Practitioners
Research Papers
Neurofeedback Practitioner Factors Related to Client Adherence
Introduction. This study systematically identified, extracted, and organized neurofeedback (NFB) practitioner factors connected to client adherence. It is important to understand this connection because increased adherence leads to improved NFB outcomes. A previous NFB conceptual framework and previous NFB client adherence findings were used to guide the current study. Method. One hundred and ninety-eight NFB practitioners completed online surveys gathering demographic information and ratings of practice behaviors and characteristics. For data set analyses, this study utilized SPSS version 20 for descriptive statistics, frequencies, means, standard deviations, ranges, Pearson product-moment correlation analyses, and independent samples t-tests. Results. Findings indicated that the following significantly correlated with client adherence: (a) practitioner technical and interpersonal techniques; (b) practitioner commitment to improving technical and interpersonal skills; and (c) practitioner confidence displayed during sessions. Results also indicated commitment correlated separately with techniques and confidence. These results suggested that practitioners engaging in self-NFB sessions reported significantly higher adherence rates compared to practitioners not engaging in self-NFB sessions. Findings demonstrated that practitioners conducting ≧ 40 monthly NFB sessions reported significantly higher adherence rates compared to practitioners conducting < 40 monthly NFB sessions. Conclusion. This study concluded that practitioners with commitment to improving their technical and interpersonal expertise leads to increased confidence during NFB sessions, ultimately improving adherence and outcome rates. When averaging 40 or more NFB sessions with clients per month, practitioners provide themselves with continued opportunities to practice current and new technical and interpersonal skills. By conducting self-NFB, practitioners develop their own descriptions of physiological regulation and share their own results with clients, which in turn builds rapport and increases therapeutic bonds leading to higher adherence.
View Full Paper →Practitioner Perspectives of Neurofeedback Therapy for Mental Health and Physiological Disorders
Introduction. This study utilized a systematic method to identify and to categorize practitioner perspectives related to neurofeedback therapy (NFT) for mental health and physiological disorders. We offer the identified themes for utilization in future research on practitioner variables influencing process and outcome variables, which adds to our knowledge and understanding of NFT. Method. Seventy-one practitioners completed online surveys gathering demographic information and responses to open-ended questions about advantages, disadvantages, practitioner characteristics, and essential components of NFT. We utilized Loftland and Loftland's (1984) systematic filing system and Berg's (2004) themes to concepts to analyze our data set, which allowed us to combine similar themes into categorical frameworks. Results. Our results provided five conceptual frameworks: advantages (84 concepts within 6 categories), disadvantages (53 concepts within 5 categories), knowledge (29 concepts in 4 categories), skills (35 concepts within 3 categories), and traits (36 concepts in 5 categories). Conclusion. An extensive number of themes revolved around three major findings. The first finding reported the ongoing NFT effectiveness of improving health conditions through symptom reduction and enhancing quality of life. The second finding emphasized an extensive practitioner commitment to overcoming the complexity of NFT. The final major finding described dissemination and financial issues related to NFT. Within this study, we expand on these issues and discuss the implication for future research and practice. We do not offer the findings within this study as a comprehensive list; rather, we offer this as a potential starting point for expanding the research of variables related to NFT.
View Full Paper →Neurotherapy and the Challenge of Empirical Support: A Call for a Neurotherapy Practice Research Network
This paper summarizes a review of the empirical support for neurotherapy (NT) as a treatment for psychological and neurological disorders according to the criteria for efficacious treatments set forth by Chambless and Hollon (1998). The review classifies the level of efficacy established for five of ten disorders examined according to the evidence reported in the literature. Specific suggestions for two distinct future research strategies are given. The first of these is in the area of mechanism research and efficacy; the second is a proposal for the creation of an observational study Practitioner Research Network (PRN) aimed at providing data on the effectiveness of neurotherapy as practiced in the field.
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