“I tell everyone about neurofeedback. There are so many people who are hurting who have nowhere to turn. I want them to know about it because it really works. It helped me relax, stop having panic attacks, change my life and become a happier person.”
Nora, a high-powered personal injury attorney, never stopped thinking and worrying about work, even on the weekends when she should have been relaxing and enjoying her family. Her nerves were constantly on edge, and she had chronic neck pain, frequent stomach upset and depression.
After undergoing four months of neurofeedback and body biofeedback, her life looks quite different.
She’s calmer and happier, enjoying her family and the little pleasures in life. Her mood is more upbeat, and her neck and stomach issues are significantly less bothersome.
“Nora”* wasn’t much fun to be around for her husband and children. A high-powered personal injury attorney, she never stopped thinking about work, even on the weekends when she should have been relaxing and enjoying her family.
“I was worrying all the time and couldn’t get calm enough to be present for my family,” she said.
Nora’s nerves were constantly on edge. She was hypercritical of her husband. She misinterpreted innocent comments by him and lashed out at him, causing tension and unhappiness in their marriage.
She had chronic pain in her shoulder and neck, and she woke up every morning feeling depressed.
Work wasn’t any better. Just the thought of walking into the courthouse for a trial would often provoke a panic attack. On top of that, those same days she suffered from distasteful stomach issues and often threw up in the ladies room, right up until she stood up in the courtroom to present her case.
No pleasure, even when she won
Even when she won, there was no pleasure in victory.
“I couldn’t appreciate my present success because I was always worrying about my next project,” she said. “I was so focused on achievement that I wasn’t enjoying life – not at work and not at home.”
A lifetime of anxiety, panic and depression
Nora’s frantic existence was the result of a lifetime of anxiety, panic and depression. Over the years she tried numerous non-medication remedies to no avail: exercising, eating healthy, group therapy and psychotherapy.
As a self-described “highly functional depressed person,” Nora had dealt with those issues since she was in her 20s…but not anymore.
Drastic life change after four months of neurofeedback
Nora says that today her life looks quite different, ever since undergoing four months of neurofeedback and body biofeedback** sessions at the Center for Brain Training.
“Finding the Center for Brain Training was a godsend,” she said. “I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
That right place and time was an out-of-town conference Nora was attending. During a conversation with a colleague she mentioned that she had concerns about her five-year-old son. Her little guy seemed to be exhibiting signs of the same type of crippling anxiety she had struggled with her entire life.
“My colleague told me I should try neurofeedback before doing anything else,” she recalled.
Back in her hotel room that night Nora Googled “neurofeedback.” In the process she not only learned what neurofeedback was but discovered that the Center for Brain Training was located very close to where she lives.
In another fortuitous turn of events, the Center for Brain Training was holding an informational seminar on a rare night that she was free.
What she learned at the seminar piqued her interest, so she decided to try it on herself first.
She was astounded by what happened.
Fast relief for pain and panic
“I had resigned myself to never having relief from my neck and back pain, but after the first session of body biofeedback I felt a bit better,” she said. “By the second session I was even better.”
Besides having diminished body pain, Nora was soon no longer experiencing panic attacks and extreme stomach distress when she went to court.
“My anxiety was drastically reduced to nothing more than minor nervousness, normal butterflies,” she explained.
Wakes up happy, doesn’t hold on to irritants
Within a few weeks Nora noticed that she was no longer waking up unhappy. She also wasn’t bristling at or overthinking every interaction with her husband. He noticed it too, and said so.
“Now I can let little irritants go,” she explained. “The neurofeedback calmed me enough that I can relax if my husband says something I don’t like. Things that bothered me prior are just little things to me these days that don’t matter. Our marriage has improved.”
Other aspects of home life have improved as well.
“Now I can leave the office, go home and not think all weekend about work. I am finally being present for my family. I couldn’t do that before,” she said.
She also started taking her son for neurofeedback training and has been impressed by the improvements.
“Before, he would get really agitated if things didn’t go his way. It wasn’t unusual for him to have 45-minute temper tantrums. Since doing neurofeedback he can control his responses better. He’s much calmer, and our home environment is calmer, too.”
A “huge advocate” now of neurofeedback
Nora now calls herself a “huge advocate” of neurofeedback and body biofeedback. “I tell everyone about it,” she said. “There are so many people who are hurting who have nowhere to turn. I want them to know about neurofeedback because neurofeedback really works. It helped me relax, stop having panic attacks, change my life and become a happier person.
“Neurofeedback has been a huge blessing in my life.”
*Name changed to protect confidentiality
**Body biofeedback is also known as BioRegulation Therapy or BRT.
