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Welcome to MINDFITNESS®, BioFeedBack Resources International
and Health Training Seminars' newsletter, a free e-mail service
that keeps you posted on new information and products which
increase the effectiveness of the services you offer, the
economic health of your practice and your creative thinking.
Read on to get great tips for improving client services and
expanding your practice, as well as finding out about exciting
new content on our web site.
***** INSIDE THIS ISSUE *****
I. Caring for Our Veterans
Whatever personal opinions are about the current U.S. Military
actions in Iraq, everyone seems to agree that the soldiers who
are serving should be appreciated, respected, and most
importantly cared for.
Recently it has come to light that in many instances we have
been falling short of taking proper care of our veterans. I'm
sure that by now you have seen many news reports on TV,
internet, and in the newspapers. Some of the items that were
disturbing include the poor conditions at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center Building 18, higher rate of traumatic brain
injury (TBI) with many cases of missed diagnosis, and problems
veterans are having with the paperwork required to receive
medical care.
According to a February 21, 2007 WashingtonPost.com article
written by Dana Priest and Ann Hull, The White House and
Congress are promising fast action to correct the problems at
Walter Reed.
Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman who is the commander at Walter
Reed said that he has been promised by Army leaders that he
will get the additional staff he requested to address the
problems.
There is also talk of new legislation to make the veterans
medical paperwork easier and to add case managers to assist as
well as more psychological counselors.
II. Mental Health Issues of Veterans
On September 28, 2006 Cathleen C. Wilblemo, Deputy Director of
the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Division, Commission of
The American Legion, testified before The Subcommittee of the
Health Committee on Veterans' Affairs - US House of
Representatives on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic
Brain Injury.
She discussed the seriousness of the problems of PTSD, as well
as other mental health conditions like depressive disorder,
acute reaction to stress and substance abuse. Ms. Wilblemo
described psychological treatment as most effective for PTSD.
The importance for making treatment available was stressed in
her statements.
It was stated that research shows that a high percentage of
soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from mental
health problems including PTSD. Some possible reasons for the
higher resulting mental health problems are that a high
percentage of those serving are from the National Guard and
Reserve, more are women, and more are married.
Three new centers were appointed to specialize in mental health
in the VA system in December of 2005. They are Waco, San
Diego, and Canandaigua.
The VA Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 budget included over $3 billion
for mental health services. The American Legion which is one of
the organizations that advocates for veterans wants to make
sure that this money goes to the intended programs in order to
best help the veterans.
Biofeedback including EEG/Neurofeedback has been an important
modality of psychological treatment in the VA Healthcare
system. Some of the most important biofeedback research ever
done was done in the VA Healthcare system. Dr. Eugene
Peniston, who recently passed away, did research on
Biofeedback/Neurofeedback with PTSD and Substance abuse in
Vietnam Veterans. The reference is listed along with references
on other related work.
Peniston, E.G. & Kulkosky, P.J. (1991) Alpha-Theta Brainwave
Neurofeedback Therapy for Vietnam Veterans with Combat-Related
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Medical Psychotherapy.
Peniston, E.G. Marrion, D.A. Deming, W.A. & Kolkosky, P.J
(1993) EEG Alpha-Theta Brainwave Synchronization in Vietnam
Theater Veterans with Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder and Alcohol Abuse. Advances In Medical Psychotherapy.
Saxby, E. & Peniston (1995) Alpha-Theta Brainwave Neurofeedback
Training, An Effective Treatment for Male and Female Alcoholics
with Depressive Symptoms, Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Peniston, E.G., & Kulkosky, P.J (1991) Alchololic Personality and
Alpha-Theta Brainwave Training, Medical Psychotherapy.
Peniston, E.G. & Kulkosky, P.J. (1989) Alpha-Theta Brainwave
Training and Beta-Endorphin Levels in Alchoholics, Alchohol:
Clinical & Experimental Research.
Putnam, J. (2000) The Effects of Brief, Eyes-Open Alpha Brain
Wave Training with Audio and Video Relaxation Induction on the
EEG of 77 Army Reservists Journal of Neurotherapy.
Raymond J. Varney, C. Parkinson L.A., & Gruzelier, J.H. (2000)
The Effects of Alpha/Theta Neurofeedback on Personality and
Mood Brain Research & Cognitive Brain Research.
Graap, K. Ready, D.J., Freides, D., Daniels, B. & Baltzell, D.
