Skin Conductance Biofeedback | Biofeedback Resources International

 Skin Conductance can be both one of the simplest yet one of the most complex modalities of biofeedback at the same time.  More stress, the reading goes up.  More relaxed, the reading goes down.  Simple, right?  Not so fast.  Make sure we are not actually talking about resistance measures which are exactly opposite from conductance.  Besides two opposite measures of conductance and resistance, we should also add skin potential.  When I was introduced to biofeedback way back in 1984, GSR or Galvanic Skin Response was the common feedback modality for monitoring changes based on sweat activity.  The readings in Ohms would go down when there was more sweat on the skin because resistance was decreasing and it would go up if the amount of sweat decreased because resistance was increasing.  The audio tone was reversed so that it went up when the subject was responding to something and got lower when they recovered or calmed down.

Besides the devices like the GSR-2, made by Thought Technology (still available), there was a GSR device that you could buy at that time from Radio Shack (no longer available). This was more of a toy than a serious biofeedback instrument.  Most of the more modern instruments use skin conductance measures instead of resistance.  They measure in units of mhos (ohms spelled backwards because conductance is the opposite of resistance – kind of silly to me).  This has sort of been replaced by a newer term, micro Siemens.  I know that this term honors Ernst Werner von Siemens, 20th-century electrical engineer and electrical researcher but it does make it more difficult to teach about skin conductance even to a group of adults much less a group of teenagers.  I always get some laughs when I say siemens.  I’ll just leave it at that.  You figure it out.

Now I will talk about using skin conductance biofeedback therapeutically.

Skin conductance can be a very powerful indicator of stress reactions.  For most people when they become stressed, the skin conductance level increases.  When they calm down the skin conductance level decreases.  It sounds simple; however, it is more complicated than that.  If you tell your clients that when skin conductance level increases that means that you are stressed, you are not being fully accurate.  Many things can cause skin conductance to increase that would not be considered a response to stress.  Here are a few.  The startle response, make a loud noise and skin conductance will rise as the nervous system responds to help you figure out what the source of the noise was and if it was dangerous.  Some people who are anxious or suffer from PTSD may have an exaggerated startle response but it is normal for skin conductance to increase after a loud noise.  How much it increases and how quickly it returns to baseline is more important than the fact that it increased.

Skin conductance responds to touch.  If you or someone else touches the person who is connected to skin conductance biofeedback the level will usually increase.  Although this can be a negative stress response because the person does not want to be touched it doesn’t have to be.  Similar to the startle response, the nervous system is alerted by the touch and signals the person to assess if the touch was dangerous or not.  If it is not then the skin conductance should return to baseline.  If the person interprets the touch as pleasant that can be another reason for a response.  The level tends to increase even if the subject touches their own skin read more...

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

www.biofeedbackinternational.com

Get More Info : Click Here : Skin Conductance Biofeedback | Biofeedback Resources International

Stress and Sleep | Stress Minimizing Books | Biofeedback Training

Sleep problems including insomnia are an excellent application of Peripheral Biofeedback and EEG Biofeedback (Neurofeedback). They are also among the major symptoms caused by stress.  It is difficult to fall asleep while the body is tense or your brain and nervous system is in fight-fight-freeze (emergency) mode.  It is difficult to fall asleep if you close your eyes and your brain is still too busy.

Not getting enough sleep is a problem for between 28.5% – 41.1% of adults in the USA according to CDC 2014 statistics. The term they use is “short sleep duration”, defined as less than 7 hours of sleep per night for adults (see CDC – Data and Statistics – Sleep and Sleep Disorders).  People who have short sleep duration also have other health risks at a higher rate than others.  Some of these shared risks include obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol use, and smoking.  Short sleepers also reported these ten chronic disorders at a higher rate than those who get enough sleep:

• Heart Attack
• Coronary heart disease
• Stroke
• Asthma
• COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Cancer
• Arthritis
• Depression
• Chronic kidney disease
• Diabetes

Teenagers need even more sleep, 8-10 hours per night.  A stunning two thirds of adolescents reported getting less than 8 hours.  This can easily be related to the high incidence of anxiety and attention issues in student populations.

