A couple of years back I noticed a subtle yet profound change in one of my coworkers. A person I had once known to be on edge, jumpy, anxious, and perhaps even easily distraught, was all of a sudden very calm, patient, easygoing, and accepting of uncertain circumstances. When I finally confronted this coworker to inquire what caused this change, assuming the answer might be medication or therapy, I was shocked at their response…Micro Current NeuroFeedback. This individual began to explain to me how they had gone through several sessions of a new form of treatment that placed small nodes on the client’s head and injected a small amount of energy into the brain, causing it to relax. Honestly, this sounded a little fishy to me, a little untrusting in my cynical opinion. It was only months later another coworker began telling our team about the incredible changes they had witnessed firsthand in their teenage child. A child who had been struggling in school, having difficulty with social cues, and wrestling with organizational skills, was suddenly thriving in school, connecting with peers, and taking responsibility for his own schedule. My cynicism was now waning as I started to finally ask, what on earth is Micro Current NeuroFeedback?

Every one of us has hardwired into our brains two distinct and profoundly important systems, the Sympathetic Nervous System, and the Parasympathetic Nervous System. The sympathetic nervous system (named so after the greek words Sym and Pathos meaning with emotion) is designed to activate many responses within the body during times when there is perceived threat or danger. This system is activated by the amygdala and brings with it a host of physiological responses such as increased heart rate, raised body temperature, increased blood pressure, the release of stored glucose in the large skeletal muscles, and more. A neurotransmitter known as cortisol often floods the brain causing us to react quickly and defend as necessary. This is what we often refer to as the fight, flight or freeze response. The parasympathetic nervous system on the other hand does exactly the opposite, it tells all of those activated systems in the brain and body to shut down and return to normal states. For many people, however, day-to-day life comes with busy schedules, jobs that entail chronic stress, and histories of unresolved trauma. For far too many people, day-to-day life is lived with their sympathetic nervous systems partially triggered, and living in a state of perpetual stress and anxiety as a result of this. Sleep becomes scarce or hard to come by, which leads to further stress and anxiety during waking hours, and the cycle then repeats the next night. Micro Current Neurofeedback (MCN) does one particular thing and it does this thing well, it activates the brain’s parasympathetic nervous system, thus shutting down the sympathetic nervous system and allowing the brain to return to a state of calm and rest.

MCN is registered by the FDA as a medical relaxation technique, due to its ability to calm the brain and train it to relax. Because MCN is so effective at calming the brain, individuals who receive MCN treatments often report sleeping better, this sleep is the key to many of the issues we have seen firsthand being positively impacted by MCN treatments. It is during deep sleep cycles that our brain activates delta waves and enters into a restorative process wherein neuroplasticity occurs and the brain heals itself. During the aforementioned times of high stress and anxiety, individuals often report not sleeping well, which in turn means the brain is unable to restore and heal itself, which perpetuates the experienced stress and anxiety. MCN helps the brain to calm and relax and allows the individual to sleep, which in turn allows the brain to heal and grow in ways it may have been hindered from in the past. So while ethically we would say MCN is an FDA-approved medical relaxation technique, the truth is actually far more profound in the variety of issues we have seen treated effectively by individuals participating in ten or so MCN treatments. Many clients have reported severely reduced symptoms of anxiety (reduction of racing thoughts, better sleep, less reactivity to stressful events, and more emotional regulation) after one MCN session, with long-lasting effects after five to ten sessions. Clients have come for MCN treatments and experienced freedom from crippling migraines. Clients with concussions have seen their symptoms reduced after only a few sessions. Individuals with AD/HD (especially children) have found improved impulse control, better focus, and less agitation. This list continues, but at the end of the day training the brain to disengage its fight or flight response allows individuals freedom from being stuck.

MCN is a cutting-edge technology with emerging research that combines an electroencephalograph (an EEG) with neurofeedback. Clients answer a series of questions related to their mental and physical concerns (i.e. anxiety, depression, migraines, sleep-related issues, etc) and rate these issues on a scale of 1-10 with their technician. Following this, the MCN technician then cleans and preps several small areas around the client’s head and places a small amount of paste on these locations. Five wires with metal nodes are then placed on these locations and the treatment begins, lasting approximately fifteen to twenty minutes. The client can see their brain waves through the EEG on the computer screen in front of them while the machine both reads the client’s brain waves and simultaneously emits a small amount of energy (~1 trillionth of a picowatt) into the brain which then causes the brains parasympathetic nervous system to activate, and thus deactivating the sympathetic nervous system. Once the treatment is complete the technician cleans the sites and walks through some exit questions with the client. There are virtually no side effects or risks (in a small number of cases overstimulation can lead to headaches) and with each treatment, the results become more long-lasting as the brain recalibrates itself to unlearn learned patterns. In lieu of more science talk, let me offer up a personal example of the impact of MCN.

Christen recently began seeing an MCN client in a nearby town. The client was a young man in middle school who wrestled with life-long issues related to AD/HD including difficulty managing his impulses, struggles with focus, and a lack of maturity as it related to his behaviors at school. He was often enough in trouble, falling behind in classes, and failing to find any motivation for change. After his first session, the client reported that he noticed he slept better that night or two afterward and requested his future MCN sessions be in the evening so he could go to bed shortly after them. After his third and fourth sessions, the client was noted to be calmer, more peaceful, less reactive, and less fidgety. But perhaps the most telling signs of change came after his ninth and tenth sessions of MCN when the client’s mother attended a meeting at school with his teachers. The teachers began to share about a number of positive changes they were seeing; the client was paying attention in class, completing assignments (something that was previously unthought of), and acting in a respectful manner towards the staff. The client was no longer aggravating other students or engaging in argumentative behaviors with others. The client’s teachers reported, “We can tell he’s taking his medicine, we’ve seen a big difference lately!” Little did they know that this child had not taken his medication in months, instead he was having weekly treatments of MCN. The change was truly remarkable, and perhaps the most important aspect was that the client himself noticed, he saw the difference in himself and he felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. Sometimes all we need in life is to see that we can succeed in order to propel us toward the positive changes we need most, and at least for this client that mission was accomplished.

If you wrestle with any of the aforementioned issues, if you want to experience freedom from overwhelming symptoms, and maybe turn to a route that doesn’t require medication, MCN could be a positive route to change. Most individuals have questions about MCN before they are ready to try it out, I would encourage you to visit the Metroplex Counseling website and read more on the process as well as see the research going into MCN. We’re proud to begin offering MCN treatments right here in Grandview to help heal and restore our community members to their fullest potential. If you have questions, please reach out to Christen@MetroplexCounseling.com for more information.