203.339.1191
Neurofeedback
Right Path House has a dedicated office for neurofeedback on the woman's campus or a short commute for men. Any resident opting to use neurofeedback training may find themselves in the office 5 days a week for 8 weeks for an hour at a time; that totals a possible 40 sessions of neurofeedback. QEEG biofeedback is the same as neurofeedback. But what is QEEG exactly? QEEG is an acronym for qualitative electroencephalogram (EEG), and it is a test that is used to find abnormalities in the electrical activity of the brain. QEEG neurofeedback, tracks and keeps a record of the patterns of brain waves. A professional trained in neurofeedback can recognize healthy electrical activity patterns. When abnormal patterns are seen, the neurofeedback practitioner will know how to work with the client to try and restore optimal balance in the affected area of the brain. When neurofeedback is effective, an abnormal brain wave pattern will be shifted into a normal one.
​
For example, consider a person who chronically experiences problems with concentration. Research shows that this person may have an abnormal theta wave pattern in the brain. A neurofeedback specialist can use QEEG technology to create a map of the brain. If theta functioning is dysregulated, the neurofeedback specialist can train this person to slow their theta waves, which are in the frontal lobe of the brain. Research shows that the slower the theta wave functioning is in the frontal lobe, the greater a person’s power of concentration. That means that a person is less likely to be distracted by disruptive thoughts or outside stimuli. The neurofeedback therapy requires more than one session, but the neurofeedback specialist will be able to read the ongoing brain maps to see if the client’s brain activity is improving.
​
What Happens in a Neurofeedback Session?
The neurofeedback practitioner will place a neurofeedback cap on a client’s head. The client is watching a television show. The cap will read the brain waves which are hooked up to a monitoring system that is running any one of several different software programs that can read brain wave information.
​
In neurofeedback, when the brain waves are dysregulated, the clients will immediately get feedback because the television show may be dimmed and the volume may be lowered. Because the client wants to watch the tv show, their brain will react and attempt to correct their dysregulation, which has the effect of correcting the brain's programming on it's own to behave in a desired way.
​​​
Essentially, the brain can potentially heal its dysregulation and dysfunction and be brought into a healthy state.
Jim Cooney, LCSW
GRAY MATTERS
James Cooney holds a Master of Social Work Degree from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 35 years of experience in the treatment of addiction and co-occurring disorders. Additional areas of clinical specialty include Marital and Couples therapy, the treatment of developmental trauma, anxiety and depressive disorders, ADHD, and anger management in adolescents and adults.
He is trained in Schema-Focused Cognitive Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy. He currently provides neurofeedback training sessions for clients with co-occurring disorders at Right Path House. He also has provided clinical services in both inpatient and outpatient at psychiatric clinics, community health centers and in his private psychotherapy practice. He also offers supportive counseling services to psychiatrically compromised High School students in a local public-school system.
James entered the field of neurofeedback more than 25 years ago, working with the most experienced and pioneering clinicians throughout this time, honing his expertise as the field evolved. He has served as member of the Executive Board of the Northeast Regional Biofeedback Society and chaired their education committee. He is an active member of both the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback as well as the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research.
