how to use the equipment
- Available via text or email
Are you ready to get started with neurofeedback at home and see positive results in your life?
Fill out our contact form or call us at 303-222-5118
References
- Is There Anyone Else Up There? Miriam Bellamy.
- Linear vs. Non-Linear Neurofeedback. What’s the difference?
- What Parents Are Saying About Neurofeedback
Disclaimer: Please note that Neuroptimal® has been designated a general wellness product by the FDA. This site contains information about general health and wellness topics. Any information on this site or in any linked materials should not be taken as medical advice. The information on this site is not intended to replace any recommendation by your personal physicians.