Author: harry_oss

Stress at Work

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Most of us spend at least 8 hours of our day at work.  If you ask many people, they will say they hate their job.  Even if you don’t hate your job there are usually many moments every day at work that you would describe as stressful.  It’s nice to visit a therapy office for a biofeedback, talk therapy, or relaxation session where you sit in a nice comfortable chair and listen to relaxing music.  For a moment your troubles can seem to disappear and you feel totally relaxed.  This is helpful.  It can break the chronic stress condition that many people are stuck in.  The problem can be that after the session you go back out into the real world and have to manage until the next visit that may be a week or two away.

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Hypertension Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Protocols

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According to the American Heart Association web site statistics, almost half of the adult population in the United States of America can be considered to have high blood pressure.  A hard to believe 45 percent of those who have hypertension do not have it adequately controlled.  That sounds pretty terrible to me.  Even with all of the medications that are prescribed such a low number of people have their blood pressure under control.  Many people are even prescribed 2 or 3 or even more blood pressure medications to attempt to bring the levels to an acceptable level.  This tells me that it is not a simple problem.  Medication alone may not be enough to normalize blood pressure.  Even when medication does normalize blood pressure it may not be the best long-term solution. There are many things that can elevate blood pressure that should be addressed in order to help normalize blood pressure.

Here is a link to a PDF file that lists and discusses things that could increase blood pressure, Blood Pressure Raisers, Learn what could raise your blood pressure:  https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/tylenol-hbp/bp-raisers.pdf?la=en

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Neurofeedback Home Training

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Neurofeedback training has been shown to be effective for helping people with conditions like ADHD, insomnia, anxiety, seizures, and brain injuries.  Clients usually visit a neurofeedback professional 1-3 times per week for a series of anywhere from 10-30 or even more sessions.

Some people have asked about devices that they can use themselves at home.  It is not something that I would decide on lightly.  Neurofeedback providers are cautioned to be careful when working with clients even if they are trained and experienced.  It would make sense that an untrained layperson should be even more careful when working on their own brain or the brain of a family member.  Not that they are invasively working on the brain as with surgery.  They are rather working on the brain through training changes in the electrical impulses that allow the neurons to communicate and make things happen in the brain.  This is very important stuff and you don’t want to make mistakes with it if you can avoid doing so.

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The Stress of being black

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People like to think they know what the stress of being black is like.

If you’re not, you don’t.

Think about the stress of having a final exam in high school or college coming up.

You worry about it for two weeks or so leading up to it and it is very hard and stressful.  You get to the time of actually taking the exam and it is very stressful.  Then, the exam is over.

Being black is not like that because it’s never over.  Every morning you wake up you have to deal with the stress associated with being black all over again.

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How Will We Do Biofeedback Post COVID19?

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Biofeedback is usually a face to face, one on one activity.  If you were providing biofeedback prior to the start of social distancing and stay at home orders, things have surely changed drastically for you very quickly.  Now what will we do?  Many of the people who provide biofeedback also provide psychotherapy.  It is much simpler to provide psychotherapy virtually than it is for biofeedback.  All you need is for the provider and the client to have a computer, smartphone, or tablet and access to a software program or application like GotoMeeting, Zoom, or Skype.  Even though this is considered simple, there can still be impediments.  Some clients don’t have smartphones, tablets, or even computers.  Some also do not have internet access.  If both parties do have access to the necessary technology then the sessions can take place fairly easily and inexpensively.
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BCIA Certification Biofeedback Seminars

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How can you determine if the biofeedback provider you are considering visiting is qualified?

One good way is to get a personal referral.  If you know someone who has had success with a biofeedback provider for a similar problem as your own then there is a good chance that you may also get good results and be happy with them too.  There are other things that you can do to get an idea as to their qualifications.  One of the best ways to determine qualification is to find out if the provider is BCIA certified.  What is the BCIA?  BCIA stands for Biofeedback Certification International Alliance.

The BCIA is the organization that establishes the rules for and provides certification in biofeedback and neurofeedback.  Here is their mission: “BCIA certifies individuals who meet education and training standards in biofeedback and progressively recertifies those who advance their knowledge through continuing education.”
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Effects of Stress on Performance

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Our nervous system is constantly at work partly as an interface between our mind and body.  It reacts to our environment, physical activity, and our thoughts.  It causes changes heart rate, blood pressure, blood circulation, contraction level of our muscles, our breathing, and many other things.  When the changes are appropriate and useful for the situation this is a very good thing.  When the changes are due to an overreaction related to stress then it can be harmful.   There are many ways that stress can cause problems with health and I have discussed these in other places.  Here I want to focus on effects on performance.  This type of negative stress reaction can happen with various types of performance including athletes, singers, speakers, students, business people, and actors to name a few.

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Mind Body Seminars

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Although more people are now interested in mind body techniques like meditation, mindfulness, and yoga, there is still a great lack of clarity as to what the real effects of these techniques are.  It is also often difficult to know if a person practicing a technique is doing it correctly or getting the maximum benefit they can from it.

Several months ago, I was at a university in New York city visiting a meditation group.  The two people who were leading the group were interested in using EEG biofeedback equipment to measure the brainwave activity of people who were meditating.  They were interested in comparing the EEG activity of a novice meditator with that of a very experienced one.  This is one example of how technology can be used in combination with mind body techniques.  The idea was to see if there is a difference in what is going on in the brain while a person is meditating and does that vary depending on their experience level.

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Alternative Therapies Required to be Made Available to Veterans

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Many veterans who have served our country well suffer from a variety of symptoms and illnesses after deployment.  Some of the common conditions they deal with are anxiety, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome), depression, headaches, pain, and insomnia.  A very standard treatment for these conditions is a prescription for medication.  In some cases, medications can provide relief.  There can also be a downside.  Even when drugs are effective there may be accompanying negative side effects and sometimes dependence or addiction.

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