“Not getting enough sleep can lead to motor vehicle crashes and mistakes at work, which cause a lot of injury and disability each year. Getting enough sleep is not a luxury—it is something people need for good health.” CDC – Sleep Home Page – Sleep and Sleep Disorders.

Enough with statistics and quotes let’s just talk common sense.  If the body, including the brain, needs sleep to restore energy, rest, and repair, doesn’t it make sense that if it isn’t getting it that there would be consequences? When this happens on a regular basis then it becomes chronic and compounds the problem.

EMG biofeedback can be used to help a person relax the muscles to get the body into a more physically relaxed state to promote sleep.  Heart Rate Variability biofeedback can help to calm and balance the autonomic nervous system which is more ideal for sleep. I often notice, during biofeedback sessions, that clients begin to yawn and become drowsy while doing the slow, paced breathing that goes along with HRV biofeedback.  I tell them to take note of that effect and suggest that they practice this kind of breathing before bedtime.  Most report that it helps them fall asleep.  EEG biofeedback (neurofeedback) can be used to decrease fast wave activity – beta and high beta and increase mid-range SMR (Sensory Motor Rhythm) and slower waves Alpha and Theta to promote sleep.Improving sleep can be an important part of decreasing many physical and mental health symptoms and simply improving overall health and wellness as well as performance.

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

www.biofeedbackinternational.com

Get More Info : Click Here : Stress Minimizing Books

BioFun Games | Biofeedback Resources International

BioFun is a newly released software add-on for BioGraph Infiniti, consisting in a series of video games and toy interfaces to help your clients become healthier by teaching strategies of self-regulation and developing voluntary control while having fun!

Travel the World

You are invited to participate in the “Fly around the World” competition; a prestigious hot air balloon race inspired by Jules Verne’s classic novel.

Control a balloon with your physiology and fly over famous cities such as Vancouver, Hong Kong, Moscow, Cairo, Paris, Montreal and New York. Do not limit yourself, fly up and reach the stars!

PhysioRacer – MyoRacer – NeuroRacer

Three variations on the same theme: you guide a craft in a path using your physiology. Choose a character: a race car driver, a spy flying a stealth plane, a submarine in a secret mission, a clown fish or even a super hero!

BioFun Toy Interface

Connect BioGraph to toys such as Raceways, electrical train or robots and use your physiology to control them.

BioFun contains ready-to-go screens for all our popular Suites (English only): EEG, Physiology, Z-Score, Rehab and Continence Suites.

Comprehensive instructions are provided to create your own screens and find new ways to use these games.

Physiology Suite

Train to relax or take control of your HRV while flying around the world in a balloon. Drive, fly or dive and boost up your engine using physiological control.

EEG Suite & Z-Score Mini-Suite

Train your brain with NeuroRacer – a fun and engaging racing game. Provides contingent, relevant feedback, as vehicle speed, track size and obstacles are directly controlled by EEG activity. Avoid obstacles and receive points in reward conditions, while discouraging artifacts and inhibit-band activity.

Rehab Suite & Continence Suite

Fly a balloon while working your muscles. Gain control over your muscles and movements while swimming like a fish, piloting a race car, or even flying like a super hero!

Buy Now : https://tinyurl.com/y3t433qk

Price : $ 150

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

Get More Info : Click Here : Biofeedback Training Florida

Biofeedback Assisted Relaxation Therapy

 In Biofeedback when we talk about B.A.R.T we are not talking about that crazy kid on the popular cartoon series, The Simpsons, we are talking about a very popular protocol which can be widely applied for various conditions.  Rather than seeing it as a specific protocol I see it more as a concept.  When practitioners are learning biofeedback for the first time, they are usually very interested in learning very specific protocols for the conditions they expect to be working with like headaches, anxiety, insomnia, and depression.

