Relaxed and Safe Driving

There are some sources of stress we can avoid and there are some that are much more difficult to avoid. If you drive then you face what can be very stressful on a regular basis. Most of us believe that we are excellent drivers. It’s those other "idiots" (or worse) who don’t know how to drive. Either they drive too fast, too slow or something else. It is fortunate for me that the drive to my office is only 5 minutes from my home, unless it is rush hour, yes we have a rush hour in tiny Ossining, NY. I should probably walk more often since that would only take 20 minutes. The excuse I usually make is that I have too much stuff to carry if I walk. That could be worked around with a little planning. Since the weather is nice now I will make a commitment to walk to work more often until winter. Many people have a commute of one hour or more one way. Multi-ply that by 5 days and you get at least ten hours of driving just to get to and from work. Besides our work commute there is driving to the store, running errands, going to din-ner and other entertainment, vacations, business trips and more. Those of you who are drivers may spend a lot of time in the car. Many of your cli-ents spend a lot of time in the car.
The last time that I took a defensive driving course I de-cided that I should comment on stress related to driving. Even though I have been driv-ing since I was sixteen years old I always learn something at these sessions. Here are some road rage statistics from the American Safety Council
66% of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving.
 37% of aggressive driving incidents involve a firearm.
 Males under the age of 19 are the most likely to exhibit road rage. Half of drivers who are on the  receiving end of an aggressive behavior, such as horn honking, a rude gesture, or tailgating admit to respond-ing with aggressive behavior themselves.
 Over a seven year period, 218 murders and 12,610 inju-ries were attributed to road rage.
One scary statistic worth not-ing is:
2% of drivers admit to trying to run an aggressor off the road!
We are never the problem right?
Take this quiz that the American Safety Council offers:
Do you regularly drive over the speed limit, or try to "beat" red lights because you are in a hurry?
Do you tailgate or flash your headlights at a driver in front of you that you believe is driving too slowly?
Do you honk the horn often?
Do you ever use obscene ges-tures or otherwise communi-cate angrily at another driver?
Any yes answer is an indication that you are capable of road rage. Often road rage happens because the person was under stress unrelated to driving. Traffic and the actions of other drivers can add to stress, which then blows up when a driver thinks that someone else on the road has offended them whether intentional or not.
I do a lot of driving and I also find that it can be stressful. I have learned several things to help make the experience more relaxed and safe. I would like to share some of them with you. I hope they are help-ful for you and maybe you can share them with your clients.
Leave Early Allow extra time to get to your desti-nation. If you get there early you can use the extra time to relax, read, or listen to music before you get started with work, your meeting, or your appointment. You won’t have the extra pressure of the possibility of being late.
Let the person who cut you off go. You don’t really gain anything by "getting them back" You don’t lose anything by "letting them get away with it".
Have plenty of audio re-cordings of material that you want to learn, audio books, and music you love in your car. It helps pass the time when you’re stuck in traffic and can have a positive effect on your mood.
Check the muscle tension in your hands, shoulders, and neck. Release extra tension.
Practice diaphragmatic breathing at red lights and in traffic.
Remember the goal is get there safely.
For more information on stress management and stress management tools please visit biofeedbackinternational.com you can also subscribe to our newsletter biofeedback maters.
Check out our Facebook Page and YouTube channel at Biofeedback Resources.
 
Thank you.

Temperature Biofeedback For Stress Management

Temperature biofeedback is just one way to measure how we
react to stress. 
What does temperature have to do with stress?  When you become stressed your body goes
through what is called the fight or flight response.  During this process your body goes through
many changes to prepare to react physically to the real or perceived threat by
fighting or running.  Some of the changes
that happen include increased sweating, heart rate, and muscle tension.  Another change that happens is constriction
of blood vessels.  This is the change
that allows us to use temperature biofeedback.
During stress the smooth muscles in the blood vessels in
your hands and feet contract.  This
causes the blood vessels to be constricted. 
With the inside opening of the blood vessels now smaller, less blood
gets through.  Since your blood is warm,
when there is less blood flowing through the blood vessels, your hands and feet
become colder.  Think of the term “cold
feet”.  The opposite is also true.  When you relax, the blood vessels dilate as
the smooth muscles in them relax.  As
more blood circulates through the blood vessels your hands become warmer.  So when your hands are warm it can mean that
you are more relaxed.  It is not a 100%
sure way to tell though.  There are other
things that can affect your hand temperature like medications that dilate or
constrict blood vessels, caffeine, smoking, exercise, or even room or
environment temperature.
 
