Your brain’s top priority is always keeping you safe and alive, and it’s wired to be alert and reactive to accomplish this. It’s always subconsciously scanning your environment for anything it feels might be dangerous. When it feels threatened, it activates a “stress response” that starts a cascade of neurochemical and bodily changes that prepare you to flee or fight for your life.
Every time your brain’s fear alarm is activated, it takes note of what triggered it and files it away in your subconscious memory. In this way, your brain “learns” to be anxious through associative conditioning. It learns from your environment, others, and past experiences as you grow up, to associate certain things or experiences with fear and anxiety. These things may initially have nothing to do with each other, but they can become connected in your unique neural web and automatically trigger the stress response for you. Your brain is innately programmed to be suspicious of anything unfamiliar, because remember, it’s looking for potential threats and wants to protect you. These conditions lead to anxiety.
In today’s 24/7, hectic, overstimulating, and overwhelming world, your brain’s alarm gets activated much too frequently.
When this happens, the fear circuit in your brain can get stuck “on” which results in your brain releasing a constant supply of stress hormones and producing an overabundance of the brainwaves indicative of stress and anxiety. Pretty soon, a non-specific undercurrent of stress, racing thoughts, of “something not being right” becomes your brain’s normal mode, and you begin experiencing the physical symptoms and behavioral problems associated with anxiety.
I want you to know that your brain can “unlearn” anxiety. If a neuron fires and isn’t repeatedly followed by the activation of subsequent neurons, the connection between them weakens, and the pattern of the stress response being triggered is interrupted. Eventually, your brain breaks the old associations and forms new neural pathways, which means a calmer, less stressed and anxious you. This “unlearning” has been shown to successfully resolve phobias, anxiety disorders, and PTSD.
The answer to easing and reversing anxiety is to turn down your brain’s stress response and to turn up your brain’s relaxation response. To get technical, your brain needs to increase its slow wave activity so your mind and body can become less aroused and reactive.¹
Frequently Asked Questions
About Anxiety
We’ve gathered a list of commonly asked questions about Anxiety, for your convenience. If you don’t see the information you need, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Simply click on the question that interests you to navigate directly to the relevant section.
Yes. A meaningful and growing body of research supports neurofeedback as a very effective approach for mitigating the symptoms of anxiety. Neurofeedback works by training the brain’s electrical patterns away from the hyperarousal states that drive anxiety At Grey Matters, every program begins with a personalized QEEG brain map to identify those patterns before training begins.
Neurofeedback works by giving the brain real-time feedback on its own activity. Over time, this helps encourage healthier patterns related to calm, regulation, sleep, and stress tolerance.
Yes. EEG neurofeedback is non-invasive and drug-free. Sensors placed on the scalp only read the brain’s electrical activity — no electrical signal is delivered to the brain at any point. It is well-tolerated by both adults and children. Some people notice mild fatigue after early sessions as the nervous system adjusts, which typically resolves quickly. Grey Matters conducts a thorough brain map and intake assessment before training begins to ensure the approach is appropriate and precisely matched to each individual’s brain profile.
It may help reduce the nervous system dysregulation that contributes to panic attacks. Many clients report feeling less reactive and better able to recover when anxiety starts to rise.
Yes. Many clients continue medication while doing neurofeedback. Any medication changes should always be handled by your prescribing provider.
It can be helpful across many forms of anxiety because the goal is to support healthier brain regulation. Your training plan is based on your symptoms and brain patterns, not just the label.
Most clients begin noticing meaningful shifts — a quieter baseline, reduced reactivity, more ease in situations that usually trigger anxiety — within the first several weeks of training. A 2025 clinical trial found significant anxiety reductions over a 15-session protocol spanning five weeks, with gains continuing after training ended. A complete program at Grey Matters is personalized based on brain map results and typically spans a few months.
Most sessions feel calm and easy. You sit comfortably, watch or listen to something relaxing, and let the brain do the work.
Many clients feel their improvements hold well after training, especially when they complete a full course. Some choose occasional booster sessions during especially stressful seasons.
Yes. Panic and panic attacks can involve a rapid threat-response cascade where the body reacts intensely before the thinking brain has time to fully interpret what is happening.
Neurofeedback trains the connection — helping the brain learn to de-escalate threat responses more efficiently and return to baseline more quickly. Many clients who experience panic attacks report a reduction in frequency and a less severe, shorter recovery period as training progresses.
Neurofeedback has shown positive results across multiple anxiety presentations, including generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, health anxiety, panic disorder, and anxiety that co-occurs with PTSD or trauma. It is also commonly used for performance anxiety in athletes, executives, and students. Because training is guided by a personalized brain map, the protocol adjusts to the specific brainwave patterns underlying each individual’s experience — rather than applying a one-size approach to different anxiety types. If your anxiety doesn’t fit neatly into a single category, that’s normal and not a barrier to starting.
Cognitive behavioral approaches work at the level of thought — identifying distorted patterns, building more accurate interpretations, and developing coping skills for anxious moments. They are evidence-based and genuinely effective for many people. Neurofeedback works at the level of the brain’s underlying electrical activity — the nervous system’s baseline arousal level. So, cognitive approaches train how you respond to anxiety; neurofeedback trains the brain to generate less anxiety in the first place. Many people find the two approaches complementary — building coping skills while also addressing the brainwave patterns that make those skills harder to access in activated moments.
Grey’s Plan — The Most Complete
Brain Training We Offer
If you want the most comprehensive, all-inclusive, guided solution for focus, behavior, and overall brain health—for your child or yourself, Grey’s Plan gives you everything needed to make the next 4 months the turning point.
Neurofeedback alone is powerful.
But when you combine brain training with gut testing, clinical oversight, and unlimited support, results come faster, smoother, and last longer.
Sources: 1. Zhao Z, Yao S, Li K, Sindermann C, Zhou F, Zhao W, Li J, Lührs M, Goebel R, Kendrick KM, Becker B. Real-Time Functional Connectivity-Informed Neurofeedback of Amygdala-Frontal Pathways Reduces Anxiety. Psychother Psychosom. 2019;88(1):5-15. doi: 10.1159/000496057. Epub 2019 Jan 30. PMID: 30699438 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30699438/