What is LENS Neurotherapy?
The Low Energy Neurofeedback System (LENS) is unique in the field of neurotherapy in that it does not aim to reinforce specific brainwave patterns using a reward and punishment mechanism, as do traditional forms of neurofeedback.
Instead of training your brainwaves, LENS measures the ever-changing electrical activity arising from various areas of your brain, and then sends back to your scalp an extremely faint electromagnetic signal, which mimics your own brain waves. It is as though your brain is provided with a “mirror” that allows it to see what it is doing and then adjust itself.
The feedback signal used in LENS is weaker than the field around a digital wrist watch. Not only is it so tiny that it cannot be felt; its duration is extremely small as well — just a few seconds per site on the head in a typical session.
It may seem incredible that such a slight and ephemeral feedback could produce any change in brain function without conscious effort from the individual receiving the feedback.
Yet its effectiveness across a wide spectrum of health challenges, which has been demonstrated in numerous studies, is in full conformity with the recognition that we are hypersensitive to our own brain waves (dominant frequencies and waveform shapes).
It was this recognition that inspired the development of LENS. Specifically, its creator, Dr. Len Ochs, discovered that if our own dominant frequency is fed back at a slight offset, our brain waves will “try” to follow it and, by doing so, they will lose power and break up stuck patterns.
According to Ochs, LENS achieves its results by breaking up the rigid, self-protective way our brain has of responding to stress or trauma. There is ample evidence that stressful and traumatic events, whether emotional or physical, tend to freeze certain parts of the brain into “gridlock,” which often persists long after the event is over and the danger is past, reducing the person’s neural flexibility of functioning. As a consequence, the person can become stuck in various kinds of dysfunction.
With LENS, the brain is nudged out of its default frequency, or moved “out of gridlock.” In other words, using the feedback signal that is just off the dominant frequency breaks up existing neuronal patterns and enables them to reset at a different level.
Ochs also found that “less is more”: a very gentle, low-energy feedback signal is effective because our brain can respond to it without activating its “defense mechanisms,” which it would do against stronger stimulation.
​It is important to note that only frozen and stuck patterns are affected by LENS treatment. Healthy brainwave patterns are flexible and resilient. When there is a tiny fluctuation in their pattern they automatically spring back to that healthy state.
In contrast to every other neurofeedback system, LENS is not a learning process. It is a re-setting process. This means the therapist does not attempt to shape a client’s brain functioning to the dictates of some database of “normal” brain wave patterns. Instead, people automatically and non-consciously configure themselves through the LENS feedback system.
Who can benefit from LENS?
LENS works well with various forms of central nervous dysfunction. These include symptoms of ADD/ADHD, PTSD, traumatic brain injury (including concussions), behaviour disorders, pervasive developmental delay, autism, Asperger’s, and birth trauma.
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While all of the above conditions have different causes, the end result is frozen, stuck neuronal patterns.
Importantly, LENS neurofeedback is not guided by diagnosis. It is not a treatment for any specific condition. It is a generalized process that optimizes brain function.​
LENS is remarkably effective: over 85% of people who have used this neurofeedback modality have benefited significantly from it. Results can be seen quickly, often beginning with the first session, and are long-lasting.
LENS has been used successfully across a wide spectrum of functional issues:
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Cognition — Problems with sequencing, memory, providing and maintaining attention, concentration, clarity, and organization.
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Mood — Angry outbursts, irritability, or frustration, even over small matters.
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Problems of anxiety system activity, such as persistent restlessness, rumination, agitation, distractibility, difficulty breathing, palpitations, insomnia, and depression.
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Reactivity — Hypersensitivity and exaggerated responses to physical and psychological stressors.
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Motor skills — Ungraceful and effortful movement, problems with eye-hand coordination, balance, increased muscle tone (from spasticity), and tremor.
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Motivation — Difficulty initiating or completing tasks, and shifting from one activity to another.
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Pain — Brain-generated (resulting from the brain’s interpreting safe signals from the body as if they were dangerous) and vascular.