They expect a specific guide as to which modalities, what goals, and the number of sessions to work on each modality for each application.  That would be nice.  It makes things simpler and makes it easier to plan.  It doesn’t always match reality for the individual that is in front of you.  Now, what is B.A.R.T.?  It is an acronym for Biofeedback Assisted Relaxation Therapy.  It’s kind of like a generalized protocol that helps to counter the stress response by using biofeedback to teach clients to regulate their physiology using multiple modalities including surface EMG, Skin temperature, Skin conductance, Heart Rate/Heart Rate Variability, Respiration, and EEG.   I decided to talk about this after reading Don Moss’s article, Biofeedback-Assisted Relaxation Training:  A Clinically Effective Treatment Protocol in the Summer 2020 issue of Biofeedback Magazine.

With the B.A.R.T. protocol you look at how a person’s physiology reacts to stress, i.e. increased muscle tension, respiration, skin conductance, heart rate, high beta, and decreased skin temperature, and alpha and teach them to reverse it using the appropriate biofeedback modalities to do it.  Clients are also instructed to practice appropriate relaxation exercises between sessions at home to initiate the relaxation response more often than when they are in the office for biofeedback sessions.  They are also instructed to keep records of their frequency and severity of symptoms and the conditions surrounding when they experience the symptoms as well and their practice.

When I talk to clients who are suffering from stress related disorders, I like to discuss the concept of levels of stress response that they may be walking around with.  The level is variable.  If the level is low then they have more capacity to deal with the stress that comes along to add to it.  If they already have a high level of stress then their capacity to deal with more is not as great.  For those who suffer with things like panic attacks those times when their stress level is already high are times when it is more likely for them to go into a panic attack.  During times when their stress level is lower it would be less likely for a stressor to push them into a panic attack.  They would still feel stressed but be more able to manage it.  I suggest that training with biofeedback and doing home relaxation practice can help bring their average stress level lower and thus increase their capacity to manage the stress that they will inevitably have to deal with in life.  Besides the biofeedback we do during office sessions I ask clients to practice relaxation exercises at home and I ask them to practice awareness of muscle tension by passively scanning their bodies for areas of tension and releasing any tension that they identify.  I also suggest that they take opportunities during everyday situations like standing in lines or waiting at red lights to practice slow breathing for short periods of time so that they are not always having to find 15-20 minutes for relaxation practice.  This also helps them to be turning on the relaxation response more often during the day.

When in doubt, if you don’t find the ideal protocol for biofeedback, the B.A.R.T. protocol is a good option.  It involves a thorough intake and history, tracking symptoms, doing a stress profile measuring multiple modalities under baseline, stressor, and recovery conditions as part of a complete initial assessment followed by training on the appropriate modalities plus homework of practicing relaxation exercises outside of the office.

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

Get More Info : Click Here : Biofeedback Training Florida 

Stress at Work | Biofeedback Resources International

Most of us spend at least 8 hours of our day at work.  If you ask many people, they will say they hate their job.  Even if you don’t hate your job there are usually many moments every day at work that you would describe as stressful.  It’s nice to visit a therapy office for a biofeedback, talk therapy, or relaxation session where you sit in a nice comfortable chair and listen to relaxing music.  For a moment your troubles can seem to disappear and you feel totally relaxed.  This is helpful.  It can break the chronic stress condition that many people are stuck in.  The problem can be that after the session you go back out into the real world and have to manage until the next visit that may be a week or two away.

While you are at work what can you do to break the stress response that is being turned on so frequently?

Doing 15-20-minute relaxation exercises may be easy to do at home but they may not be so easy to do at work.  You can take part of your lunch break to do a 15-20-minute relaxation exercise so it is possible.

I also make the argument that nonsmokers should get the same amount of time for breaks to do whatever they want including relaxation exercises.  They shouldn’t have to work more just because they don’t smoke.

An important and effective quick relaxation exercise you can do is to notice when you are typing at the computer if you are tensing your arms, neck, upper back and shoulders more than necessary.  When you are typing it is easy to start tensing muscles more than necessary especially when you are feeling stressed.  Sometimes when you are under pressure to get a project done quickly you tense up more while you are typing, which of course does not help you type any faster and can lead to symptoms like neck and upper back pain and headaches.  Doing a quick mental scan now and then can limit the amount of time that your muscles are tensed more than they need to be for the task you are working on read more...

