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The Gosney Group

Douglas Gosney, MA, MFT (Lic# MFC21437)                                                           Neil Eisman, BS

Marriage & Family Therapist                                                                                    

douglasgosney@mac.com                                                                       

310-867-5349                                                                                                              

LENS Low Energy Neurofeedback

What are “frozen” brainwave patterns and why are they important?

The human body automatically reacts to physical injury of a limb or joint by attempting to immobilize the injured part, while compensating with and often over-using other parts of the body. These compensations tend to linger long after the original injury has healed.

As people experience the normal and extraordinary emotional traumas of life, and often-unrecognized physical traumas to the head, the human brain responds in a remarkably similar fashion. Painful memories, traumatized neurons, and their corresponding brainwaves are suppressed, while other parts of the brain become over-used and over-reactive. We call these dysfunctional patterns “frozen,” because they are stuck, engrained in the nervous system, and are often beyond our conscious ability to change. They persist long after the original insult.

Frozen brainwave patterns are integral to virtually any recurrent, unwanted thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They may be found at the root of anxiety and depression, obsessive and compulsive thoughts and behaviors, poor focus and memory, and many other symptoms.

What is the Low Energy Neurofeedback System?

The Low Energy Neurofeedback System (LENS) is a remarkable technology, developed by Ochs Labs over the last 20 years, that helps to lift suppression and free the brain from these intractable patterns. It stimulates neural self-regulation and neuroplasticity, enabling the brain’s natural, but often dormant, ability to rebalance itself and restore normal, flexible functioning.

LENS gives the brain a “tune-up,” with most clients reporting long-lasting improvements in the areas of anxiety, mood, cognition, motivation, and/or motor function. People often sleep better, sometimes dramatically so, and have more daytime energy. They report experiencing themselves as more resourced to deal with life, accomplishing more with less effort and overwhelm. While it relieves the symptoms of many different conditions, even high-functioning people with no particular complaints say they see benefits.

What happens in a LENS treatment?

Small sensors are placed on each of the client’s ears and a single spot on their scalp. The sensors are connected to an EEG device, which is in turn connected to and controlled by a computer with special LENS software. The computer and the brain then engage in a brief “conversation,” with no conscious effort or involvement on the part of the client. The LENS “listens” to the brain and then “talks back,” sending an extremely weak signal back to the brain, similar to but altered from what the brain is putting out.

Like a singer distracted by an off-key fellow choir member, this similar yet different signal seems to throw the brain off its stride. The LENS gently disrupts whatever habitual frozen patterns the brain is engaged in. For a moment the brain is freed from the adaptations of the past and can try something more appropriate to the present.

Depending on the client’s sensitivity and reactivity, this procedure may be repeated on additional points.   Usually the client feels nothing or very subtle sensations during the treatment itself, then within a day or two starts to become aware of effects.

Is LENS safe?

The LENS feedback signal is called “low energy” because it is less than a trillionth of a watt, thousands of times weaker than the energy from a cell phone or the brain itself. While the signal is considered harmless, this powerful treatment is not without risk of temporarily unpleasant experiences.

The most common negative side effects are temporary tiredness or mild headache. Occasionally painful memories and old symptoms may be revisited before resolving, better than before. Usually this takes a few days, and very rarely a few weeks.

Since it is impossible to predict what a person’s response will be, particularly for a new client, pacing LENS treatments inevitably involves some educated trial and error. It takes time to integrate the changes triggered by LENS, and if too much is given too soon, even positive results can be overwhelming. If too little is given, nothing happens.

After tens of thousands of sessions over 20 years, Ochs Labs says it’s yet to receive a report of a long-term negative effect.