19 December 2012

Mental Conditioning for Intense Focus in Baseball


Recently I sat down with Dr. Wes Sime to ask him a few questions about an upcoming webinar "Mental Conditioning for Intense Focus in Baseball" that he will be presenting with Dr. Ben Strack. Drs. Strack and Sime have been involved in baseball for decades and they are part of a high performance training team supporting numerous elite Olympic, professional and collegiate sports teams. They are currently working with the Biofeedback Federation CIC to develop software applications for baseball.

Just prior to the interview, I read an article on the New York Times website about golfer Charlie Beljan's panic attack on the PGA Tour and his subsequent win. It's a pretty remarkable story and one that I am surprised doesn't happen more often in both professional and amateur sports. Here's an excerpt from the article with comments from golf instructor Jim McLean:

McLean, who is ranked among Golf Digest’s top five teachers nationally, said he saw panic attacks on the golf course from pros and recreational golfers alike more often than people would imagine. If it is a rare sight on the PGA Tour, he said, it is because being calm under pressure is part of the Darwinian weeding-out process in professional golf.

“Anxiety under pressure has driven a lot of golfers out of the game,” McLean said. “They’re people you don’t know of and never heard about because they couldn’t handle it. That includes some very talented guys. It’s part of the game that is underestimated and just as important as hitting the ball. It can be pretty scary, and it’s an incredible story that Charlie won.”
Dr. Sime has worked with both professional golfers and pro baseball players and believes that mental training for peak performance is as important as physical training. His training sessions are tailored to the individual athlete and include the use of biofeedback and neurofeedback. According to Dr. Sime, "Sport pychophysiology and biofeedback provide the "mind gym" training needed to shape the mental and emotional state of the player to deal with pressure and to thrive under difficult conditions."

The use of peak performance training with biofeedback has steadily increased over the years but is virtually unknown to many. So how does it work? Simply put, biofeedback is like a window into the self. A good example is stress - we all know what it feels like to be stressed, but imagine that we are actually able to "see" what is going on in our bodies when we are anxious or stressed. Typically, our respiration rate increases, our hands may become sweaty and certain muscles may become tense. Now, imagine that we can alter our response to stress. That is biofeedback.

Below Dr. Sime answers a few questions about using bio and neurofeedback as part of his training program:

Why is peak performance training important to baseball?

The 2012 World Series revealed more than ever that teams with the largest payrolls, the best hitters and the most talented pitchers do not always produce dominant results. The game of baseball is more than raw physical power and technique. Not surprisingly, getting results comes down to the individual player's and team's ability to overcome adversity, anxiety and to maintain confidence without recent hits and runs to build high expectations. Physical strength and conditioning make an important contribution to the game, but the mental conditioning for intense focus, together with calmness and composure to optimize reaction time is equally important.

What does a typical training session involve?
I begin by assessing the individual needs of the player. It usually starts with "I’ve got to get better at hitting" or "I really want to get around on the ball faster," or "I want to be less nervous and more confident in the batter’s box.” We’re really problem solving and we have this sophisticated technology that allows the player to look under the hood and see along with us what’s going on so we can all share in the solution.

What signals do you monitor?

In the beginning, it is important to capture the athlete’s attention and get them interested in doing this with very simple, straight forward illustrations. I usually start with monitoring respiration and heart rate variability or the combination of skin conductance and skin temperature so they can see when they’re stressed or when they’re in coherence. Then, I want them to be facing a simulated challenge while monitoring coherence and we have this technology in the BFE ProBaseball suite which is called is ReactTrak.

ReactTrak is a simple game that requires the player to keep a ball within a specific field of play using the mouse on the computer. The player needs to stay focused and very intent on tracking the ball on screen just like tracking the baseball out of the pitcher’s hand. We want the biofeedback to be accounting for and helping us condition toward better performance on the next trial so we can explain why the player lost that previous event on the ReactTrak. For example, the player may discover that he was getting too uptight or his breathing was messed up or whatever. So to answer your question on what signals are used, respiration and heart rate to begin with, then skin conductance and temperature, followed by muscle tension and at the most sophisticated level, the brainwaves become important.