We can use any of several types of temperature biofeedback
tools to see changes in hand temperature. 
Stress dots and stress cards change color as temperature changes.  You can stick an adhesive dot on your finger
and watch as the color changes when your hands get warmer or cooler.  You can hold your thumb on the color
sensitive circle or square on a stress card to see changes in color.  You can see the exact temperature to one
tenth of a degree on a digital temperature feedback monitor.  These are more sensitive and accurate than
the dots or cards.    Another low cost
option are small glass thermometers on cardboard backing.  In temperature biofeedback the goal is to
increase your hand temperature to 94 degrees Fahrenheit.  You can learn to increase your hand
temperature though using relaxation exercises including diaphragmatic
breathing, autogenic relaxation, and guided imagery.
There are also more sophisticated temperature biofeedback
instruments that connect to a computer or smart phone.  These display the temperature changes up to
1/100th of one degree digitally, with line or bar graphs, audio
feedback and games that progress depending on the temperature changes. 
Using temperature biofeedback:
1) Check your hand temperature using your temperature
biofeedback device.
2) Record your starting temperature.
3) Begin doing a relaxation exercise.
4) Watch for any temperature changes.
5) Continue for 5 – 20 minutes
6) Record your ending temperature
Repeat this practice for 20 sessions from 1 time per day to
3 times per week. 
Keep a log of your practice sessions including the date and
time, your starting temperature, your ending temperature, and the length of
your practice session.

Use graph paper to plot your starting and ending temperature
readings.  You should see an increase in
both.
The lower cost, smaller items can be used in stress
management or relaxation groups.  You can
learn to turn off the stress response and turn on the relaxation response by
using temperature biofeedback. 
To learn more about how to get temperature biofeedback tools
visit www.mindbodydevices.com  Harry L. CampbellPresident, Biofeedback Resources International Corp.Ossining, NY

Video of Jeffrey Cram EMG Workshop from 1988

The other day I was going through some old VHS video
tapes.  Two of these tapes caught my
attention.  One was of my family
shoveling and playing in the snow during a blizzard.  The children were small.  Now they have both graduated college.  The other video was of a Surface EMG workshop
that Dr. Jeff Cram did for Adam Crane at his Ossining, NY office in 1988. 
As I was watching it I saw myself on the right side of the
screen.  I was busy reloading paper in an
old dot matrix printer.  The kind that
you had to line up the holes in the paper with the pins on the roller
guides.  You also had to make sure that
the fan-fold paper had a clear path to feed into the printer.  During the EMG workshop Dr. Cram was teaching
about surface EMG biofeedback, muscle scanning, and dynamic EMG
assessments.   Working with Adam I got the chance to meet,
learn from, and work with many of the top people in biofeedback including Jeff
Cram, Erik Peper, and Charles Stroebel.  I
am grateful that I have been able to learn by helping over these many
years.  I look forward to continuing to
share what I have learned with others as we continue to help healthcare
professionals use biofeedback to help more people every year. 
Watch the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7laiXR_kfI
Also on the Biofeedback Resources International Facebook
Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Biofeedback-Resources-International-Corp/118594803123#!/pages/Biofeedback-Resources-International-Corp/118594803123
 
Harry L. Campbell
914-762-4646
www.biofeedbackinternational.com
www.mindbodydevices.com

Biofeedback and Stress Management for Young People

Biofeedback
and Stress Management for Young People
 
People don’t
get stressed all at once.  It usually
happens over a period of time.  
According to the Centers for Disease Control as much as 75%-90% of
doctor visits are stress related.  Many
of the illnesses that are caused by stress are the results of the long-term
reactions the body has to stress.  As
adults we have been dealing with stress for a long time.  Most people probably have not learned
effective stress management earlier in life. 
Wouldn’t it be better if people were taught stress management as children
or young adults?  This could help minimize
some of the stress related illnesses that might normally develop later in life
like hypertension, diabetes, tension headaches, digestive problems, neck pain,
back pain and more.
 