(1998). EEG Biofeedback Treatment for Vietnam Veterans
Suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Journal of
Neurotherapy).
Hammond, D.C. (2005) Neurofeedback with Anxiety and Affective
Disorders Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North
America.
Moore, N.C. (2000) A Review of EEG Biofeedback Treatment of
Anxiety Disorders clinical Electroencephalography.
Norris, S.L. Lee, C-T Burshteyn, D., & Cea-Aravena, J. (2001). The Effects
of Performance Enhancement Training on Hypertension, Human Attention,
Stress, and Brain Wave Patterns: A Case Study Journal of Neurotherapy.
III. Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans
Traumatic Brain Injury is being called a "signature wound" of
the Iraq war. This is probably due to the many roadside bomb
type explosions that many of the soldiers have come in contact
with. There is often no physical sign of injury to the head
but sometimes the damage is still done internally. TBI causes
a disruption of normal brain function. This can of course
affect many things since the brain has so many functions.
The VA has been working to address the TBI issue. They set up
four Polytrauma Centers in June of 2005. Still, more needs to
be done. The media has brought it to the attention of the
public. Now more activity and funding seem to be coming from
the federal government to address the problem.
There is some interesting work being done with neurofeedback
and traumatic brain injury. Here are some references:
Ayers 1987 Electroencephalic Neurofeedback and Closed Head
Injury, Head Injury Frontier, National Head Injury Foundation
380-392.
Bounias, M, Laibow, R.G., Bonaly, A., Stubblebine, A.N. 2001
EEG -Neurobiofeedback Treatment of Patients with Brain Injury,
Journal of Neurotherapy.
Byers A.P. 1995 (Neurofeedback Therapy for a Mild head Injury)
Journal of Neurotherapy.
Hoffman D.A. Stockdale 1996, Symptom Changes in Treatment of
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Using EEG Neurofeedback, Clinical
Electroencychalograpy.
Thatcher R.W. (2000) EEG Operant Conditioning (Biofeedback) and
Traumatic Brain Injury, Clinical Electroencephalography.
Thornton K. (2000) Improvement/Rehabilitation of Memory
Functioning with Neurotherapy/QEEG Biofeedback, Journal of Head
Trauma Rehabilitation.
Thornton K. & Carmody DP 2005 Electroencephalogram Biofeedback
for Reading Disability and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Tinius T.P. and Tinius K.A. (2001) Changes after EEG
Biofeedback and Cognitive Retraining in Adults with Mild
Traumatic Brain Injury and Attention Deficit Disorder, Journal
of Neurotherapy.
I was invited to attend the 10th annual conference of the New
York Academy of Traumatic Brain Injury March 23 - 24th. The
conference is titled Polytraumatic Wounds of War and Terrorism,
Brain Injury, Somatic Injury, and Stress in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Vietmnam, and the World Trade Center. It will be held at NYU
Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City. The event is
co-sponsored by NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases and The New
York Daily News. I plan to share some of the information that I
gain from the conference in future newsletters.
I have had the privilege of supplying many VA Medical Centers
as well as several military bases with biofeedback equipment
and professional training for over 15 years. Many of the VA
and military facilities are using biofeedback as part of stress
management, substance abuse, rehabilitation, psychological
services, behavioral medicine, and pain management services. I
believe that biofeedback will become an increasingly more
popular tool for the VA and military healthcare system as the
pressure increases to improve patient care.
IV. Spring and Summer Training Opportunities
EEG/Neurofeedback BCIA Certification Training:
For More Information:
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Sunday, April 22
Location:
For More Information:
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Caring for Our Veterans
13 March 2007
a BioFeedBack Resources International e-mail newsletter
edited by Harry L. Campbell, BCIA, NRBS Past President
technical editing and production by Edwin Johnson
For information about subscriptions or to unsubscribe,
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Biofeedback BCIA Certification Training:
April 20-24, July 13-17 - Hawthorne, NY
May 11-14, August 3-6 - Hawthorne,NY
http://www.biofeedbackinternational.com/seminars.htm
Northeast Regional Biofeedback Society Spring Conference
Co-Sponsored by Biofeedback Resources International:
Long Island University
C. W. Post Campus
Hillwood Commons Fishbowl
720 Northern Boulevard
Brookville, NY 11548
http://www.nrbs.org/
ISMA-USA/BFE Conference
The Globalization of Stress
July 9-13, 2007
Montreal, QC, Canada
www.bfe.org
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