Biofeedback Supplies and Technology | Biofeedback training online

 What supplies do you need to have to use biofeedback technology?  Some biofeedback modalities require little or no supplies while others require consumable supplies that you need a ready inventory of.

A Plethysmograph (PPG) sensor which is used to measure Heart Rate, Blood Volume, and Heart Rate variability may use a clip or Velcro band that is permanently attached to the sensor.  In this case, there would be no replaceable supplies needed.

The Electrocardiograph (EKG) sensor measures Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability.  The EKG sensor uses adhesive disposable sensors that stick to the skin and snap or clip to the electrode cable.  These usually come in packages of 50 – 300.  Alcohol prep pads are used to clean the skin before applying the sensors.

Temperature biofeedback sensors either use a Velcro band to attach to the finger or you can use paper or cloth tape.  If you use Velcro then you don’t have to replace it very often.  If you are using tape, then you need to keep a supply.

For Skin Conductance/EDR/GSR, you should be using sensor cream or gel that comes in a tube or bottle.

You only use a small amount each time so a tube or bottle lasts a long time.

Electromyograph (EMG) uses 2 or 3 adhesive disposable electrodes similar to the EKG sensor.  These are placed on the skin over the muscle area that you want to record from.  You also need alcohol prep pads to clean the skin before applying the sensors.

The Respiration sensor uses a belt that goes around the abdomen or chest.  It attaches with either Velcro or a clip.  There aren’t any supplies needed.

Get More Info : Biofeedback Training New York

Website : https://biofeedbackinternational.com/

Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Training for APA Continuing Education Credit

Many psychologists in the United States of America are required to take training to keep up with new developments in the field and to remind them of things that they may have learned a long time ago.

There are many options for training including face to face programs, online programs, and material that psychologists can read. There are also many different topics that can be studied. As long as you have to take training you might as well make it something interesting, enjoyable, and useful. Biofeedback and neurofeedback are subjects that check all of those boxes. Psychologists tend to do a lot of talking and paperwork as a part of their routine. Some of this can become monotonous.

Biofeedback and Neurofeedback introduce technology that helps the clients of psychologists to learn about themselves. It helps them to learn how to make real physiological measurable changes. They can learn to change how their body reacts to stress using biofeedback. They can train their brain to become more regulated through neurofeedback.

Continue Reading Click here : Biofeedback Training | Continuing Education | Continuing Training

Stress and Use of Technology

 

Most people I talk to agree that we are living in very stressful times.  Stress management tools and techniques are more needed than ever.  Books about stress are popular.  I came across an interesting one recently called Tech Stress, How Technology is Hijacking our lives, strategies for coping, and pragmatic ergonomics by Erik Peper, Ph.D., Richard Harvey, Ph.D., and Nancy Faass, MSW, MPH.

The description on the back of the book starts by saying –“Re-envisioning your relationship with technology to reclaim health, happiness, and sanity in a plugged-in world.”

We cannot get away from technology and probably shouldn’t want to.  Technology makes it easier to do most things faster and more efficiently.  We rely on new technology and almost forget about how we used to do things before it was available.

After reading about the Tech Stress book in Biofeedback Magazine, I quickly ordered a copy.  I have known the main author Erik Peper for over 30 years so I contacted him to congratulate him on the book and ask if he would be willing to do an interview with him about book.  He gladly accepted.  I had hoped to talk with him for ten or fifteen minutes instead we ended up talking for over fifty minutes about the topic of stress and technology and the book.

Probably the biggest source of stress caused by technology has to be cell phones.  We spend lots of time with our necks bent and our heads looking down at our cell phones.  This causes physical stress on our neck muscles because of the extra contraction required to hold the weight of our head in that position.  It causes stress on our eyes because we are spending lots of time looking at the small screen that is very close to our eyes.  Erik Peper says that it is healthier to vary the distance that our eyes focus on from close to far away throughout the day.

More info : Stress | Stress Minimizing Books

Biofeedback Training in Miami

 

This year I started a project of reaching out to all of the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).  I want to find out if they are using biofeedback and neurofeedback.  I am interested to find out how many of them are using biofeedback and how they are using it.  If they are not already using biofeedback, I want to introduce it to them and help them begin to find out the ways it can be used.

