I want to know if neurofeedback at the Drake institute is a scam?
I want to take my daughter off of Adderall, and the Drake Institute offers a possible "cure" for ADHD using neurofeedback. Are they just a (very expensive) scam, preying on the desperate? Is that why insurance will not cover it?
I can give you a good objective answer, but it won't be too brief. I live very near Drake but did a lot of on line and phone research of many opportunities before I decided to go to Drake (There are a lot of opportunities to be found as well as devices that you work at home with under the direction of a medical person as well as a Dr Amen and another clinic in Lake Forest). I am an adult so Drake would only do 15 initial sessions "to see if I could respond" to their treatments. I did and at the same time resolved the goal of this whole thing is to separate mental (thought) and physiological stresses and anxieties through the process of relaxation and focus. Soon after, I further resolved that the pace of improvement they set would be extremely expensive so I cancelled my last month's appointments. Also, after about twenty sessions I was not able to reduce the huge amount of medications, which is the original reason for my starting. I met with them and stated that I was not getting much 'bang for my buck' and would not continue. The result is I will have to take them to small claims court to get my unused deposit returned. Are they a scam; not an apparent one. The field of neurofeedback is relatively young and not approved by the FDA(?). In retrospect I think that the field is too new and holding field trials with control groups would be very expensive --and what person would want to invest the time and be getting a placebo. These are at least some of the reasons insurance won't cover it. My biggest disappointments are slow speed of improvement and inability to reduce the medications I am taking. PS: I have all their relaxation exercises as well as Tai Chi exercise DVD to use if I could just slow down and focus enough to use them.
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Hey Kay,
During the 90's, a couple who belonged to my adult ADD support group decided to investigate the potential benefits of neurofeedback. He was in his 60's at the time. He benefited.
His partner, equally impressed with the results, trained as a neurofeedback technician and then joined the clinic.
She briefly provided services here then a contract was secured to provide neurofeedback to children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) on the other side of the state. Sadly, less than a year after she began this work, she had an accident following a surgery and passed away. Her mother told me that at the funeral, most, if not all, of the parents of the FAS children related how much the neurofeedback training had improved the lives of their children.
I have another friend who tried it 20 years ago with poor results. Many years later it was discovered that he had a brain injury to the frontal lobes, the result of a difficult birth. He did not respond well to the neurofeedback, but he didn't respond well to medication either.
Neurofeedback appears to be helpful to some people with ADHD, but interestingly, it doesn't help everyone. As mentioned in the previous post, a certain number of treatments must be done before it can be determined if continuing with the treatment will be helpful. This is true for children too, not just adults.
If there is an support group for parents of ADD children or ADD adults in the area of the Drake Institute, you might consider attending a few meetings. Once there, you might have an opportunity to connect with families who have recieved treatment from the Drake Institute and get some feedback. If that's not possible, the group leader might be able to put you in touch with one or more families by phone.
Winnie, an adult ADD advocate
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Lorena
Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 01:52 AM
justamom
Monday, June 01, 2009 at 04:08 PM
My son (8 at the time) went through the Drake program for ADHD a year ago. It helped him dramatically. He is still an impluslive child, but now he has an ability to focus and engage in tasks that he used to lack copmletely, he also now have selfcontrol (still in need of improvement) that was not existant then.
In my opinion the Drake Institute is a scam. My son was suppose to start a program at the clinic in Vista and just when the program started, they closed the Vista clinic.
I have been trying to get my money back since they were unable to deliver the program that we paid for at the Vista clinic, but NO ONE will call me back. I just keep getting promises that someone will call me back and even Dr. Velkoff fails to return my calls. I have been calling for 7 weeks now.
Please do not make the same mistake that I made, DO NOT trust these people!
I am seeking legal advice on how I should proceed to get a refund.
Parents who have been scammed by Drake should get together and file legal action!
How sad that Drake takes advantage of Parents who just want the best for their child. These are the Parents who have struggled for years to try and help their child only to get scammed by Drake. This is like pouring salt into a wound!
