Neuroscience meets practice – my path to the application of innovative neurophysiological methods

Even during my psychology studies, I knew that my particular interest lay in neuroscience. While many of my fellow students were drawn to clinical psychology, I found myself increasingly fascinated by cognitive neuroscience—driven by a strong interest in research and by the question of how our experiences and behavior can be understood through the way the brain works.

This scientific curiosity led me to University Medical Center Mainz, where I spent several years working in research and teaching. During my PhD in neuroscience, I focused extensively on neurophysiological processes and on the relationship between neural activity and behavior.

Basic research has had a lasting influence on the way I think and work. It taught me to look more closely, to question what may seem self-evident, and to understand underlying mechanisms rather than settle for surface-level explanations. To this day, it is not enough for me to know that a method works. I also want to understand why it works, which processes it influences, and what changes as a result.

For a long time, I expected to remain in research after completing my PhD. Then, somewhat by chance, I came across neurofeedback.

A child in my neighborhood with ADHD and learning difficulties was receiving neurofeedback treatment and began to show noticeable improvements. My scientific curiosity was immediately sparked. I started asking questions and eventually accompanied the family to a therapy session, where the treating therapist explained the approach to me in more detail—how it worked and which processes it was designed to influence.

I was fascinated. For the first time, I had encountered a therapeutic approach that connected neuroscience so directly with practical therapeutic work. It offered something I had increasingly missed in basic research: the opportunity not only to understand scientific findings, but to translate them into something that could directly benefit people.

That experience ultimately led me to shift the focus of my professional work and to begin working therapeutically with biofeedback and neurofeedback.

I completed my professional training in biofeedback and neurofeedback with the German Society for Biofeedback (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Biofeedback e. V.), gaining extensive knowledge of both the theoretical foundations and the practical application of a range of biofeedback and neurofeedback approaches.

My work is analytical and grounded in science—but for me, therapy is first and foremost a human relationship. Empathy, openness, and a sense of humor are therefore just as much a part of my work as professional expertise and scientific precision.

Science and therapeutic possibilities are constantly evolving, which is why continuing education is not an optional extra for me, but an essential part of responsible practice. I integrate new methods and findings where they are supported by sound evidence and have the potential to offer meaningful benefits to the people I work with.

This is how I see my work today: bringing together two perspectives—as a psychologist with expertise in neuroscience and as a therapist who seeks to see and understand the person behind the symptoms.