"How fast does change happen?" and "How soon will I start to notice changes?" are the most frequent questions.
I totally understand why people want an answer to this question. Unfortunately, I have to give that all-time number one frustrating answer: "It depends."
But I have thought of a metaphor that I think helps to explain why I can't predict what change will be like for any one person. Let me know if this makes sense to you...
Change using neurofeedback is like water finding a new direction or rate of flow.
Sometimes there is a physical block that the power of the water finally forces its way through.
This experience of change is sudden and freeing. One may be overwhelmed by the increase in freedom or feel flooded by the power of the new flow. After the initial burst, however, the flow returns to its "pre-blocked" level of power, although flowing more freely and naturally.
Sometimes the block can't be directly moved and the water gradually starts to create a new path of flow and/or to erode away the block. Then the changes are small, too small to directly notice, but they accumulate until the final outcome is noticeably different.
This experience of change is totally different - no flooding, no overwhelm, no exhilaration; rather, a gradual unfolding of a different way of being, of experiencing oneself, others, and the world.
Not being able to see the actual "flows" and "blocks" in your brain or evaluate directly how hard they are to change, I can't tell you which of these ways of change you personally will experience.
There are some things that a user of neurofeedback can do to help the process along and I'll be writing about these in another article. One of them is harnessing the power of the heart, which I've mentioned before (see A Recipe for Personal Evolution). Another is to really apply this water metaphor and allow your "flow" to run where it needs to. Sometimes people try to force certain kinds of change and, like water, you just can't push it.
Let me know if this explanation is useful for you and stay tuned for more of how you can maximize your use of neurofeedback.