Get More Info : Click Here : Biofeedback Training Florida 

Hypertension Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Protocols

According to the American Heart Association web site statistics, almost half of the adult population in the United States of America can be considered to have high blood pressure.  A hard to believe 45 percent of those who have hypertension do not have it adequately controlled.  That sounds pretty terrible to me.  Even with all of the medications that are prescribed such a low number of people have their blood pressure under control.  Many people are even prescribed 2 or 3 or even more blood pressure medications to attempt to bring the levels to an acceptable level.  This tells me that it is not a simple problem.  Medication alone may not be enough to normalize blood pressure.  Even when medication does normalize blood pressure it may not be the best long-term solution. There are many things that can elevate blood pressure that should be addressed in order to help normalize blood pressure.

Here is a link to a PDF file that lists and discusses things that could increase blood pressure, Blood Pressure Raisers, Learn what could raise your blood pressure:  https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/tylenol-hbp/bp-raisers.pdf?la=en

It mentions things like sodium, caffeine, alcohol, antidepressants, decongestants, amphetamines, and corticosteroids.

You could also add smoking, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle to the list.

There are many applications that biofeedback and neurofeedback are used for.  Effectiveness varies for different conditions.  There is a document titled Evidenced Based Practice in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback, which is available from the Association of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, AAPB, aapb.org.  The latest edition is 2016.  There are 2004 and 2008 editions floating around on the internet in PDF format.  You can purchase the latest 2016 edition at aapb.org.  It rates biofeedback efficacy on a scale of 1—5, 1 being the least effective and 5 being the most effective.  Biofeedback for hypertension has a rating of 4 which is a very good rating, up there with tension and migraine headaches and ADHD read more...

Get More Info : Click Here : Biofeedback Training Florida 

Neurofeedback Home Training

Neurofeedback training has been shown to be effective for helping people with conditions like ADHD, insomnia, anxiety, seizures, and brain injuries.  Clients usually visit a neurofeedback professional 1-3 times per week for a series of anywhere from 10-30 or even more sessions.

Some people have asked about devices that they can use themselves at home.  It is not something that I would decide on lightly.  Neurofeedback providers are cautioned to be careful when working with clients even if they are trained and experienced.  It would make sense that an untrained layperson should be even more careful when working on their own brain or the brain of a family member.  Not that they are invasively working on the brain as with surgery.  They are rather working on the brain through training changes in the electrical impulses that allow the neurons to communicate and make things happen in the brain.  This is very important stuff and you don’t want to make mistakes with it if you can avoid doing so.

Neurofeedback professionals study brain anatomy and function and many different subjects related to neurofeedback.  If they are BCIA certified they need to meet several requirements including completing a neurofeedback training course, running a minimum of 100 practice sessions, and being mentored for at least 25 hours to make sure they are doing things correctly.  It is not reasonable that a person who hasn’t done any of this would be able to simply purchase a device and start using it after reading a simple instruction manual.

Best practices in neurofeedback now include the client having a 19-channel EEG cap brain map done which includes protocol recommendations.  The protocol includes what part of the brain is to be trained (sensor or electrode site) what frequencies are to be trained to be increased or decreased (Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, etc.) at a minimum.  Other things like synchrony and coherence may also be included in the protocol.  Just buying a device and randomly deciding to place the sensor or being limited to one or two possible predetermined sites is not at all the same as deciding what to do by assessment.

If a client wants to do home training it is recommended that they see a professional for a brain map or at least an assessment of selected sites.  They should also do at least a few neurofeedback training sessions with the professional and then have the professional help them decide on home equipment that will enable them to continue the correct protocol at home.  They should continue to consult with the professional as they do the home training.  Most good home training equipment will allow for uploading or emailing of reports to the professional for review and additional guidance.  It is also possible to do virtual sessions so the professional can watch the session being done live.