After more
than a year of thinking and talking about it I finally started an after-school
biofeedback program for students of my local high school – Ossining High
School.  This is the school that I
graduated from in 1984.  That was also
the place I originally met Adam Crane who introduced me to biofeedback.  He came to the school and demonstrated
biofeedback to my class.  I was instantly
interested in this amazing technology that was able to detect and give feedback
on responses the body has to what we are thinking.  Along with my contact Martin McDonald at
Ossining High School we selected a group of students who were interested in
improving their grades. 
We had a
meeting with the students and their parents to describe the program that I was
proposing to start.  A small group decided
to be part of the initial group to go through the program.  The program starts with an intake and
psychophysiological stress assessment including Surface EMG, Skin Temperature,
Skin Conductance, Respiration, and Heart Rate/Blood Volume Pulse/Heart Rate
Variability.  This is followed by
peripheral biofeedback training sessions including Surface EMG, Skin
Temperature, Skin Conductance, Respiration, and Heart Rate/HRV.  The next step is a series of baseline EEG
recordings from CZ, C3, and C4 (Ten-20) scalp placements and a series of SMR
EEG training sessions.
Once this is
completed we will have group meetings to discuss ongoing stress management and
attention training practice.  Follow up
booster sessions will also be scheduled. 

My goals are
to help the students improve their grades and as a side benefit decrease their
chances of developing stress related disorders later in life.
So far the
students are doing well with their training and are reporting that they believe
that they are able to manage stressful situations better than before.
 
I have been
approached by a few people who are having difficulty getting their BCIA certification
experience requirements completed.  The
reasons usually are that they don’t have equipment yet and or they don’t have
any clients that they can work on.  I am
opening up a few spots for opportunities to work on clients through this and
other programs for people in this situation. 
I am supplying the clients, equipment, and supplies.  Anyone who is interested can contact me.  I look forward to reporting results from this
program.  I also plan to continue and
expand the program to include a larger number of students in the future.
 
Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com
914-762-4646
www.biofeedbackinternational.com
Facebook:
Biofeedback Resources International
Twitter:
Biofeedbackman
 
 
 
 

Spanish Language Biofeedback & Neurofeedback Training

As the Spanish speaking population in the USA grows it just makes sense to me that the need for Spanish speaking healthcare providers to also be trained to deliver biofeedback and neurofeedback services.  There has also been a great deal of growth in biofeedback and neurofeedback outside of the United States in countries where Spanish is the main language.  Biofeedback Resources International is introducing a series of Spanish language biofeedback and neurofeedback seminars to help fill this need.  Prof. Dr. Jorge J. Palacios Venegas  has joined our team to provide seminars in Spanish.  http://biofeedbackinternational.com/jpalacios.pdf These seminars will not be taught in English and translated.  They will be taught directly in Spanish.    Over the years we have worked with clients from Mexico, Spain, Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Argentina in addition to clients living in the USA who have Spanish as their first language.  I hope that by offering these classes it will be more convenient for our Spanish speaking clients to learn biofeedback and neurofeedback.
Biofeedback Resources International announces Spanish language seminars for
Peripheral Biofeedback – July 12-14
EEG/Neurofeedback – July 16-18
(PTSD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – July 19-21
(TBI) Traumatic Brain Injury / Concussion – July 23-25
Location: Coral Gables, FL (near Miami)
Contact: Harry L. Campbell
Biofeedback Resources International
http://biofeedbackinternational.com/
http://mindbodydevices.com/
877-669-6463 /914-762-4646
Facebook: Biofeedback Resources International
Twitter: biofeedbackman
It’s not every day you see this so tell everybody you know who might like to attend.
Information in Spanish: http://biofeedbackinternational.com/spanish2.htm
Information in English: http://biofeedbackinternational.com/spanish.htm