How does that translate to hitting?
The goal in baseball hitting is to locate the ball coming out of the pitchers hand at lightning speed and tracking that ball whether it's going straight or it's breaking to one direction or another. The additional challenge is to bring the bat around with sufficient force and with perfect timing to meet the ball squarely. This complex motor learning task requires exquisite eye/hand and body coordination to bring the bat around at the right moment in time and on the same plane as the ball is crossing the plate. It's all about hand and eye coordination and that's what the ReactTrak game teaches. The benefit of using the game is that the player learns to do it all in a relaxed and focused state.

How do the players react to the training?
Part of the challenge in implementing program is presenting the relevance of the training in such a compelling manner that players and the coaching staff get on board. If they aren't familiar with biofeedback, they may perceive it as too complicated, too "wired up" and might feel that it’s a little out of their control. However, when we get access to players, one-on-one, really wanting to get better at this game, then the instrumented, sensor and game driven training in the office comes together very well.

This type of training is just another tool in the arsenal. If you think about it, 30-40 years ago -- no one in any sport did any weightlifting or training and conditioning...they just did their sport. And of course now - strength and conditioning, the weight room is just so sophisticated and they’ve got full time people aligned as personal trainers making sure that the work is done properly. Going forward, I think it's going to be the same with regard to mental training. We have to be prepared to use the latest technology and we have to be the interface between the athlete and the equipment thus demonstrating how and work it works in preparation for The Game.

What advice do you have for biofeedback professionals interested in entering this field?
If you’re a biofeedback person, in your community, go find a sport psychologist. If you’re a sport psychologist, and you don’t know biofeedback, go find a biofeedback person in your community and collaborate together. You need to partner up with somebody where you can help each other.

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If you're a trainer, coach, sports agent or a biofeedback professional interested in learning more about Dr. Sime's techniques, we invite you to attend an upcoming webinar where he and colleague Dr. Ben Strack will discuss mental conditioning for baseball.

Mental Conditioning for Intense Focus in Baseball
Date: January 18, 2013
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Eastern Time, US & Canada)
Presented by: Dr. Wes Sime and Dr. Ben Strack

For further information, contact the BFE ProBaseball team at blueprobaseball@gmail.com.

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Dr. Ben Strack, Ph.D.
Dr. Ben Strack is a licensed psychologist and a certified sport psychology consultant (CC-AASP). He is an adjunct faculty member at Argosy University where he teaches sport psychology classes. In his clinical/sports practice (Newport Beach & Santa Ana, CA) he consults with professional athletes (MLB, NHL), Olympic athletes (USA Women’s Indoor Volleyball; Swimming), college, and youth athletes.

Dr. Strack is author/editor of the sport psychology book “Applications of biofeedback and neurofeedback in sport psychology” (2011). He is a former division I college baseball player and founding partner of Proball Inc., private baseball academy. During the 1999 and 2000 MLB seasons, he was the batting practice pitcher for the Anaheim Angels. From 1999 to 2004, he was hand-picked to pitch in the MLB Players’ Association and ESPN’s Big League Challenge Home Run Contests where he was the personal pitcher for Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Raphael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, Shawn Green, Magglio Ordonez, Andruw Jones, and Troy Glaus.

Dr. Strack is a United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Sport Psychology Registry Member, board member of the Orange County Psychological Association and a co-chairperson for the Optimal Performance/Functioning division of the Association of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. He is also an active member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).  

Wes Sime, Ph.D., MPH, BCB, BCN
A pioneer in the field of Applied Sport Psychophysiology, Dr. Sime has helped to develop the technology to measure the over effort and "muscling up tension" that occurs in the batters box while baseball players face tough pitching. A former Sport Psychologist for the Omaha Royals AAA team, Wes has worked with major league players as well as several Olympic Teams. He has worked with PGA golfers including Payne Stewart, Corey Pavin, Troy Matteson and numerous others striving to help make sport psychology come to life in professional golf. Currently, Wes is a health psychologist and sport psychologist at First Step Wellness in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is the originator of the ProGolf concept and has worked Jane Arave in developing the ProGolf Suite for BFE.

