EMDR vs IASIS Microcurrent Neurofeedback

EMDR and IASIS microcurrent neurofeedback (IASIS MCN) are both called “brain-based,” but they work differently. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, alternating eye movements, taps, or tones, to help you reprocess a memory inside a standardized protocol. IASIS MCN is a passive system that delivers low-intensity electrical pulses while reading your brainwaves, no memory work required. EMDR has more research behind it.

If you’ve read our broader comparison of EMDR and neurofeedback, IASIS Microcurrent Neurofeedback is one specific, trademarked system inside that wider field, not another name for it. It’s sold under its own brand, trains your brain passively rather than asking you to watch a screen, and rests on a much smaller research file than neurofeedback as a whole. Here’s what IASIS MCN actually involves, what its evidence shows, and how it stacks up against EMDR.

What Is IASIS Microcurrent Neurofeedback?

IASIS MCN belongs to a small family of “low-energy” or “microcurrent” neurofeedback approaches, techniques that use extremely weak electrical or electromagnetic signals instead of the screen, sound, or game-based feedback used in standard EEG neurofeedback. The lineage traces back to the Low Energy Neurofeedback System (LENS), developed by psychologist Len Ochs starting around 1990, which feeds back a faint radio-frequency signal tied to a person’s own dominant brainwave frequency. IASIS is a separate, later, branded system built on a related idea rather than identical technology, sold by IASIS Technologies.

In a session, sensors on your scalp read your EEG while the device simultaneously delivers a very low-intensity electrical signal, described by the manufacturer as measured in picowatts, well below what you’d feel. The idea is that this brief signal interrupts a fixed brainwave pattern for a moment, which the theory holds gives your brain room to reorganize toward a more flexible pattern on its own. Unlike standard neurofeedback, there’s no game to play or pattern to consciously produce; you simply sit or lie down while it happens. Sessions run about 20 to 30 minutes, and providers commonly describe a full course as 10 to 20 sessions, fewer than the 20 to 40 often cited for standard EEG neurofeedback (see our EMDR vs neurofeedback comparison for that broader picture).

Training splits into two tiers. An IASIS Certified Practitioner (ICP) already holds a license in a mental or medical health field and has at least two years of clinical training. An IASIS Certified Technician (ICT) completes the same hands-on training but isn’t required to hold any clinical license at all. Both typically finish IASIS’s own online training modules within a few months of getting the device, a real difference from EMDR, where every provider is, by definition, already a licensed clinician.

The device itself is FDA 510(k)-cleared as a Class II biofeedback device, under the regulatory code (21 CFR 882.5050) that covers biofeedback devices generally, indicated for relaxation training and muscle reeducation. That clearance isn’t specific to anxiety, depression, or PTSD, and it isn’t the same thing as FDA approval for treating any of them. It’s the standard regulatory bucket most consumer biofeedback devices sit in.

What Is EMDR?

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) was developed by psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro in 1987. Its theory, the Adaptive Information Processing model, holds that distress often comes from a memory stored in a raw, unprocessed form, and that processing the memory eases the distress attached to it.

In a session, you briefly hold a distressing memory in mind while following bilateral stimulation: alternating eye movements, tones, or taps. The process follows a standardized eight-phase protocol, moving from history-taking and preparation through assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, and reevaluation. Sessions typically run 60 to 90 minutes (EMDRIA).

Becoming an EMDR clinician requires an EMDRIA-approved basic training, about 50 hours split between instruction, supervised practicum, and consultation, on top of an existing clinical license. There’s no technician-level path the way IASIS MCN has one; anyone delivering EMDR is already a licensed mental health professional.

EMDR vs IASIS MCN at a Glance

	EMDR	IASIS MCN
Developed	1987, by psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro	Sold by IASIS Technologies; part of a low-energy/microcurrent neurofeedback lineage dating to Len Ochs’s LENS (~1990)
Core theory	Adaptive Information Processing: distress comes from an unprocessed memory	Briefly interrupting a fixed brainwave pattern lets the brain reorganize toward a more flexible one
What you do in session	Briefly recall a memory while tracking bilateral stimulation	Sit passively while sensors read your EEG and the device delivers a low-intensity signal; no memory recall
Session length	60–90 minutes	About 20–30 minutes
Typical course	Often several sessions per target memory	Commonly 10–20 sessions (the main mood/PTSD pilot used 20, twice weekly over 10 weeks)
Practitioner training	EMDRIA basic training (~50 hrs) on an existing clinical license, always	Two tiers: a licensed ICP, or an ICT with no clinical license required
FDA/regulatory status	Not an FDA-regulated device (it’s psychotherapy)	510(k)-cleared Class II biofeedback device; indicated for relaxation training and muscle reeducation, not disease-specific
PTSD guideline status	Recommended (WHO 2013; VA/DoD 2023); conditionally recommended (APA 2017)	Not named in any major PTSD guideline
Research base	Decades of trials, including large meta-analyses	One small, uncontrolled pilot on mood/PTSD-risk symptoms (2024); a 6-person pilot on TBI-related brain activity (2017)

How Do the Sessions Feel Different?

