sb_bfb_ce-html.html

in partnership with the

Behavioral Medicine Research & Training

Foundation

Non-profit Scientific & Educational Organization 91-1948669

operating under Section 501c3 of the US Internal Revenue Code

6576 Blue Mountain Road, Port Angeles, WA 98362

Course Description and outline for:

Introduction to General Biofeedback

(This the BCIA

General Biofeedback Course

)

50 CEUs, Course Fee: $750

Presented by Richard A. Sherman, PhD

Course Concept and Description: This introductory level CE course is the equivalent of a three
credit post-licensure course and provides 50 hours of CE credit. The course is targeted to
teachers, coaches and licensed / certified clinicians such as psychologists, counselors, physical
therapists, social workers, nurses, and physicians as well as to graduate students. Students learn
by watching audiovisual lectures, reading assignments both from materials provided on the
course web site or CDs and standard texts, watching movies which demonstrate equipment &
key techniques, and interacting with their instructor via e-mail. They answer short essay
questions after each lecture rather than taking exams. Previous students have found that this
course takes between 45 and 95 hours of work to perform. Students start the course whenever
they wish to within six months of the date of purchase and proceed at their convenience but the
course must be completed in one year.
The course provides sufficient material so participants will (a) know the psychophysiological
bases for performing the recordings (b) what the common assessments and interventions are as
well as how they work, (c) what the common associated interventions are, (d) how the recording
devices work in a clinical setting, (d) how to perform an effective recording, and (e) how to
perform effective psychophysiological assessments and interventions. The course meets all of
the requirements for the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America’s biofeedback
certification course and is approved by them for this purpose. Please note that clinicians
interested in being certified in biofeedback by the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America
would have to be mentored in treating patients with biofeedback before they could take the
certification exam.

Learning objectives: The course objective is to provide the depth of knowledge in

psychophysiology, biofeedback equipment, and training techniques which clinicians require to

perform psychophysiologically oriented assessments and biofeedback based interventions. This
information is crucial to effectively adding these techniques to a clinician’s practice.

This course is designed to help you (the student):

1. Summarize the psychophysiological processes underlying each condition

covered in the course.

2. Use psychophysiological recording and biofeedback devices to record and

display psychophysiological information.

3. Control the biofeedback display to optimize learning
4. Use psychophysiological recording equipment to assess patients with

specific conditions

5. Use biofeedback equipment to apply specific interventions tailored to each

condition covered in the course.

DISCLAIMER: Completion of this continuing education course is strictly for educational /
informational purposes and does not imply competency, proficiency, and/or experience. The
course completion certificate is not a clinical certification nor a license to practice.

Format: Home study supported by e-mail chats after each unit is completed. The lecture
portion of the course is presented through a series of audiovisual lectures profusely
illustrated by power-point slides and movies. The course is accessed from the course web
site. The audiovisual lectures are on power point slides. You will hear the instructor’s
voice while viewing the power point sides. The lectures are between 1 ½ and 2 ½ hours
in length. Reading assignments parallel the lectures. After watching the lecture and
reading the assigned supporting files, you will answer a brief series of short essay review
questions (which are in the review questions file on the course web site). The answered
questions are then e-mailed to the instructor. You and the instructor will discuss each unit
via e-mail chat after your answers are assessed. There is no need to complete the
discussion with the instructor before proceeding to the succeeding lecture & chapters. It
is expected that all review questions will be answered correctly and completely by the
student. Any questions answered incorrectly or incompletely must be discussed and/or
corrected. You will have at least one real-time meeting with the instructor via a web
based program such as “go to meeting” during which you will interact around your new
skills.

Accessibility: Hearing impaired people can view the slides only as virtually all of

the material presented in the lectures is typed onto the slides. Visually impaired people
can concentrate on the verbal lectures as the slide material is repeated in the lecture
accompanying each slide.

Accessing course materials: All course materials are available on the course web site. When
you purchase the course, you will be given instructions for accessing the course web site
immediately.