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14 December 2012

Coping With Workplace Stress During the Holiday Season

I recently read a timely article by Judy Martin in Forbes magazine on "5 Keys to Transform Workplace Holiday Stress from the Inside Out". (Read the full article here.) This time of year can be even more hectic than usual with "out of the office" responsibilities demanding more of our time and thoughts. I particularly liked Judy's second point in the article:
"Breathe: That’s it folks, but with a twist. We need reminders. I put a post-it with the word “Breathe” right on my computer screen. Here’s another suggestion, set an alarm for the top of the hour, when it strikes, three deep belly breathes, releasing slowly. Then hold out the last breath for a few seconds. You’ll be surprised how energizing it can be, while calming your nerves. This is the one elixir that can spark the speediest positive response to stress."
This is exactly what the BFE's EZAir Plus software does. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the software, EZAir Plus is a breath pacer that allows the user to place a linegraph or bargraph on their computer screen so that breathing can be paced optimally at 6 breaths per minute. Breathing slowly seems like such an easy thing to do, but when faced with deadlines, full email in-boxes and massive to-do-lists it becomes a real challenge to remember to do it!

 I think the nicest feature of the software is that it can be set up to pop up on screen once an hour for five minutes thereby providing the reminder that Judy mentions in her article. And when the software starts, most often you will see that you are breathing much faster than you think. A couple minutes following along with EZAir and your breathing returns to the optimal rate.



If you are not currently using the program, we invite you to try it free for 30-days. If you like it, you can purchase it for $19.95.
Click here to activate your trial.

15 October 2012

Biofeedback for Extreme Situations

Do you think your job is stressful?
Most of us would probably answer yes, but imagine if this was your job...

(Though this daring rescue at sea was reported in the news, what most people don’t know is that on their way to the rescue, the Dutch Special Forces were staying calm thanks in part to tactical breathing skills they learned from a Dutch biofeedback expert.)


Stress has a great impact on the quality of lives of the men and women in uniform that serve and protect communities. Biofeedback offers ways to measure stress and guide professionals that work with people in extreme situations. The BFE Military and Security team has recently released software to train professionals working with military, security and law enforcement agencies. The suite, compatible with the BioGraph Infiniti system, was designed by an international team led Dr. Henk Kraaijenhof and based on his experience training military and law enforcement personnel.

Dr. Henk Kraaijenhof
Dr. Kraajienhof is a biofeedback expert based in the Netherlands. Henk has trained Olympic gold medalists and top professionals and now also trains special forces in tactical breathing for performance under pressure. The software is just one piece of an education and training program for professionals interested in learning more about biofeedback.

Starting in January of 2013, Dr. Kraaijenhof will be hosting a series of three online grand rounds sessions along with BFE Military and Security team member Yuval Oded who lends his expertise based on his biofeedback assisted MentalGym™ project. During these sessions, participants will be able to present specific cases or pose questions to the group for discussion.

If you would like to know a little bit more about the suite and how it works, we have made available a recent webinar presented by the BFE Research Manager, Jon Bale. In the recording, Jon reviews the software and documents included in the suite. He will also demonstrate the assessment and training protocols. At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to identify one measure of biofeedback and neurofeedback, recognize the use and benefit of different types of assessment, learn the benefit of using different stressors to elicit a physiological change.

If you are interested in learning more about this interesting use of biofeedback, feel free to contact the BFE Military and Security team at www. redmilitarysecurity@gmail.com.

Visit the BFE Online Shop for full descriptions of the products listed above:
Military and Security Software Suite
Military and Law Enforcement - Grand Rounds
Intro to the Military and Law Enforcement Suite - Webinar Recording


10 October 2012

Biofeedback for Mental Health

I blog for World Mental Health Day


First, I would like to commend the folks at the Carter Center for their ongoing efforts to draw attention to mental health concerns while reducing the stigma that is associated with them and to PsychCentral for the great work they do. Thanks also to everyone who has taken the time to share their own insights by joining the “blog party”. What a great concept!

In my role as Education Manager at the BFE, I have had the opportunity to learn about the work of many mental health professionals around the world who have incorporated biofeedback and neurofeedback into their practices. Our field has such great potential but remains virtually unknown to so many. 

So what is biofeedback?
The AAPB (Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback) website sums it up nicely:

“Biofeedback is a process that enables an individual to learn how to change physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance. Precise instruments measure physiological activity such as brainwaves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature. These instruments rapidly and accurately "feed back" information to the user. The presentation of this information — often in conjunction with changes in thinking, emotions, and behavior — supports desired physiological changes. Over time, these changes can endure without continued use of an instrument.”