EMDR has rhythm and interaction built in. Bilateral stimulation runs in short sets, pausing every 20 to 30 seconds so the clinician can ask what surfaced, while you hold a specific memory loosely in mind.

IASIS MCN feels closer to a quiet rest with wires attached. You don’t narrate a memory, track anything with your eyes, or try to influence what’s happening; sensors go on, the device runs its brief protocol, and you mostly just sit still. Some people find that passivity easier to tolerate than EMDR’s active recall; others find it strange to pay for something that asks nothing of them at all.

What Does the Research Say?

This is where the two pull furthest apart, and it’s worth being direct about it.

EMDR has been studied for decades. The World Health Organization’s 2013 guideline and the 2023 VA/DoD clinical practice guideline both recommend it for PTSD, and the APA’s 2017 guideline recommends it conditionally. Its evidence includes large randomized trials and meta-analyses; see Does EMDR Work? What the Evidence Actually Says for a deeper look.

IASIS MCN’s evidence is much newer and much smaller. The most relevant study is a 2024 pilot in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, led by a University of Texas at Tyler nursing researcher, which gave 20 adults IASIS MCN twice a week for 10 weeks, 20 sessions total. Self-reported depression, anxiety, PTSD-risk, and quality-of-life scores all improved significantly by the 10th session and again by the 20th; a measure of suicidal risk improved too, but not by a statistically significant margin.

It’s a genuinely encouraging early signal. It’s also a small, uncontrolled study with no comparison group, so it can’t rule out other explanations, like the passage of time or the attention of a caring provider, for the improvement seen.

A second, older pilot looked at a different population: six people with mild traumatic brain injury and lingering post-concussive symptoms. Researchers used brain imaging (MEG) before and after 12 IASIS sessions and reported, in the peer-reviewed journal Brain Injury, an average 53.6% reduction in abnormal slow-wave brain activity and a 52.8% reduction in post-concussive symptom scores. Encouraging again, and again a small, uncontrolled pilot.

Neither study has been followed by a larger randomized trial, and IASIS MCN isn’t named in the WHO, APA, or VA/DoD PTSD guidelines that all recommend EMDR, or in any major guideline for depression or traumatic brain injury. None of that proves IASIS MCN doesn’t help the people who try it. It means the evidence is still at the small-pilot stage, a normal place for a device this young to be, while EMDR’s evidence has had almost four decades to accumulate.

Which One Fits You?

EMDR may fit better if:

• You want an approach backed by decades of trials and named in major PTSD guidelines.
• You’re comfortable actively recalling a specific memory as part of the work.
• You want a provider who is, by definition, already a licensed mental health professional.

IASIS MCN may fit better if:

• You’d rather not narrate or actively hold a memory in mind during a session.
• You’re drawn to a passive, hands-off format and can tolerate a thinner evidence base while research catches up.
• You’ve confirmed your specific provider’s certification level (ICP or ICT) and are comfortable with what that does and doesn’t guarantee.

Out of pocket, IASIS MCN is typically billed per session, and providers often sell multi-session packages, so a full course can add up quickly. Whichever direction you lean, the same caution applies: processing significant trauma is safest with a licensed, trained professional who can pace the work carefully, and it’s fair to ask any provider, in either field, exactly what evidence supports their specific protocol for your concern.

Can You Practice Either One on Your Own?

Here the two diverge completely.

IASIS MCN depends entirely on the manufacturer’s own hardware: sensors that read your EEG, paired with a device that generates its specific low-intensity signal. There’s no manual version, because the active ingredient is the proprietary signal itself, not a technique you perform. Outside of a provider’s office, there’s nothing to practice.

EMDR’s core ingredient, bilateral stimulation, is different: the technique itself, alternating left-right attention, doesn’t depend on any hardware at all. You can try a simple version yourself: hold a mildly stressful moment in mind while tapping your knees in a slow left-right rhythm, and notice whether the charge softens. Our beginner’s guide to self-guided bilateral stimulation walks through it step by step.

EmEase, a self-guided EMDR app, is the guided version of this technique: visual and audio bilateral stimulation you can practice on your own time, at app.emease.com. It’s a wellness practice inspired by EMDR therapy, not a medical device, and not a replacement for either approach in this comparison, especially for anything beyond everyday stress.

The Bottom Line

EMDR and IASIS MCN are both marketed as “brain-based,” but they ask very different things of you, an active, memory-focused protocol against a passive, hardware-dependent one, and they rest on very different amounts of evidence. EMDR has decades of trials and a place in major treatment guidelines. IASIS MCN has two small, encouraging, uncontrolled pilot studies and an FDA clearance that covers general relaxation training, not a specific claim on anxiety, depression, or PTSD.

That gap is worth knowing before you spend money on either one. It doesn’t mean IASIS MCN does nothing, only that the larger, controlled trials that would say so for certain haven’t been done yet. Ask any provider, in either field, what’s actually been tested and what training they hold.

For everyday stress rather than deep trauma work, bilateral stimulation, EMDR’s core technique, is the piece you can safely start practicing on your own today.