I want to know if neurofeedback at the Drake institute is a scam?

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.

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