Approved May 18, 2008 by:
Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB)
Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA)
International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR)

Quite simply, biofeedback is like a window into the self. A good example to illustrate this is stress. In today’s fast paced world we are all familiar with stress and the negative impact it can have on our health. Most people can identify when they are feeling stressed, but may not be aware that during stressful periods their heart rate speeds up, their respiration rate increases and their muscles may be tense. With knowledge of these physiological changes comes the power to regulate them.  

Biofeedback has been widely used by a variety of health professionals in the treatment of disorders such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma and PTSD to name a few.  In fact the focus of the upcoming North Carolina Biofeedback Society’s annual meeting (for which we are a sponsor) is “Trauma and the Mind-Body Connection”.  The conference, taking place November 2-4, 2012, provides a great opportunity for mental health providers to learn how they can incorporate biofeedback into their practice.

Other good resources are the AAPB (Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback), the ISNR (International Society for Neurofeedback and Research) and the BCIA (Biofeedback Certification International Alliance). All three websites provide a wealth of information for professionals as well as anyone interested in learning more about this fascinating field.  Also, check out this link for a crash course on biofeedback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u1v3xRCqu8 

A Bit About Us...
The BFE Learn From the Best program provides continuing education via conferences, seminars, workshops, internet courses, and software for professionals around the world. Content is developed independently by International Research & Education Project teams. Financial support comes from the Biofeedback Federation CIC, a non-profit Community Interest Corporation located in the UK. For more information, visit the BFE Online Shop. The next BFE Annual Conference is scheduled to take place February 11-15, 2014 in Venice, Italy.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information.
Carol Meyers
Education Manager
education@bfe.org

4 September 2012

New ADHD Software Suite and Online Grand Rounds Sessions with Dr. Vincent Monastra


Compatible with the Thought Technology BioGraph Infiniti system, the ADHD Assessment Suite takes the design and findings of Dr. Vincent Monastra & Dr. Joel Lubar's 1999 study (Assessing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder via Quantitative Electroencephalography: An Initial Validation Study) and turns it into an automated ADHD Assessment protocol. The design team includes Dr. Francois Dupont (creator of the Integrated Neurofeedback suite and others) and the BFE's own Jon Bale who worked closely with Drs. Monastra and Lubar.

Dr. Vincent Monastra 
Dr. Vincent Monastra
Vincent J. Monastra, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and director of the FPI Attention Disorders Clinic in Endicott, New York. He is also an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Binghampton University. During the past three decades, he has conducted a series of studies involving more than 10,000 individuals with disorders of attention and behavioral control, resulting in the publication of numerous scientific articles, a book chapter, and the award-winning book,Parenting Children with ADHD: 10 Lessons that Medicine Cannot Teach (APA, 2005). His skills as a master diagnostician and therapist have been widely recognized and are archived in several educational videotaped programs, including Working with Children with ADHD (APA, 2005). His model for diagnosing and treating ADHD has been published in the book, Unlocking the Potential of Patients with ADHD: A Model for Clinical Practice (APA, 2007).

Dr. Joel Lubar
Dr. Joel Lubar received his B.S. and Ph.D. from the Division of the Biological Sciences and Department of Biopsychology at the University of Chicago. He has published more than 125 papers, numerous book chapters, as well as eight books in the areas of Neuroscience and Applied Psychophysiology. He has been a Regional Editor for the Journal Physiology and Behavior, an Associate Editor for Biofeedback and Self Regulation, and is currently one of the editors of the Journal of Neurotherapy.

He has held the position of Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester. In 1967 he became an Associate Professor and then a Full Professor at the University of Tennessee in 1971.
Dr. Joel Lubar

Dr. Lubar was the past president of AABP(Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback) and was the president of ISNR(International Society for Neurofeedback and Research. He has been the president of the Academy of Certified Neurotherapist which now offers specialty certifications in EEG Biofeedback under the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA). He has also been the president of the EEG Division of the AAPB. He has served on the BCIA Board of Directors, and as a member of the executive board of the AAPB. He was previously an officer on the board of the Biofeedback Research Society. He was the first President of the Biofeedback Society of Tennessee. Since 1979 he has been co-director of the Southeastern Biofeedback l Institute, in Knoxville and now in Pompano Beach, Florida. Dr. Lubar has presented his research at many workshops in Europe, South America, Canada, Israel, Australia and to many State and National meetings of Biofeedback Organizations. He was an invited keynote speaker at the Third International Conference in Biobehavioral Self Regulation and Health, held in Tokyo, Japan, October, 1993.