The final thing I want to discuss briefly is the quality of the equipment.  Questions you should get answered include:

Does the equipment allow you to select the scalp training sites or are you limited to one site?

Can you or your professional neurofeedback consultant set and adjust the protocol or is it one size fits all?

Does the software show the raw EEG signal so that you can know if you have a quality, clean signal or one that is so noisy it is unreliable or even unusable?

Can you share data with a professional neurofeedback consultant for their input and feedback?

Does the equipment manufacturer or dealer offer technical support if you have problems or questions?

Can you clearly tell the difference between when you are meeting the training goals compared to when you are not?

This information will help you choose a device that will be more effective for you.  I hope this has been helpful.  Please contact me if you have any questions about this subject.

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

Get More Info : Visit Here : neurofeedback training Florida 

The Stress of being black

People like to think they know what the stress of being black is like.

If you’re not, you don’t.

Think about the stress of having a final exam in high school or college coming up.

You worry about it for two weeks or so leading up to it and it is very hard and stressful.  You get to the time of actually taking the exam and it is very stressful.  Then, the exam is over.

Being black is not like that because it’s never over.  Every morning you wake up you have to deal with the stress associated with being black all over again.

I was talking to my 30-year-old son a couple of weeks ago about race problems in America and was saddened when I realized that our generation couldn’t do enough to hand over a society further along than what we have now.  The fact that a police offer could kneel on the neck of a black man for over 8 minutes with other officers standing by in front of a group of people urging him to stop until he was dead shows how much further we need to advance as a society.

What is even worse than the horrible act is the real concern that there is better than a small chance that real justice may not be served in this case because there have been so many other cases where that has happened.  As a black person I live every day knowing that black people all over this country are being mistreated in so many ways solely because of the color of their skin.  We are discriminated against in housing, banking, employment, education, law enforcement, civil and criminal courts, and in so many other ways that it becomes a clear disadvantage, a burden, and a constant source of stress that goes unseen and unappreciated by most other people.  Don’t get me wrong, I love being black and wouldn’t trade if just to make my life easier.  There are many, many things that I love about it that I will save for another time.

I have been blessed to learn about stress management and methods like biofeedback and neurofeedback as ways to help decrease the negative effects of stress.  I have also had the opportunity to work with many individuals over the last 30 years to teach them how to manage stress mostly using biofeedback and neurofeedback.  Some of the people I have worked with have been black.  Most of them have not been.  Most of the therapists who provide biofeedback and neurofeedback and stress management in general who I have met are not black.  Over the last year or so, without any specific effort on my part, I have been training more black therapists to provide biofeedback and neurofeedback.  I hope that they will be able to help more black people deal with the normal and added stress that we have to deal with every day.

I enjoy training and working with clients of all colors and backgrounds and I will continue to do that.

As a black man blessed with this knowledge, I believe that it is part of my job to be a leader in bringing stress management, biofeedback, and neurofeedback education to the black community specifically while continuing to bring it to the broader world in general.

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

Get More Info : Visit Here : BCIA Certification Training

GP-8 & GP-12 PHYSIOCOM SYSTEM WEBINAR SERIES

The GP-8 and GP-12 Physiocom systems are affordable multiple modality systems that allow providing biofeedback of surface EMG, skin Temperature, Skin Conductance, Blood Volume, Heart Rate, Respiration, and EEG biofeedback. These systems are easy to purchase. You need to have the right help to learn how to use them effectively.

Objectives :

We are offering a 3-Part web-based training series to teach people all they need to know about using the systems.

Part 1: Overview of the system

Getting to know the instrument hardware, sensors, and software basics

Date: August 7, 2020

Time 4:00pm – 5:30pm EST

Tuition Fee: $35

Buy Now 

Part 2: Biofeedback Applications

How to use the system for biofeedback applications

Date: August 10, 2020

Time 4:00pm – 5:30pm EST

Tuition Fee: $35

Buy Now 

Part 3: Neurofeedback Applications

How to use the system for neurofeedback applications

Date: August 12, 2020

Time 4:00pm – 5:30pm EST

Tuition Fee: $35

Buy Now 

All 3 Sessions $97

Buy Now 

Faculty:

Harry L. Campbell, BPS, BCB, BCN

For more information or to register call 877-669-6463 or 914-762-4646 or visit biofeedbackinternational.com

Note all sessions will be recorded and a link will be sent so that you can download the session in case you are not able to attend live or if you want it for review later.

