Name That Tune was a television game show from the 1950s in which contestants competed to see who could identify pieces of music in the shortest time possible. A catchphrase from the show was “I can name that tune in X notes,” and the best among them would attempt to name a song in just three or four notes.

Sometimes, it feels like some neurofeedback practitioners are engaged in their own version of Name That Tune, only instead of playing with songs, they claim they can Cure That Disorder in X sessions. The result of this rather absurd game is that some people start to believe that neurofeedback normally only takes as few as, say, six sessions.  Another reaction is that people who hear these stories begin to think that the field of neurofeedback is full of snake oil salesmen who peddle in false promises.

Neither is true. What may occur during a controlled experiment may, indeed, be faster than what happens in the real world, but the truth is that for most of us who live outside the research world, making significant and long-lasting changes to our bodies takes time and doesn’t involve curing anything.  And, despite sometimes too-good-to-be-true claims, most neurofeedback practitioners who do not engage in invasive techniques agree that anywhere between 20 and 60 sessions is a reasonable number.

The goal for most of us is not to play Name That Tune and go with the least number of sessions possible. Taking that path is likely to result in disappointment. It is far better to find a practitioner who can come close to finding the sweet spot that lies between doing too few sessions, which can result in backsliding, and too many sessions, which is just a waste of time and money.  It takes an experienced and intuitive practitioner to find that balance, but it can be done.