Jesse Kessinger became interested in neurofeedback a dozen or so years ago while trying to find help for his brother who had suffered a TBI after being hit by a car. His brother had spent six months in a coma and was not doing well. Progress was slow, he couldn’t live independently, his memory was poor and there was little that was normal about his life.
First exposure to neurofeedback
One day Jesse made the acquaintance of a woman who had also suffered a severe TBI. Unlike Jesse’s brother, she was functioning, holding down a job and going about life much more normally. She told Jesse that she felt that neurofeedback had played a significant role in her recovery.
Jesse went looking for a neurofeedback practitioner and found one who worked for two years with his brother. Over that time period his brother made startling and significant progress. Today his brother is married, living independently and his memory deficits are significantly improved.
Trying neurofeedback on himself
Jesse then acquired a neurofeedback system and used it on himself to help with some sleep issues. “It made a huge difference,” he recalled.
“After seeing how neurofeedback helped my brother and me, I wanted to consider adding neurofeedback to my practice,” said Jesse, a licensed graduate professional counselor in Baltimore preparing to start a private practice.
Seeking professional neurofeedback education
Jesse had spent years reading voraciously about neurofeedback but knew he needed some hands-on training to build up his knowledge base and move on to a higher skill level.
He heard about Mike Cohen’s Neurofeedback 101 course from two neurofeedback practitioners and thought it might be just what he was looking for.
“They said Mike was a good guy to learn from, that he didn’t have any particular ‘religion’ when it came to neurofeedback types,” Jesse said, so he signed up and flew to Florida for the three-day class.
Among the aspects of the course he said he enjoyed:
- Being exposed to a broad range of neurofeedback systems and technologies
- The opportunity to do extensive hands-on training
- Simplified class content that took into consideration that not everyone in the class was at an advanced level of knowledge about the brain. “Mike assumes his students know nothing and goes from there,” Jesse noted.
- Mike’s use of numerous case histories and anecdotes
- Mike’s ability to present complicated material in an unintimidating way
Encouraging words for someone new to offering neurofeedback
Jesse explained that he also liked what he called Mike’s “realistic teaching approach” that included talking not only about his neurofeedback successes but also his failures.
“It was encouraging to me as a person new to the field that someone like Mike, with a large successful clinic, still has cases where he’s not successful and must experiment to get it right. I felt better about the fact that being new I was going to be making mistakes.
“He told cautionary tales that what I would try might not work sometimes. He explained how you have to know how to think about the brain and symptomology and come up with a different treatment plan.
“Mike’s 3-day course is the perfect Introduction for those new to the field,” he continued. “It’s an excellent immersion experience for grasping basic concepts and a good way to decide if neurofeedback is something you want to pursue in your practice.
“If you’re thinking of taking a certification course,” he added, “I recommend that you start off with Mike’s course first.”
Reinforcing his neurofeedback knowledge
To help reinforce what he learned, Jesse took the Neurofeedback 101 course a second time and later took Mike’s online Neurofeedback 201 course.
“I have a lot more to learn and will probably take more classes in the future,” Jesse said.