Many like to use a computer analogy when talking about the brain, and I suppose in some ways, the comparison is apt. The brain requires a good power source in the form of healthy food. It can do complex computations quickly. There are some specific places in the brain where specific functions are governed.

But, the comparisons end there, because the brain is far more complex and dynamic than any machine, even if it cannot do some of the things that AI currently does for us.

This is why I find it frustrating when clients come to me after working with someone else to see if they can get better, or any, results. Usually, such people bring along for me to see copies of assessments conducted in other offices. These documents are often HUGE—I’ve seen QEEGs (quantitative EEG measurements) that are 175 pages long. My frustration comes from looking at these reports and discovering that all these quite precise measurements get distilled down in to a recommendation to train at one location, or perhaps two locations, on the scalp. That’s an awful lot of data for awfully weak output.

What was the point of going to all that effort, if you’re going to train at just one place?

Some manufacturers of neurofeedback equipment will claim that if you train at one spot on the brain, you are, indeed, training the whole brain. To a certain extent, that is true. But, it is also true that it would be far more effective to train over exact location needed rather than some faraway point and calling it a day.

My impression is that this is one of the key reasons that I’ve heard stories of people who have tried neurofeedback and gotten no results (there are other reasons, but this one is highly significant).

Because of this, I prefer an approach called Whole-Brain Training. It uses a Trainers’ QEEG, which is similar to a standard QEEG, except that it is not sent off to a third party for comparisons against normative databases. A Trainers’ QEEG measures the brain against itself and uses ratios that we know from the scientific literature point to more optimal brain functioning. By using a Trainers’ QEEG and one’s own knowledge, a skilled practitioner who uses Whole-Brain Training can generate a neurofeedback training plan with up to 15 different protocols to help you achieve your goals. Each of those protocols can tap in to 23 different addresses on the scalp that correspond to brain function below.

I prefer this approach because it gently shows the brain, in the places that the brain will benefit, what it is doing in the moment. This allows the brain to self-regulate in those places by shifting energy systems.

I like to compare Whole-Brain Training to circuit training the body. A good personal trainer would never train your quadriceps without also training hamstrings, because it’s not beneficial in the long run to create muscle imbalances. In the same way, I do not believe that taking a metaphorical hammer and chisel to one spot on the brain makes sense for most people.

This doesn’t mean that other approaches don’t work; they can and often do, and I have great respect for some of my colleagues who use other approaches. And, of course, there are some situations in which it does not make sense to circuit-train the brain the way one circuit-trains the body. When this rare event occurs, I adjust to meet the trainee where they are, with what they need.

But, I believe that for most people, Whole-Brain Training based on Trainers’ QEEG measurements makes the most sense, is the most thorough, and is more cost effective when compared with standard QEEGs.