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Addictions/Dependencies — Inability to internally soothe life’s distresses.
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Fatigue.
LENS treatment is always individualized in accordance with the client’s brainwave patterns. Further, the order of sites to be used in treatment, the degree to which the feedback signal is offset from the person’s dominant brainwave frequency, the duration of stimulation, and session frequency are individually tailored as well, based on the person’s history of health issues, reactivity and sensitivity (assessed by the therapist prior to treatment), and subjective responses to treatment.
LENS does not require any learning or concentration, and the client does not have to do anything specific during the session, which makes it an excellent option for young children and adults who, for various reasons, have trouble understanding instructions or focusing.
Improvements are typically seen after just one to four sessions, with the average course of treatment hovering around 11 sessions.
The immediate effects of LENS are subtle and often begin below the level of consciousness until one’s awareness grows. Right after a session, clients often feel refreshed, report more range of motion when they move, and mention that tightness or pain has eased. Often it is others in the clients’ lives who notice shifts in them first: “Their spirit has become lighter. They have become more patient, attentive, and helpful. And easier to get along with.”
As the clients’ self-awareness increases with successive sessions, they typically experience being more awake in their life and more connected to their essence. They also feel calmer and at the same time energized. They realize that they are more able to “flow” in stressful situations. Symptom improvement follows naturally and there is often an accompanying increase in overall functionality, competence, and willingness to move ahead, develop new skills, and explore new things in life.
Examples of what clients have shared regarding what they noticed and what surprised them
In session:
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Colors are more vivid
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Room looks brighter
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Sense of hearing is more acute
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Sense of smell is more acute
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Eyesight has improved / details in the room / out the window are sharper
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Sense of relaxation, calm, shoulders dropping
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Easier to breathe, deeper breathing, calmer breathing
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Less rumination, fewer thoughts running the mind
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Feeling lighter
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Easier to laugh
Within 48 hours after session:
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“I’m not yelling at my kids anymore!”
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“I’m not grumpy!”
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“After the last session, my daughter was humming in the back seat as we were driving home. She hasn’t done that in two years!”
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“After the last session, my husband is singing in the shower again. He hasn’t done that in a long time!”
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“My child is no longer having meltdowns every day!”
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“My child now makes eye contact!”
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“My child now spontaneously hugs me and crawls in my lap!”
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“I am no longer raiding the refrigerator at midnight!”
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Drinking less than usual
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Smoking less than usual
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Communicating needs or feelings more easily
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Patience increasing
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Intuition increasing
The return of clarity and sense of humour, energy during the day, restful sleep, motivation to get things done, ease of getting things done, improved memory, ability to read and listen with little or no distraction, and the absence of depression, irritability, impatience, and explosiveness have been observed repeatedly.
Body LENS
Body LENS expands the definition of what can be achieved with neurofeedback by viewing the entire nervous system (central, peripheral, autonomic) as one continuous chain that can be accessed at different points throughout the body, in contrast to the top-down approach where the focus is exclusively on the brain.
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Body LENS is the application of the LENS technology to the body, which has proven to be effective in reducing pain activity, especially when its origin is not clear or it is resistant to conventional treatments.
Book an appointment
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If you are booking your first appointment with me, please make sure to download and fill the intake form, consent form, and questionnaire (for LENS neurofeedback) beforehand.
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My services are covered by Blue Cross Health Insurance (Provider # A424297).
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Coverage by other insurance companies is not guaranteed.
Before your first LENS appointment:
After booking your first appointment, please access The Patient Portal here and fill out the intake form and questionnaires (all three pages). This is important because we will need your questionnaires during the initial assessment.
Please download and read carefully the Information about your LENS treatment and sign the consent form here.
If you do not have a printer, you can sign the form in our office, but you won't have time to read it during the session, so please be prepared to sign it.
After your LENS appointments:
Within 48 hours after each session, please fill the “Top 10” questionnaire to keep track of the changes you have noticed. We need this information to determine the best parameters for your next session!
Have a question? Send me a message and I’ll get back to you.
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