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Velkoff's Victim
Monday, August 03, 2009 at 01:03 AM
Here is an update regarding my comments about the Drake Institute not returning my phone calls after I requested a refund. The day after I entered the email on this website, I received a call from the Drake Institute promising once again that I will receive a refund within the next few days. Let's see what happens! I will keep you updated on my progress.
Velkoff's Victim
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 11:16 PM
I am please to say that I finally received a refund from the Drake Institute as promised. It is to bad that I had to go through so much grief to get my refund.
I am no longer a Drake victim!
InsightOnDrake
Friday, October 09, 2009 at 05:06 PM
Regarding the Drake Institute:
I have had the privilege of obtaining a very in-depth understanding to the operations of the drake institute. I would like to express my personal view on this matter.
I cannot attest to the validity of their treatment I would however like to point out the following:
After months of working with this company I soon realized that the program they offer is not a diamond in the ruff, it is my personal opinion that your children can benefit greatly through treatment at a different clinic. Although they have a developed program, the cost of such programs are enormous in comparison to other clinics in the immediate area that offer a more personalized treatment. Many of the operations I bared witness to were unethical and unjust using promotions to obtain bizarre payment methods such as cash.
I have seen a very close personal friend of mine undertake the treatment with outstanding results, changes that would have taken years to adopt. I am very optimistic about the program, but must emphasize that a company is as good as the people managing it and after my experience I would never recommend this treatment through the Drake Institute as the people running it only want one thing "money" at all costs.
A clinic should at all times be about the patients, and not the profits; issues that any company has should never be taken out on the clients as I have seen time and time again with Drake.
I would like to express that I too have Aspergers and ADHD, and would like to relay a message to many parents that do not fully grasp the benefits of being Aspergers and ADHD. The Drake Institute will repeatedly tell their patients that they need the treatment as if this was a malfunction. I would like to point out through my personal experience that Aspergers and ADHD has only worked as a blessing for me. It has given me an edge in the work place allowing me to understand complex situations, most would have never seen through my point of view. It has also assisted in my high IQ of 161 and my immense liking to science subjects and business finance as a result, this liking has sky rocketed me into becoming an Executive Director of a financial firm structuring multi-million dollar transactions all of this came from my parent just taking the time to recognize my strengths. I understand how Aspergers and ADHD effects lives very well as all of my 4 siblings have it as well. I strongly encourage all parents that have children with this blessing of Aspergers and ADHD to find the subject that your child thrives in and support them as much as you can for you will find that these kids are child prodigies if presented with the right opportunity.
To conclude I do recommend biofeedback and neurofeedback as treatment to assist children with Aspergers and ADHD weaknesses such as sociability, keeping on task, and self-confidence boosting, but I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TREATMENT THROUGH THE DRAKE INSTITUTE OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE.
PS I have read other posts referencing that Drake is horrible with refunds, I also personally understand the frustration as I too am owed thousands in arrearages from drake, my firm has waited now 6 months for payment and damages payment nothing has come of it.
Thank you for reviewing this post as I hope it will not cause any legal consequences for me I will keep you posted as to the outcome of this honesty and freedom of speech on this forum.
Greg T.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 02:00 AM
Who are Drake Institute competitors that you recommend in Los Angeles or San Fernando Valley?
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Hi there, not sure if you have since gone to the Drake. I did, it didnt help one bit. $5,000 later I'm still on meds and frankly ADD is not cureable - i've had to manage it and be creative in my methods of learning. The neurofeedback lessons were not effective. They did the brain scan and definitely found deficiencies in the frontal cortex area - but nothing they taught was beneficial. I sincerely tried too. i was excited that perhaps there would be something that would help me manage my mind and help with concentration and focus, unfortunately i was very dissolutioned. i stopped short of 4 contract sessions. They did not repy to my requests for a refund and i had a devil of time trying to get them to reply. I had to take them to small claims. Shame on them!