I have started with the states closest to New York since that is where I am.  This is also where we do most of our training.  I am looking at the schools in Florida next since we have also been doing biofeedback and neurofeedback training in Miami, Florida for many years.

I looked at the list of HBCU institutions in Florida and found that there are four listed as being located in the state of Florida; Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, and Florida Memorial University in Miami.

Since the other schools are between 260 and 480 miles from Miami, I will start by contacting Florida Memorial University in Miami and then continue with contacting the other institutions.

I have been involved with providing biofeedback equipment and training and doing presentations on stress management and physiological monitoring at many colleges and universities.  The universities I have worked with include Pace, NYU, Yale, NC State, Rutgers, Brooklyn College, Denison, Drury, Otterbein, Bradley, University of Colorado, Idaho State University, Seton Hall, Fordham, Campbell, and Vanderbilt University.

Mo Read This Blog : Biofeedback Training in Miami

The History of Muscle Dysfunction and SEMG

 

Jeffrey R. Cram, PhD and Maya Durie, MEd, CMT

Abstract

The history of muscle pain and dysfunction is viewed through the lens of a four factor theory of histologic (tissue related) issues, psychologic (emotional) issues, sensory motor (movement) issues and biomechanical (postural) issues. The historical antecedents of both bodywork and surface electromyography are reviewed.

Key words: Surface EMG, SEMG, bodywork, trigger points, posture, emotions, movement.

Note: Parts of this article have appeared in The History of SEMG, Jour App Psychophys and Biof, In Press.

Humans have had to deal with sore muscles since the beginning of time. Initially, muscle assessments and treatments were conducted by hand and during the last century, the use of electronic instruments came into play.

To put muscle function and the clinical use of Surface electromyography (SEMG) into a perspective of history, is seems prudent to utilize a broad nomothetic net or conceptual framework. In Clinical Applications for Surface Electromyography, Kasman, Cram and Wolf (1998) consider chronic muscle dysfunction from a four fold perspective: Histologic (Tissue related issues); Psychologic (Psychophysiology and Emotions), Sensorimotor (Movement) and Mechanical Dysfunction (Cumulative Trauma, Posture etc). In this article we will provide a brief historical overview related to each of these four areas. This will provide a deep background for the emergence of the clinical use of SEMG, including information on the history of body work, psychophysiology, rehabilitation and the emergence of electricity and SEMG instrumentation.

We will begin with issues pertaining to the tissues of the body. The muscle, as an organ system, contains many sensory mechanisms. The muscle spindles tell the nervous system about the instantaneous length and force of contraction of segments of muscle tissue. The golgi tendon organ measures the actual force which the muscle is exerting and the rufini nucleus of the joints informs the nervous system of the relationship of angles of the bones. However, it is the free nerve ending within the muscle that senses local pain. And it is metabolic disturbances such as too much (lactic) acid or too much internal pressure due to swelling, congestion or edema, which activate the free nerve ending.

From a clinical point of view, up until the last two centuries, palpation and observations about movement and posture were the only tools available for assessing muscle oriented pain. Through the manual sense of touch, the practitioner can learn to feel many things. Is the muscle tissue hard to the touch? Does it feel stiff? Does it have lumps, tough fibers, etc. or is it soft, supple and relaxed? What does the fascia feel like? Is there a normal cranial-sacral rhythm? As you move the body passively through its range of motion, does it seem restricted suggesting a shortened muscle resting length? During active movement, does it appear that the body is using the correct muscles for the movement or is there a substitution pattern? Is the patient afraid of movement due to pain? Has a trauma become lodged in the nervous system or even the muscle tissue itself? Can one see or feel problems with ligament laxities or joint fixations? These are just some of the examples of questions we want to address, both by hand and by instrument. . Thus, one could think of body work as a means to help normalize the disturbance of tissue that might foster and create muscle pain and SEMG as an instrumented way of assessing some of these conditions.