Expanding the Biofeedback Field

In an effort to continue to support the growth of the biofeedback field Biofeedback Resources International continues to serve as the Corporate sponsor of the Northeast Regional Biofeedback Society (NRBS).  The focus of their April 20-23 conference is expanding biofeedback popularity, use, and availability.  To that end Mark Schwartz, director of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe (BFE) will be presenting information on the BFE-LFB Learn from the Best program.  This program helps people outside of the biofeedback field learn how they can incorporate biofeedback into their current work to improve results and add new revenue streams. 
 
For more information:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9233094.htm
 
 
 
 
The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) provides certification in biofeedback , EEG/Neurofeedback, and Pelvic Muscle Disorder biofeedback.  Certification is an important step in beginning or continuing a career in biofeedback.  It helps establish a person as a serious professional.  Many of the training programs available also provide continuing education credits for licensed psychologists and other healthcare professionals. 
 
Read more about biofeedback training:
 
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9237127.htm
 
Learn how Dr. Adam Kirkpatrick is using biofeedback to help singers improve the quality of their voice.  His new Voice Software Suite will be launched at the AAPB conference in Baltimore, MD March 8-10, 2012.
 
Learn more about Dr. Kirkpatrick and his Voice Software.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9233225.htm
 
 

Black History in Biofeedback

Dr. Eugene Peniston was an African-American man with a Cherokee grandmother.
Dr. Eugene Peniston developed extremely effective neurofeedback protocols for helping individuals with alcoholism, substance abuse, and PTSD symptoms.   Neurofeedback uses computer interfaced instruments for measuring and giving visual and auditory feedback on electrical activity produced in the brain.  The feedback helps to reinforce positive changes in brain activity which can reduce symptoms.  Dr. Peniston developed the protocols at a Veterans Administration Medical Center in Colorado with assistance from Dr. Paul Kulkosky .  They performed research using the protocols with veterans and published the results in a number of studies. 
Dr. Eugene Peniston moved to Bonham, TX and became Chief of Psychology at the Samuel Rayburn Memorial Veterans Administration Medical Center.
Dr. Peniston made the keynote address to the 29th annual meeting of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB) in Orlando Florida.
Although Dr. Peniston has passed away several years ago, many neurofeedback practitioners continue to use the protocols to successfully help many people suffering from these conditions.  With the return of many war veterans suffering with PTSD, insomnia, Traumatic Brain Injury, anxiety, headaches, and substance abuse, protocols like the ones developed by Dr. Peniston will continue to have a positive effect for generations to come.
I had the honor of being introduced to Dr. Peniston by Adam Crane at an AAPB conference many years ago.  I had heard a lot about his work before meeting him.  As a young man at the time it was very encouraging for me to meet such an accomplished biofeedback professional and to find that he looked like me. 
I would like to honor the memory of Dr. Eugene Peniston during this Black History Month 2012 for developing his protocols that continues to help veterans and non-veterans who suffer with substance abuse, alcoholism, and PTSD.
More information on Dr. Peniston: http://www.forests.com/drpenst1.html
http://www.neurodynamic.info/uploads/Peniston_2_1_.pdf
http://www.aaets.org/article47.htm
 
Please share information on Dr. Peniston or any others who deserve to be honored.
For more information on biofeedback and neurofeedback training contact:
Harry L. Campbell
Biofeedback Resources International
www.biofeedbackinternational.com
www.mindbodydevices.com
Facebook: Biofeedback Resources International
Twitter: biofeedbackman
 

U-Control Tutorial

This video shows how to use the U-Control EMG Biofeedback instrument for incontinence and pelvic pain.  Learn how to set the controls, read the displays, adjust the controls, install the battery, and connect the sensors.

PDF Files

Complete text in Adobe PDF format.
Stress Management Part One PDF

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