What If Therapy Alone Isn’t Enough? How Dana Hargus Is Helping Kids and Adults Reclaim Calm and Control Through Biofeedback

When Dana Hargus started her career, she wasn’t planning to build one of Oklahoma’s most respected counseling practices. She wasn’t chasing scale, launching new programs, or trying to change the landscape of mental health care. She was just a foster mom, searching desperately for something that could help her son.

He was a bright, kind-hearted child, but deeply dysregulated. He would disappear from school without warning, climb dangerous structures, forget everyday routines, and later say with genuine confusion, “I don’t know why I did that.” Therapy helped a little. Medication helped a little more. But Dana knew in her gut there had to be something else.

Then she found biofeedback.

What Is Biofeedback, and Why Does It Matter?

Biofeedback is a method that helps people learn to regulate their own nervous systems using real-time information from their bodies. Sensors track things like brainwaves, heart rate, or muscle tension. That information is shown on a screen so the person can learn how to calm their system by adjusting how their body responds. Over time, the body learns to find calm more easily and automatically.

Dana compares it to a car engine. Most people are idling too high. They are overstimulated, anxious, and constantly on edge. When life throws a small challenge their way, it feels like a crisis. Biofeedback lowers that idle point. It gives the nervous system space to handle stress without becoming overwhelmed.

From Personal Crisis to Professional Calling

When Dana couldn’t afford to get her son the biofeedback services he needed, she decided to do it herself. She became a licensed counselor, bought the equipment, and used it with her son every day for 40 days.

The results were powerful. A test that had been too scattered to score showed normal results after the program. His school stopped calling. His energy calmed. Dana realized this tool was not just helpful, it was life-changing.

That experience shaped the future of her work. She integrated biofeedback into her counseling practice and began building something different.

The Limits of Talk Therapy

Dana believes in therapy, but she also knows that some problems live deeper than words. For people whose nervous systems are in a constant state of fight or flight, talking can only go so far. Especially with children who have experienced trauma or struggle with sensory overload, traditional therapy often falls flat.

Biofeedback gives those children and adults another way in. It does not require them to explain how they feel. They simply sit in a chair, watch a YouTube video with sensors attached, and let their brain begin to learn new patterns. If their brain stays calm and focused, the screen stays clear and the sound is sharp. If their brain starts to drift or overstimulate, the screen dims and the sound softens. Their brain starts to recognize what feels better and how to get there.

It’s not a lecture. It’s not a reward system. It is direct, physical learning that bypasses defensiveness and burnout.

Building Something New: Restore of Ada

After two decades of helping clients in a traditional setting, Dana wanted to create something deeper and more focused. That vision became Restore of Ada, a nine-week intensive program designed to reset the nervous system.

The first six weeks happen at home. Clients focus on small, daily shifts like nutrition, movement, hydration, and education. They begin to prepare their bodies for deeper healing.

The final two weeks take place in person at Dana’s rural property. During this time, clients receive the equivalent of five months of biofeedback in just ten days, along with other science-backed practices. These include guided cooking sessions, gut health education, nervous system movement exercises, and trauma-informed support. The setting is immersive but not clinical. It is built to feel safe, nurturing, and grounded.

Children come with caregivers, and part of the process includes helping the adults calm their own systems too. Dana has found that when a caregiver becomes regulated, the child often starts to shift naturally. The healing happens within the relationship, not just the individual.

Why It Works

What makes Dana’s approach different is that she does not separate mental health from physical experience. She understands that true healing involves the nervous system, the environment, the gut, the sleep schedule, the food, the technology use, and the relationships around us. It is all connected.

Her practice has served thousands of clients. Her team of 13 counselors sees over 1,000 appointments a week. But Dana believes the most important work is still ahead, in helping people find faster, deeper relief through programs like Restore of Ada.

She sees children who hated therapy walk in defensive and quiet, then start to relax. She watches adults who feel stuck finally sleep, move, or feel at ease in their own skin. The changes are often small at first, but they build.

One boy who cursed through an entire session later came back and said it was the first time in his life he had ever apologized. Something shifted in his brain during that session. His guard came down. His nervous system got the message that it was finally safe to let someone in.

The Bigger Vision

Restore of Ada is still growing. Right now, the program caps at eight people per cycle, with two cohorts running each month. Dana’s vision is to expand, but not in a way that sacrifices quality. Her priority is to serve well, stay close to the work, and let the results speak for themselves.

She is also building out Restore Plus, a digital companion program that brings nervous system education and self-regulation tools to people who cannot travel to Oklahoma. While biofeedback must be done in person, much of the foundational work can begin at home.

What drives Dana forward is the belief that healing is not only possible, it is often closer than we think. With the right tools, people can shift. Families can rebuild. Children can regain control.

And it starts with one small change at a time.

Learn more about Dana and Restore of Ada:
Website: https://restoreofada.com
Facebook: facebook.com/restoreofada
LinkedIn: Dana Hargus