Dr. Lubar was responsible for developing the use of EEG Biofeedback (Neurofeedback) as a treatment modality for children, adolescents, and adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, starting with his controlled studies in mid-1970. This application of Neurofeedback is now becoming widespread in clinics and schools throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, Europe and Mexico. Currently, more than 1500 health care organizations are using the EEG biofeedback protocols that Dr. Lubar has developed. Dr. Lubar is currently developing neurofeedback for LORETA (Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography), and is a consulting for several controlled studies evaluating the effectiveness of Neurofeedback. In a 1992 publication, in Pediatric Neurology, he and his colleagues showed, for the first time, that children with the inattentive form of ADD (without hyperactivity), differ significantly in terms of quantitative EEG patterns, from matched control non-ADD children. He also has conducted and published research on the use of Neurofeedback for seizure disorders.

Dr. Francois Dupont
Dr. François Dupont
Dr. François Dupont is a registered psychologist with competence in general, health, and rehabilitation psychology. In his private practice in Ottawa, Canada, he often combines bio/neurofeedback with techniques borrowed from cognitive-behavioural, dynamic-humanistic and experiential approaches. Involved with the BFE for more than a decade, he has lectured in Canada and overseas. He recently presented at the BFE’s 16th Annual Conference in Poland.


ADHD Assessment Suite
The ADHD Assessment suite main monitoring screen is used for recording and/or monitoring data and verifying if too much artifact is being generated:


An excel report takes the results of the assessment and compares them to established age-related norms, for the diagnosis of ADHD in the individual:


All material necessary for the assessment (age appropriate reading, listening and cognitive tasks) is included within the suite documents:
Sample of images used with the drawing task in the assessment.

 







 


Online Grand Rounds with Dr. Monastra
In these monthly Grand Rounds sessions hosted by Dr. Vincent Monastra, participants will have the opportunity to present case studies for review and to benefit from Dr. Monastra's experience and knowledge in the field. The session also provides APA CE credits granted on a one credit per contact hour basis.

Both the grand rounds and the ADHD Software suite can be purchased in the BFE Online Shop.
ADHD Assessment Suite
ADHD Grand Rounds


For additional information, feel free to contact the BFE ADHD Team at blueadhd@gmail.com.

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17 August 2012

Have you registered for the BFE Annual Meeting?


The BFE conference is just around the corner. We are working on the final details for the workshops, the scientific day and the gala dinner and have a few surprises planned as well!

Thank you to everyone who has already registered. This is the first time we will be hosting a conference in Poland and we are looking forward to welcoming all the participants from the region and also those of you coming from afar! A special thanks to Dr. Rafal Sztembis for all the work he is doing in Poland to make the meeting a success.

There are still spaces in all the workshops, though many are filling up quickly so we urge you to reserve your spot if you are planning to attend. This year's lineup includes:

Drs. Lynda and Michael Thompson
Introduction to the Practice of Neurofeedback: Assessment leads to Appropriate Intervention 

Heart - Brain Connections: Neuroanatomy Underlies the Effectiveness of Interventions that Combine Neurofeedback with Biofeedback 

Neuroanatomical Underpinnings for Optimal Performance Interventions: Foundations for Designing a Clinical Practice that Combines Neurofeedback with Biofeedback to Optimize Important Aspects of Mental and Psychophysiological Functioning in Order to Set-Up-for-Success

Dr. Marek Jantos 
Introduction to the Glazer SEMG Intrapelvic Assessment Protocol for OB-GYN

New Perspectives on Female Sexual Pain

Dr. Erik Peper 
Stress Management with Biofeedback

Breathing, Biofeedback and Related Mind-Body Interventions to Reduce Chronic Pain and Anxiety

Dr. Donald Moss
Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback: What is Heart Rate Variability? What is its Medical and Psychological Significance? How Can We Optimally Train Positive HRV Changes?

Dr. Francois Dupont
After an EEG Assessment: Integrated Neurofeedback

Dr. Howard Hall
How Therapeutic Language Enhances Pain Management and Biofeedback

Dr. C. Jean Mosley Hall
Preserving & Protecting Indigenous Sign Languages and Deaf Cultures



For full details, visit our website at http://www.bfe.org/meeting.html
Or, download our conference flyer here.


