Experiences with Neurofeedback

[Anonymous]

A few friends have recommended it and said it’s been miraculous for their kids who have ADHD and anxiety mostly. They are on the west Coast though.
Does anyone have experience with it around here and can you recommend anyone locally?

[Anonymous]

Super anecdotal response here.

My son did neurofeedback locally at Family Compass in Reston. It is so hard to say exactly what helped my child because our interventions were multi-pronged. The research I did shows that it is especially helpful with PTSD and maybe generally with anxiety. My son had generalized anxiety, ADHD, a severe learning difference but I was only hoping it would help with the anxiety. We tried it with a kind of all-we-lose-is-time-and-money attitude. My son enjoyed the sessions and there is no question he made huge improvements over the years he was doing neurofeedback. He really struggled as a young child - like can't leave the house/not sure what his future would look like - and is now a confident college student. But again, we were doing many other interventions at the same time.

I want to add that I decided to try it at the same time. I didn't do it for as long as my son, only for a few months. My experience was that I felt tremendously calm and grounded for the next 24 hours or so. I would try to explain to my husband and he'd ask, "was it like you had a great massage?" or "or like you did yoga?" But it was not so much relaxing for me as centering. Like everything was sharp and in focus but calm.

I know that is not a very scientific answer. I am the least woo-woo person on earth and, to be honest, I was skeptical the entire time. I felt like it was one tool in the toolbox and I was happy we used it.