The 5 Most Common Questions I Get About Neurofeedback

If you’re thinking about trying Neurofeedback — or even if you’re just curious — it’s natural to have questions.
In fact, most people considering NeurOptimal® Neurofeedback ask the same handful of things.

Here, I’ll walk you through the five most common questions I hear, with honest, practical answers to help you feel more confident and informed.

1. Are the changes from Neurofeedback permanent?

Yes — and no.

It’s important to understand that nothing in health and wellbeing is ever truly “permanent.”
Our bodies and brains are constantly changing, adapting to internal and external environments.

Neurofeedback helps you build better patterns of regulation — meaning that, yes, many positive changes can be lasting.
But if the expectation is that neurofeedback will make you feel calm, happy, and stress-free forever, that’s not realistic. Life will continue to present challenges, and stress will still happen.

Think of it like pulling roots:

• Shallow-rooted issues (like recent stress patterns) often shift and improve quickly.

• Deeper-rooted patterns may take longer to change and sometimes need ongoing support.

Neurofeedback strengthens your nervous system’s ability to return to balance — but maintaining wellbeing is always an ongoing process.

2. How many sessions will I need?

It depends — mainly on two things:

• Where you’re starting from

• Where you want to get to

Some factors that influence the number of sessions include:

• Previous work you’ve done:
  If you’ve already developed good strategies for managing stress, emotions, relationships, and time, you may move faster. Neurofeedback supports your nervous system, but it doesn’t remove external stress — strong coping skills still matter.

• Your readiness for change and to sustain it:
  Change can be exciting but also unsettling. As your resilience improves, it may bring new responsibilities, shifts in relationships, or career growth. All of this can create temporary discomfort. Sometimes staying “stuck” feels safer, even if it’s not ideal.

• How much you support the process:
  Working with your neurofeedback sessions — through good physical self-care, psychological strategies, and openness to growth — can make a big difference in your progress.

Everyone’s journey is different, and we tailor the number of sessions based on your needs. Some people find light relief from 10 sessions, those who are looking for more robust and lasting change usually go for around 30 sessions and those with longer standing dysregulation will likely need more beyond that.

3. Does Neurofeedback work for X or Y problem?

Rather than focusing only on symptoms or diagnoses, it’s helpful to “think like a brain.”

Your brain and central nervous system are designed to:

• Monitor what’s happening inside and outside of you

• Keep you physically and emotionally balanced

• Help you move away from discomfort or danger

NeurOptimal® Neurofeedback supports this natural process — helping your brain become more efficient at recognising and responding to stress.
It doesn’t “treat” a diagnosis directly, but it helps you build the capacity to rise to challenges and return to balance more easily.

NeurOptimal trains the whole of the brain so it’s capacity to offer regulation is far reaching across all brain function. I find that often when people are looking for only very specific symptom reduction, they can easily miss all the other areas that have improved. You brain will improve brain function in its own way and in its own time. This means that symptom reduction often does happen but in a way that your brain decides to deliver it.

Many mental health diagnoses — like generalised anxiety, OCD, or depression — describe patterns of how people have learned to cope with stress over time.
Neurofeedback helps improve the stress response that underlies these patterns.

That said, insight (gained through therapy or self-reflection) is still crucial.
Understanding where your coping patterns came from and how they shape your life is an important part of change — and neurofeedback works beautifully alongside that deeper insight work.

4. Will I lose who I am?

This is a really common — and very understandable — worry.
Change can feel uncertain, and it’s natural to wonder: If I change, will I still be me?

The good news is, Neurofeedback doesn’t change who you are — it helps you become more yourself.

By calming and balancing the stress response, Neurofeedback helps you access the parts of yourself that might have been buried under anxiety, overwhelm, or mental fatigue.
Most people find that they become:

• Calmer

• More grounded

• Clearer-thinking

• More productive

• Better able to tackle the challenges of their life

What about creativity?
Some people worry that reducing stress might somehow blunt their creative spark — but the opposite is true.
Anxiety and creativity are different processes.
In fact, when your nervous system is calmer, it often frees up more mental space for creativity, problem-solving, and imagination.

Neurofeedback doesn’t take anything away — it gives you access to more of your natural capacities.

5. How does Neurofeedback work?

Neurofeedback works by giving your brain real-time information about its own activity, helping it learn to regulate itself more efficiently.

During a NeurOptimal® session, sensors monitor your brain’s electrical patterns while you listen to music.
Each time your brain shows signs of shifting into less optimal activity, the music very briefly interrupts — like a tiny cue for your brain to “notice itself.”

Over time, this gentle feedback helps your brain recognise unhelpful patterns and adjust toward greater stability, flexibility, and resilience — without effort or conscious control on your part.

It’s a bit like holding up a mirror for your brain, allowing it to self-correct naturally.

Don’t worry if you are still confused by this one. I have a more in depth blog post here if you wanter a deeper dive on this question: .how-does-neuroptimal-work?

Final Thoughts

Neurofeedback isn’t magic — but it is a powerful tool for helping you build a more flexible, resilient, and grounded nervous system.
It supports you in facing challenges more calmly, thinking more clearly, and becoming the best version of yourself — without changing who you are at the core.

If you have more questions or you’re curious about how Neurofeedback might support your journey, feel free to reach out.
I’m always happy to have a conversation and help you explore whether it’s a good fit for you. hello@bodymindbrain.co.uk