We hope you will join us and this great group of presenters this September in Poland!

15 June 2012

June is PTSD Awareness Month

As you may or may not know, June is PTSD Awareness Month in the US. The full impact of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is not yet known. The US Congressional Office states that, "Through September 2011, about 740,000 veterans from overseas contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan had been treated by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). That number is slightly more than half of all recent veterans eligible for care by VHA."The report goes on to say that, "One in four recent combat veterans treated at VHA from 2004 to 2009 had a diagnosis of PTSD."


National Center for PTSD
A great resource for those suffering from PTSD and their family members is the US Department of Veteran's Affairs National Center for PTSD website. It is full of information about PTSD including a list of symptoms, explanation of various treatments and some basic coping strategies. There is also a Professional Section that provides training materials for health professionals along with information and tools to help with assessment and treatment.Sadly, there is not much about biofeedback/neurofeedback on the site other than brief mentions of biofeedback as an adjunctive treatment or a means to relax.

Click Here to view a video on Dr. Russoniello's methods.
Over the years, the BFE has had the pleasure of working with a host of professionals who are using biofeedback and neurofeedback to treat clients with post traumatic stress disorder. Among them is Dr. Carmen Russoniello, Ph.D., a former Marine machine gunner and decorated Vietnam combat veteran. Dr. Russoniello implemented a biofeedback program for Wounded Warrior Marines at Camp Lejeune. The novel biofeedback intervention involves EEG and heart rate variability feedback and includes the use of virtual reality (VR). He recently presented a 1-hour webinar for the BFE:

The Central Autonomic Network and Combat PTSD: Assessment and Intervention
is now available as a recording in the BFE online shop.

PTSD in the General Public
Dr. Daniel Hamiel is an Israeli psychologist who has done extensive work in treating children with PTSD. In a past issue of Psychophysiology Today, Dr. Hamiel wrote an article titled "There Are the Best Laid Plans, and Then There is Biofeedback". The article summarizes his work with a group of adolescents who survived a terrorist bomb attack in a discotheque in Tel Aviv. Click here to read the full article.

Learning More About Biofeedback/Neurofeedback for PTSD
For health professionals who want to learn more about the potential of using bio/neurofeedback for PTSD, a good place to start is your local or regional biofeedback society. Attending an annual conference is a great way to learn more about the field and the potential applications in your practice.



1 May 2012

BFE 2012 Annual Conference in Poland

We are very excited to be holding our 16th Annual Conference in Poland for the first time. It is scheduled to take place September 11-15, 2012 in Rzeszów, Poland. 

More details on individual workshops will be available in the coming weeks and months and we will share them on the blog and on our website. For now, here's a taste of Polish culture for you to enjoy. Remember, if you have any questions about the conference, send an email to Kayla Lane our Conference Coordinator at conferences@bfe.org.

Hope to see you there!


20 April 2012

Cancer Prevention, Treatment, Choices and Hope

On April 25th, Dr. Erik Peper will be presenting a webinar on biofeedback and cancer based on his latest book; Fighting Cancer-A Non Toxic Approach to Treatment which was co-authored with Robert Gorter, M.D., Ph.D. The book describes a new paradigm of understanding and treating cancer by focusing on mobilizing and activating the immune system.

One in two people will get cancer, one in three will die of it—What can you do? The webinar explores the need for a new prevention and treatment paradigm. It overviews cancer risk factors, strategies to mobilize the immune system through self-care, and the Gorter protocol.

If you, your patients, or any of those you love are dealing with cancer, this is an excellent opportunity for discovery, and to enjoy Dr. Peper’s always spellbinding presentation. 

Cancer Prevention, Treatment, Choices and Hope
Presenter: Dr. Erik Peper
Date: April 25, 2012
Time: 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Click here for more information.

Erik Peper, Ph.D. is an international authority on biofeedback and self-regulation. He is Professor at the Institute for Holistic Healing Studies / Department of Health Education at San Francisco State University. He is President of the BFE and past President of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. Dr. Peper’s best-selling book “Muscle Biofeedback at the Computer,” is a practical manual used by San Francisco State University as part of its program for which Dr. Peper received the 2004 California Governor’s Safety Award. For more information on maintaining energy and health at work and a series of healthy computing tips, visit Dr. Peper’s blog The Peper Perspective.

