Wishing You All the Best in 2014!

We want to take a moment to express thanks for all the support we have received this past year. We wish our colleagues and friends all the best in 2014 and continued success in this exciting field! It has been a busy year for us. In 2013 we launched a new website, offered a number of live online events and numerous new product releases. A great way to keep on top of what we are doing is to join our mailing list. If you are not on our mailing list, click here to sign up.

New Website
This year we launched a new website and are continuing to build and update the content so that it stays fresh and remains a good source of information on biofeedback and neurofeedback, especially for those just entering the field.

New Meeting Website
We also created a dedicated meeting website where we provide information about our annual meeting - this year it is Venice, Italy from February 11-15, 2014 with 5-day BCIA workshops starting on the 10th. You can register here.

Improved Online Shop
We continue to improve our online shop and this year added tech sheets for all BFE software suites. These information sheets provide a comprehensive list of everything needed to use the software. You will see a button to download the tech sheets included in the descriptions of each suite.

Live Webinars
Dr. Paul G. Swingle joined us again to present a series of webinars on his ClinicalQ and BrainDryvr methods covering topics such as PTSD, Attention Problems, Sleep Disorders and a presentation on Art and the Brain. We also hosted webinars on Integrative Medicine (Dr. Robert McCarthy), Tennis - Optimizing Performance (Stephanie Nihon, MSc, BCIA, BCN), HRV and Hypnosis for Trauma (Sue Intemann, LPC and Maggie Minsk, LPC), Mental Conditioning for Intense Focus in Baseball (Dr. Wes Sime & Dr. Ben Strack). 
If you missed any of these events, recordings are available in our online shop.

New Software Suites
The year 2013 saw the release of three new software suites: Tennis Performance by Stephanie Nihon, MSc, BCIA, BCN, Integrative Medicine by Dr. Robert McCarthy and Sternman Operant Conditioning by Dr. Barry Sternman, with more planned for 2014! 
View our complete catalogue of software suites.

Online Classes
Classes offered in 2014 included a wide variety of topics that included Reaction Time, Optimizing Performance & Health, ClinicalQ and BrainDryvr, Hemoencephalography, Z-Scores, ADHD Assessment and a Voice Master Class.We will be scheduling classes throughout 2014 and can also offer them on demand. Feel free to contact us at shop@bfe.org with questions. 
View a listing of classes here.

Expanded Social Media Presence
Our mission statement includes the goal of educating communities around the world in the field of biofeedback. What better way to do this than through social media? We have tried to reach out and we are not alone in this effort. This past year we have noticed many more of you out there doing an amazing job spreading the word about bio/neurofeedback via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and various other platforms. These efforts help our field and we encourage those of you who have not yet "jumped in" to do so!

And finally, we would like to acknowledge the involvement of the many professionals who have donated their time to help create the educational materials we offer in the BFE Shop as part of our Learn From the Best Program, as well as all of our sponsors. It is truly an honor to work with such an outstanding group of professionals.

We look forward to seeing you in 2014!


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Tennis Anyone? New Software Suite Now Available

Those of you who attended last week's webinar "Tennis - Optimizing Performance" had a chance to become acquainted with both Stephanie Nihon, (the presenter) and the BFE's own Jon Bale, who joined Stephanie online to moderate the event. During the webinar, Stephanie shared her expertise in incorporating biofeedback and neurofeedback into the training regime for tennis players. She recently worked with the BFE to create the Tennis Performance software suite that leads the user through assessment/training protocols with screens specific to the sport.


A Bit of Background
Dr. Vietta (Sue) Wilson is well known as one of the top sport psychologists in the field of performance enhancement with biofeedback and neurofeedback. There are several clinicians who have protégéd at her side, training athletes, determining protocol specifics for individual sports and fine tuning her method. Stephanie Nihon is one of those such individuals.

Stephanie Nihon, MSc, BCIA, BCN

As a former national athlete, Ms. Nihon has been involved in optimal performance training for almost 10 years. Working closely with Dr. Wilson, as well as at Michael & Lynda Thompson's ADD Center in Toronto, Canada, she has experience in all types of sports with specialties in tennis, swimming, hockey and most recently downhill skiing. Her experience includes training Olympians, NHL players, PGA golfers and National level athletes.

The Tennis Suite was designed by Stephanie Nihon and the Biofeedback Federation of Europe (BFE) as a training tool for the performance enhancement of tennis athletes. Specific protocols are given, as well as exercises and enhancement goals. Ms. Nihon and Jon Bale, the BFE's Research Manager, both agreed that there is sometimes a lack of creativity on the part of clinicians or trainers when working with athletes. In developing the Tennis Performance software, her/our goal was to give clinicians new ways of teaching and enforcing what an athlete needs to learn.

The BFE Tennis Performance Suite

The Tennis Performance suite consists of a short 1 Hz Bins EEG Assessment, with specialized excel report, and 6 training protocols that focus on specific modalities. All training goals, exercises and feedback is done with relevance to the game of tennis.

The 1 Hz Bins EEG Assessment provides an idea of the athlete's EEG amplitudes before training, as well as points out any anomalous readings. The results are graphed in an easy-to-read excel report that is generated automatically.

The training protocols are divided according to complementary modalities are statistics. Within each protocol are multiple training goals and exercises, that go from simple to more difficult. Exercises are interspersed among the training goals to facilitate faster learning with the biofeedback/neurofeedback. Instructions are included on each training screen so that the clinician/trainer and athlete understand what the goal is and how to interact with the feedback measurements.

The BFE Tennis Performance suite is available for direct download from the BFE Online Shop. Documentation includes a software manual, clinical manual and additional reference files for exercises provide by Ms. Nihon.

Hardware/Software Requirements
The Tennis Performance suite is available for use with the ProComp Infiniti or ProComp 2 encoder and is compatible with the BioGraph Infiniti software. Sensors used for collecting data and training optimal performance include BVP for heart rate, respiration, EEG-Z for brain waves, skin conductance, MyoScan-Pro for EMG (2 for ProComp Infiniti; 1 for ProComp 2) and temperature (for ProComp Infiniti only). Download tech sheet here.

Webinar Recording Available: Tennis - Optimizing Performance
If you missed the webinar you'll be pleased to know that for a limited time, we have made the recording available at the special price of $9.95. (Regular price $29.95) Click here to purchase.