Are there adverse effects?

Neurofeedback has been used for over 30 years clinically, with hundreds of thousands of training sessions.   There are no known situations where a long term adverse effect has been identified.  There has never been a lawsuit for adverse effects of neurofeedback training.

Yet anything with the power to change things powerfully for the better could potentially have adverse effects.  That’s why good professional training is critical.  This tool can help improve sleep.  In the short term, training a site and frequency not optimum for an individual could make sleep worse.  Training can improve depression – or in the short term, it could exacerbate that symptom if done inappropriately.

Typically, change in any one session is very minor.  Training effects can be rapidly reversed by changing protocols (sites and frequencies) – even within the same session.  Monitoring change and shifting training protocols is part of the responsibility of a trained professional.  Just as short-term side effects lead to changes in medications, short-term effects provide information useful in adjusting the client’s training.