How Will We Do Biofeedback Post COVID19?

Biofeedback is usually a face to face, one on one activity.  If you were providing biofeedback prior to the start of social distancing and stay at home orders, things have surely changed drastically for you very quickly.  Now what will we do?  Many of the people who provide biofeedback also provide psychotherapy.  It is much simpler to provide psychotherapy virtually than it is for biofeedback.  All you need is for the provider and the client to have a computer, smartphone, or tablet and access to a software program or application like GotoMeeting, Zoom, or Skype.  Even though this is considered simple, there can still be impediments.  Some clients don’t have smartphones, tablets, or even computers.  Some also do not have internet access.  If both parties do have access to the necessary technology then the sessions can take place fairly easily and inexpensively.

With biofeedback there is the added requirement of having some kind of biofeedback instrument technology.  Most biofeedback providers own and use equipment that costs thousands of dollars that they use with their clients in their office.  If you are going to work virtually then the clients need to have a biofeedback instrument at their home.  There are less expensive biofeedback devices that don’t have the same features and durability as the in-office professional systems.  Devices that I recommend for home or virtual biofeedback cost from $25 – $1,600.  There are many differences in devices including what modalities they measure, the type of feedback they give, and data storage and reporting functions.

You also need to decide if you will have your clients purchase or rent the devices from you or directly from an equipment provider.  You may also need to provide some basic training for your clients as to how to use the device and how to share data from their training with you.

We may have to do some biofeedback in this way at least temporarily.  I believe that this way of working will continue for some clients but not all.  Many clients enjoy the face to face experience and would prefer to be there with you.  I think that some of the benefit they receive is also from the energy they draw from you when they are in your presence.

When we are able to start seeing clients face to face again, we will need to be more vigilant with our procedures for cleaning sensors, cables, and caps between patients and handling of electrode gels, creams, and pastes to prevent the spread of infection.  More providers may decide to wear gloves when prepping and applying sensors to the client’s skin, and removing and cleaning the sensors.  Some may also decide to wear masks at least when they first start seeing clients in the office again and we get more guidance from the CDC, Center for Disease Control.

The COVID19 pandemic has brought about very interesting and challenging times and I am sure that we will get through them and be able to work with biofeedback clients face to face again even if it is in a different way.

Please share your thoughts about this topic with me and other readers.

For more information on biofeedback and neurofeedback devices that can be used with virtual biofeedback sessions visit: www.biofeedbackinternational.com

Get More Info : How Will We Do Biofeedback Post COVID19?

Contact Us

EMG BIOFEEDBACK BASIC APPLICATIONS WEBINAR

EMG is one of the most basic and useful modalities available. Why then aren’t more practitioners using it more often? EMG is one of the easiest ways to demonstrate the concept of biofeedback to clients. It responds very quickly and people can immediately see that they have at least some control over their muscle activity.

Objectives :

Participants will learn:
What is EMG Biofeedback?
What are common applications for EMG Biofeedback?
Common protocols overview
EMG Protocols to be covered are:

• Headache
• Neck Pain
• Upper Back Pain
• Low Back Pain
• TMD

Common sensor placements
Screen selection and setup, instructions to clients and interpretation of data to indicate progress
 

Faculty:
Harry L. Campbell, BPS, BCB, BCN
Date and time
May 26, 2020
3:00pm–4:30pm EST
Fee: $35

Buy Now 

Format: Gotomeeting

Session Length: 90 minutes
For more information or to register call 877-669-6463 or 914-762-4646 or visit biofeedbackinternational.com

Note all sessions will be recorded and a link will be sent so that you can download the session in case you are not able to attend live or if you want it for review later.