Increased Anxiety | APA continuing Credits

 

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in anxiety disorders across the world. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions, affecting millions of individuals every year. While anxiety has always been present in our lives, the recent surge in anxiety levels can be connected to several factors.

One of the main factors is the rise of social media and technology. Social media has created a culture of comparison, where people compare their lives to others, leading to feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. The constant use of technology has also resulted in a lack of face-to-face communication, leading to increased loneliness and isolation, which can contribute to anxiety.

Another factor contributing to the recent increase in anxiety is the global pandemic. COVID-19 has brought about significant changes in our daily lives, leading to increased levels of stress, anxiety, and fear. The pandemic has resulted in social isolation, financial difficulties, and uncertainty about the future, all of which can contribute to anxiety and other mental health conditions.

The increase in anxiety can also be attributed to societal pressures, such as academic and career success. There is a growing pressure to succeed in all areas of life, leading to high levels of stress and anxiety. This pressure can be especially significant for young people, who are facing increasing academic pressures and job market competition.

The recent increase in anxiety highlights the importance of addressing mental health issues and promoting mental well-being. It is crucial to prioritize self-care and take steps to manage anxiety, such as practicing mindfulness, engaging in regular exercise, and seeking professional help when needed. It is also essential to create a supportive environment that promotes mental health awareness and reduces the stigma surrounding mental health conditions.

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Biofeedback and Continuing Education

If you are a psychologist in the United States of America, depending on which state you are licensed in, you may need a few or a large number of continuing education credits each year to maintain your license.

There are many topics to choose from to study.  Some are an absolute must like ethics.  Others are optional.  Since subjects like brain plasticity and the poly vagal theory have really taken off over the last several years, subjects that incorporate mind body technology and therapy have become of more interest to psychologists.

Biofeedback uses instruments that measure and feedback signals from the body including surface EMG (Electromyograph) for muscle activity, skin temperature for peripheral blood flow, skin conductance for sweat activity, Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability for cardiovascular responses, and Respiration for breathing.  Neurofeedback uses instruments that measure EEG (Electroencephalograph) which measures and shows brain activity.  Through reinforcement the subject can learn to change the activity to improve mind-body wellness.  It can also be used to monitor changes to physiology caused by other therapy modalities.

With an accredited course a psychologist can receive continuing education credit while learning about biofeedback and neurofeedback or other mind body tools.  The BCIA, Biofeedback Certification International Alliance, offers certification in biofeedback and neurofeedback and maintains a list of accredited courses, some of which offer continuing education credit for psychologists.

There are also organizations that offer courses that include continuing education credit.  Some of them include mind body science and techniques like biofeedback and neurofeedback.  Here are a few of the organizations that I am familiar with.  I have attended courses at their conferences:

AAPB (The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback) aapb.org, NRBS (The Northeast Regional Biofeedback Society) nrbs.org, ABPsi (Association of Black Psychologists) abpsi.org, MABS (Mid-Atlantic Biofeedback Society mabs.us; Southeast Biofeedback and Clinical Neuroscience Association sebiofeedback.org.

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The Role of Biofeedback Equipment in Stress Management

Stress management is a huge subject.  There are many methods of managing stress.

One thing that is constant is that the body reacts to stress in several ways, many of which can be measured using biofeedback equipment.  People who are experiencing stress often have sensations that they can feel, if they are sensitive and present enough without biofeedback equipment.  These sensations may be related to changes in cardiovascular activity like your heart beating faster or more forcefully, blood vessels constricting, muscles contracting, increased sweat, changes in brain activity, or changes in digestive activity.  These changes are related to what is called physiology.  Whether a person feels these changes or not, they are happening.  What biofeedback equipment can do is make the invisible, visible.

It can show you the measurable changes that are happening, moment by moment so that you can connect the changes to the events that may have triggered them.  You can also use this information to learn to train your physiology or affect how much change there is and reverse some of the changes if they are in an unhealthy direction.  When we step on a scale and don’t like the number we see, we may regulate our behavior including eating and exercise to change the number we see on the scale over time.  This is a slower process than what we see when using biofeedback equipment.  The changes in the readings can happen in moments instead of days, weeks, or months.  With practice you can train your physiology to behave in a more healthy way.  The negative changes become smaller, and you recover from them more quickly.

The things that biofeedback equipment can measure include muscle tension, skin temperature, skin conductance (sweat activity), Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability, Respiration, end tidal CO2, and EEG/brainwave activity.

 

Free introductory biofeedback and neurofeedback courses are available at www.biofeedbackinternational.com

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How to Use Biofeedback Equipment

 

Biofeedback Equipment is a process that uses instruments that record physiological signals from a person’s body and then display the information so that a person can learn to change the signal that is being measured.  One therapeutic application of biofeedback is for helping people with stress-related disorders.  In this context sensors may be attached to a client and signals including muscle tension, breathing, and heart rate is measured and displayed on a computer screen.  The client with the help of coaching from a therapist learns to control these signals and bring them to a more relaxed level.

Signals that are recorded with biofeedback instruments include:

Surface EMG (Electromyograph) – measures electrical signals produced when muscles contract.  These signals are picked up by sensors that are placed on the skin and attached to an instrument.

Skin Temperature – Measured from the hands or feet giving an indication of peripheral blood flow.  Skin temperature tends to increase when a person is more relaxed due to dilation of the local blood vessels which causes more blood to flow to the fingers or toes increasing the temperature.  Skin temperature tends to decrease when a person is stressed due to constriction of the local blood vessels causing a reduction of the amount of blood in the fingers or toes.

Skin Conductance – Measured from the palm side of the hands or feet gives an indication of changes in the amount of sweat on the skin.  Increased sweat on the hands or feet is an indication of emotional reactivity or arousal.

Respiration – Breathing is recorded by using a belt sensor that is placed around the abdomen.  It senses how often and how deeply a person breathes based on how often and how much the belt is stretched.  Breathing tends to be faster and shallower when a person is anxious and deeper and slower when a person is more relaxed.

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