Pretty much everyone who is connected with a school system in any way—whether a parent, teacher, or service provider—finds that their schedule looks different in the summer. Mine generally does, too, because the way people choose to engage in brain-training often shifts to accommodate vacations and more or less free time.
If you’re considering starting neurofeedback training this summer, be aware that there are several options for you to choose.
The first option involves a regular, steady pace. People who choose this start neurofeedback when it works for their schedule, and they keep plugging along at the same pace during the summer. They have goals, and with the exception of a week or two of summer vacation, they keeping working toward their goals consistently. This group comprises about half of my summer hours.
A second option is to start once school gets out and keep going until finished, which is generally near the end of September. People who choose this are waiting for school to end in May or June so that their schedule is more free. Once classes end, they look just like regular clients, with twice-weekly sessions until they’re ready to wind down. To get the required number of sessions in, they may continue into the fall months, accelerate their training to include a third or fourth session some weeks, or perhaps even postpone travel time. This works for local folks, but is not optimal for college students who will be leaving in August.
A third option involves more intensive training. We get started with training as soon as school lets out and schedule to complete our sessions before school resumes in the fall. People who choose this option train intensively three-to-five days a week for eight to 15 weeks. They often are college students or students who are heavily involved in extra-curricular activities during the academic year and would have trouble adding one more thing to their already-packed schedules. Every now and then, I also get someone who has just discovered neurofeedback and wants to hurry their results.
The final option is one that very few people choose, simply because it is SO time-intensive. It involves training four or five days a week, twice a day, until training is completed, usually around the 40-hour mark. It works and gets good results, but it is only for the truly dedicated and time-crunched.
Obviously, neurofeedback can be altered to accommodate most schedules, including the crazy hours of student summer jobs. As long as sessions are held in some kind of regular pattern, a week or two of travel/vacation usually can be fit in to the training schedule with no problem.
About the only type of schedule that I will not accommodate is the one in which a person is gone most of the summer. It’s a waste of your time and money to come for a week, be gone for three, try training another week, then be gone again. If that’s what your summer looks like, neurofeedback may not be a good fit for you until the fall. Once things settle down into the routine of the academic year, brain training will make more sense.
I’m generally as flexible and accommodating as I can be, but if you know in advance that your summer schedule is going to be tight, or you want to train intensively, reach out as soon as you know you want to get started. That way, you can reserve time on my schedule that is going to work well for you. Plan ahead, before someone else gets that time slot you really wanted!