More Read Info :  The History of Muscle Dysfunction and SEMG

 

The Hidden Challenge in Alcohol and Drug Abuse

“Alcohol and drugs are essential to my creative process” is a thought, sometimes a confession made, usually privately, by millions of creative people, many of them at the pinnacle of success in their fields. Yet, I have heard very little serious discussion by substance abuse professionals about the profound implications of this phenomenon.

Some say that psychoactive drugs will be with us forever and maybe they will. However, my life improved immensely and was probably saved by my liberating myself from the pleasures, enthusiastic bursts of creativity and agonies of alcohol and smoke.

In fact, our society has declared a “war” on drugs and a sort of “police action” on alcohol. Humorous, isn’t it since far more damage is done in the aggregate by alcohol than by all other drugs combined? As a society we believe that we must solve this catastrophic problem; or at least understand it enough so that we reduce the destructive pressure on our culture. Having come from a family of beautiful people who have been tragically impacted by alcohol and other drugs, I have had an intense interest in how and why this disaster happened to my dearest loves and beyond that to our civilization as a whole. What is the most effective way to heal the damage already done and reduce the problem in the future?

This led me into one of the most fascinating investigations of my life. I delved deeply into all of the conventional wisdom I could find… and I did most of my investigation while continuing to drink and smoke. I was what you call a highly functional substance abuser. In fact, my problem was never diagnosed by a professional or even a friend. I had to come to the realization that I had a substance abuse problem through self study.

Self study which involved a lot of EEG biofeedback and meditation.

In the course of these studies I had what I think is at least a relatively original insight. This insight enabled me to walk away from the substances that had become so integrated with my own intellectual, creative, even spiritual life. This personal discovery made by many millions of others before me was that I must quit all by myself. Another critical aspect of the discovery provided the burning sense of mission required to be successful as well as the realization that I must discover how to do this as though it was being done for the first time ever. The path to success came to me in a number of progressive meditative reveries.

More Read This Blog :  The Hidden Challenge in Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Neurofeedback Training For Traumatic Brain Injury

 

Brain injuries can be caused in many different ways.  Whether they are diagnosed or not can depend on how severe they are, where they happen, who is around when they happen, and whether the injured person seeks medical care.  Some of the sources of brain injuries include car accidents, sports injuries, slip and falls, physical fights and assaults among other things.  When the brain is injured the electrical activity and function of the brain is affected.  Biofeedback training Miami is a way to help to normalize the electrical activity of the brain which in turn helps improve function.

Some of the problems that may develop with a head injury include problems with memory, difficulty focusing, anger, and diminished self-control.    Some of these problems are similar to what normal teenagers struggle with.  This is often attributed to incomplete development of the front of the brain.

Interestingly, many people who suffer these symptoms also show abnormal EEG when tested with neurofeedback equipment.  One of the patterns that is common is high amplitude delta and theta in the frontal areas of the brain.  This seems to interfere with normal functioning and can be part of the cause of some of the symptoms.  By using neurofeedback equipment to measure and feedback EEG information on a computer screen clients can learn to regulate their brain activity.  After a series of training the EEG is often normalized and symptoms decreased.

Besides rest, there are relatively few effective treatments for brain injury.  Neurofeedback training seems to be a good non-invasive therapy for brain injury.

How does it work?  Sensors are placed on the patient’s head.  These sensors measure the electrical activity that is produced by the brain as it transmits signals across neurons.  The electrical signal is separated into the different frequencies which include Delta, Theta, Alpha, SMR (Sensory Motor Rhythm), Beta, and Gamma.  The signals are displayed on a computer screen.  Goals are set for each frequency that we want to reduce or increase.  Visual and or auditory feedback is presented when the goals are met that signal the brain that it is producing the desired pattern.   In the case of brain injury when there is excess delta and theta activity the feedback would be given when the power in these frequency ranges decreases.  Over time this tends to improve the symptoms.  Depending on the type of protocol, frequency of sessions, and the individual anywhere from 10 to 40 or more sessions of neurofeedback training might be needed to achieve lasting results.

Increasing numbers of medical and mental healthcare providers are beginning to offer this as a service to their clients.

Harry L. Campbell

President, Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

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

More Info Click Here :  Neurofeedback Training For Traumatic Brain Injury