Recapturing Runaway Minds

The Veteran, the War, and the Haunting Loop

The other day, I was listening to a podcast with an Iraq War veteran. He spoke openly about the haunting memories that followed him home from war. He wasn’t alone. Several of his friends were fighting the same silent battles.

The host chimed in with something chilling: his own grandfather, a World War II vet, once confessed that he woke up and went to sleep with every person he had ever killed. The only way he knew to cope was alcohol.

The Iraq veteran’s friends were following that same path. Not necessarily falling into full-blown dysfunction or addiction — but haunted. The were tormented by the invisible wounds of war. Whether it was the guilt of having to kill someone, or the unspeakable horror of what they had witnessed, they couldn’t shut the memories off.

That’s when the guest mentioned a different kind of mental health treatment: neurofeedback.

He had started it himself. And the change was so real, so noticeable, that he began recommending it to his veteran buddies. One by one, they began to experience the same thing: their minds were learning peace again.

What Is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a form of therapy that uses specialized equipment to monitor your brainwaves in real time. It tracks whether your brain is producing high-frequency waves (typically associated with anxiety, stress, or racing thoughts) or low-frequency waves (linked to calm, focus, and presence).

The process is completely non-invasive. Sensors are gently placed on your scalp, and you're invited to watch a calming video or listen to relaxing music. But here’s the twist: the video or music responds to your brain.

As long as you remain calm and focused, your brain produces healthier, lower-frequency waves, and the music plays clearly or the screen stays bright. But when your mind begins to drift or stress re-enters, your brainwaves shift and the system notices. The music begins to fade. The video will grow dim.

That’s your signal. Without judgment. Without pressure. It is just a cue that you’re drifting. And when you bring your attention back, the system rewards you by restoring the sound or image.

Over time, your brain learns what peace feels like. It begins to prefer it. You’re not just sitting there meditating on nothing. You’re practicing mental strength. You're learning to recognize when you’ve lost focus, and how to get it back without spiraling or getting stuck.

Why This Matters

This type of therapy is so helpful because it goes far beyond simply identifying the problem. It’s not about giving you “three tips” to try harder next time. Neurofeedback doesn’t just explain the cycle. It helps you break it.

It equips you with tools to build both awareness and control. It doesn’t just tell you to “think better.” It helps your brain learn how to return to clarity and calm when it starts to slip.

That’s a crucial distinction: this isn’t just about your mindset. It’s about your brain. The literal, physical organ. In each session, you’re not just sitting still. You’re actively retraining your brain to behave differently. You’re building new pathways and new defaults.

And later when anxiety rises or trauma starts to replay, you’ll have a skill set to draw on. You’ll notice it. You’ll know what to do. You’ll remember what calm feels like, and how to return to it. That’s not just self-awareness, that’s mental strength.

Who This Can Help

The veteran went on to describe just how wide the impact of this therapy really is. It helped him even though he never saw close combat. The ravages of war weren’t as vivid for him as they were for his buddies who had done and seen things that still tormented them. And yet, it helped them too.

He also shared stories of families with non-verbal autistic children, who, after sessions of neurofeedback, were showing signs of breakthrough. Children once locked inside their own minds were now able to speak, engage, and connect. It was hard to believe but impossible to ignore.

Now, maybe you’re not a veteran. Maybe you’re not parenting a child on the autism spectrum. But that doesn’t mean this therapy isn’t for you.

Maybe you’ve experienced trauma — as a child or as an adult — and those memories still show up without warning, hijacking your emotions and decisions.

Maybe you’ve gone through a painful breakup or divorce, and you can’t stop replaying the arguments or grieving the life you imagined.

Maybe you’re just… stuck. Frustrated. You know your thought life is drifting into loops of shame, distraction, or worry, and it’s wearing you down.

Or maybe you're not in crisis but you want more. You want your brain and mind to work for you, not against you. You want better focus, more clarity, and less time lost to wandering or scrolling.

Neurofeedback can help with all of that.

It teaches you how to notice when your mind has drifted. It trains you to take back control so your thoughts don’t run off, hijacked by fear, regret, or a thousand what-ifs.

Spiritual + Neurofeedback = Spiritually Fit

My dad is known for being passionate about memorizing Scripture. He’s memorized more verses than you can shake a stick at. For years, he led a class called Spiritually Fit and taught our church not just how to memorize Scripture but why it matters.

In hindsight, he was practicing a form of neurofeedback without all the fancy tools or technology.

Memorizing Scripture, he often said, creates new pathways in your brain. It gives your mind something holy to return to instead of the negative ruts we fall into, or the darker, sinful thoughts that try to occupy our mental space.

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night…” Joshua 1:8
“Set your mind on things above…” Colossians 3:1-2
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:1-2
“To be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6

One of the greatest benefits of memorizing Scripture is this: you get to know the Bible. And by knowing the Bible, you begin to know the character and nature of God. That in itself is transformational.

Jesus didn’t just correct behaviors. He trained people to think differently. Paul echoed that by saying we are transformed by renewing the mind, not just conforming our actions.

So what do you do with this?

If you can’t afford therapy, or neurofeedback feels out of reach, simply start with your Bible. Start with focus.

Memorize if you can.
If that feels overwhelming, just read.
Start with Proverbs or the Gospel of Mark, and read one chapter a day.

You’ll read… then drift.
You’ll think about lunch.
Or last Christmas.
Or a beach trip.
Or the grocery list.

And that’s okay.
Just refocus.

That moment — catching the drift, and coming back — that’s the training.
And over time, that training becomes transformation.

You're learning to take inventory of your thoughts.
You're practicing how to guide your brain back to what matters.

That’s what neurofeedback does.
That’s what meditating on God’s Word does too.

And when you combine the two?
You’re not just thinking better, you’re becoming stronger.

Critics of neurofeedback say it is a placebo. Maybe it is, but if it produces results, isn’t that the point? Now imagine if the pill was full of the most nutrient dense food-for-thought ever recorded in human language. The benefits quite literally could become supernatural.

That’s the Gos-pill (Gospel).

It Was just My Imagination…Running Away…

Imagine your life with a little more focus.
A little less anxiety.
A few more nights of peaceful sleep, without your brain dragging you through everything you regret, fear, forgot to do or still need to do.

Imagine being able to catch yourself (not every time, but more often) before your mind spirals into shame, stress, or distraction. Imagine noticing the drift and having the strength to gently guide your thoughts back to where they belong.

You don’t have to be superhuman. You don’t need a perfect past or perfect focus.
And you definitely don’t need to keep living at the mercy of a mind that feels out of control.

We all drift. We all get stuck. But we don’t have to stay there.

Whether you’re doing a neurofeedback session in a clinic or opening your Bible to Proverbs and starting again at the verse where your mind wandered…
You’re not failing. You’re training.

And over time, that training becomes transformation.

So let’s take the small step.
Let’s give our brains something better to return to.
Let’s stop letting chaos write the script.
Let’s choose what we focus on.
Let’s renew our minds, and maybe even rewire them.

And as you do, remember:
You’re not doing this alone.
You can walk through this healing under the care of a physician, the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.
He promised that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth. That includes the truth about who He is… and who He created you to be.