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19 April 2012

BFE-LFB (Learn From the Best) Program and NRBS Conference

Over the past couple months we've been working with Cindy Perlin, president of the Northeast Regional Biofeedback Society, to promote their annual conference that takes place this weekend. The topic of this year's meeting is:

Realizing the Potential of Biofeedback: 
An International Call to Action
April 20-22, 2012

They sum up the purpose of the meeting like this...
"We all know the power of biofeedback and neurofeedback to change people’s lives for the better. It is safe, effective and lower cost over time than virtually any alternatives. Yet it is a relatively unknown treatment, rarely mentioned in the media. This conference will address how to increase biofeedback’s visibility and get treatment to more people, while expanding our individual practices and the field. If you’re passionate about biofeedback and its potential, please join us to make a difference!"

Anyone working in the field knows of the challenges we face as an industry. Part of the BFE's mission as a non-profit community interest company is to promote the field of biofeedback both internationally and regionally. To achieve that objective, we promote the work of our affiliates through social media, press releases, blogs. Our Program Director, Mark Schwartz will be presenting a workshop on "Marketing of Biofeedback on the Internet" and looks forward to seeing you there.

And just as a reminder, the NRBS welcomes members from around the world. Click here for information on joining their society.

Thank you to the NRBS for leading the way on this important topic!

22 February 2012

Biofeedback in Israel

Recently, Dr. Erik Peper traveled to Israel to present a series of workshops on biofeedback. The event was organized by the Israeli Biofeedback-Neurofeedback Association (IBNA). As one of the sponsors of the event, we had the pleasure of working with the members of the IBNA to help promote the workshops. Yuval Oded, a member of the IBNA commented, "Erik is a wonderful human being and an outstanding teacher. As a real master in  integrative approaches to healing, his workshops here not only greatly expanded our knowledge in biofeedback but also affected many of us in our general attitude towards therapy by emphasizing
the role emotional memories and patterns, and interactions of body, mind, social and physical environment for achieving long term results in optimizing performance and health. Erik generously shared his clinical wisdom with us, teaching many practical techniques for increasing self awareness, fostering control and self mastery skills, taking charge and actively participating in ones own healing process. The workshops were not only theoretical. Erik gave us many impressive demonstrations using biofeedback on how to promote health."


Day 1 - Wednesday, January 11th
Making the Invisible Visible with Biofeedback as a Diagnostic and Self Mastery Tool

The workshop focused on integrating biofeedback with cognitive, somatic and imagery techniques. The biofeedback includes analysis of dysponetic muscle patterns, dysfunctional respiratory patterns in clients and training strategies to optimize performance and health. The biofeedback treatment strategies can be used in numerous disorders such as panic and anxiety, recurrent abdominal pain, asthma, muscle dysfunction, hypertension, autonomic disregulation disorders, PTSD and pain.


Day 2 - Thursday, January 12th
Integrated Biofeedback to Manage Stress and to Optimize Health

Dr. Peper discussed the use of respiration biofeedback and other modalities (temp, SEMG, SCL, HRV) for stress management and for reducing pain, panic, anxiety and increasing performance.

Day 3 - Friday, January 13th
From Technostress to Technohealth

This course focused on teaching practitioners how to prevent computer-related disorders and presented a comprehensive approach covering workstation ergonomics, corporate culture work environment, individual work style, work/rest patterns and psychophysiological predisposition. An emphasis is placed on utilizing surface EMG to take the guesswork out of assessment, monitoring, and training.
 
The workshops were co-sponsored and in collaboration with:
SAN Society for Applied Neuroscience (www.applied-neuroscience.org)
Psy-Phi Advanced Psychological Solutions (www.psy-phi.co.il)
Medtechnica (www.medtechnica.co.il)

Comments on the workshop...

“Dr. Pepers' contribution to the field of applied psychophysiology and Biofeedback over the past 40 years is huge. What I have learned from him as a student in many of his BFE workshops, has first of all, changed the way I cope with stress."
--Yuval Oded

"The ability to teach in a way that the participants not only learned new tools for their practice but also for the clinicians themselves, is one of the major strengths of Erik. He made everybody understand and feel hands on that clinicians need to experience Biofeedback themselves in order to be good clinicians."
--Daniela Gräfin von Der Schulenburg-Ortner

The BFE looks forward to working with the IBNA again in the future to promote biofeedback and neurofeedback in Israel.

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