Computer and Computer Knowledge Requirements: Anybody with a modern computer and
a bit of basic understanding of computer operation (at the level of being able to send e-mails) can
play this course with minimal problems. You must have a computer (a) capable of connecting to
the internet and running a typical internet program, (b) containing/running a modern word

processor such as Microsoft word or Word Perfect, (c) the capability to play sounds such as
music (has speakers and appropriate software which normally come with any modern computer),
and (d) a slide viewing program such as Power Point (you can probably get a slide viewing
program free off the internet if you don’t have one). Any modern (e.g., built within the last ten
years), IBM style computer running Windows 98 and more recent platforms (e.g., XP or
Windows 8) should be able to do this. Speed, hard disk size, and RAM are not factors for
computers in the above category.

Dozens of students have used recent Apple products (MACs etc.) for the course however

they frequently have more difficulty playing the course materials than PC users do.
If you are using a MAC type of computer, you must have a current version of “quicktime”. If
you do not have it, you can download it for free from the web.

Prerequisites & professional training requirements: The course is far easier for people who
have taken undergraduate courses in general biology and general psychology. If you haven’t had
them, contact us before registering. You will do much better in the course if you have already
taken our “Anatomy and Physiology for Behavioral Clinicians” course.

This course is intended for licensed / certified clinicians, teachers and coaches. None of

the instructional material offered will provide you with the clinical skills needed to apply the
psychophysiological assessment and interventional techniques you will learn in the clinical
environment unless you are already a trained clinician.

Faculty:

The course is given by Dr. Richard Sherman, Ph.D. He is certified by BCIA, approved

by BCIA to teach the general biofeedback certification course, and currently teaches A&P,
Pelvic floor disorders, pain, and other courses. He is a professional psychophysiologist with
extensive training (his Ph.D. is in biology & psychology), has nearly 30 years of experience in
the field, and has published over 130 books, chapters, and articles (mostly in peer reviewed
journals). Dr. Sherman is Director of the psychophysiology doctoral specialization at Saybrook
University and has held many positions within the Association for Applied Psychophysiology
and Biofeedback including president. Full CV available upon request and on the course web site.

trongly Recommended Texts

: The cost of the recommended texts is not included in the course

fee. No text is absolutely required for the course because most of the text of the following Pain
Assessment book is on the course web site. Students are strongly urged to purchase one of the
recommended texts. Your instructor can help you make the choice.

Texts are available for purchase on our web site.

a. Pain Assessment and Intervention From a Psychophysiological Perspective by Richard A.
Sherman. Combined print/CD version published by AAPB 2012 (order from the Behavioral
Medicine Foundation’s web site (behavmedfoundation.org) or AAPB’s bookstore (800 477-
8892). This book may be on the course web site so check before ordering it.

b. Biofeedback: A Practitioner’s guide. Edited by Mark Schwartz and Frank Andrasik. Guilford
Press of New York, 2003. Discounted purchase available through AAPB’s bookstore (800 477-
8892).

Recommended Texts (Especially for people intending to take the BCIA exam):
a. Introduction to Surface Electromyography by Jeffrey R. Cram and Glenn S. Kasman with
Jonathan Holtz. Aspen, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 1998.

b. Clinical Applications in Surface Electromyography - Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain by Glenn
S. Kasman, Jeffrey R. Cram, and Steven L. Wolf. Aspen, Gaithersburg, Maryland 1998.

Very optional text only for those who intend to do brain wave (EEG) biofeedback:
Getting Started with Neurofeedback by John N. Demos. WW Norton & Company, NY, 2005.
Discounted purchase available through AAPB’s bookstore (800 477-8892).
NOTE: I urge you to take the Foundation’s EEG Biofeedback / Neurofeedback course before
actually doing neurofeedback.

Course Contents / Order of Lectures and Readings: (Note that there are 28 required lectures)

After listening to each lecture, do the assigned reading, watch the assigned movies, and

follow along in the pain text.
The numbered items include review questions students must answer to receive credit for the

course.

Note that in accordance with BCIA requirements, this course includes at least the following
number of hours of education in the following topics scattered through all of the lectures: (a) 4
hours of introduction to / history of applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, (b) 4 hours of
stress, coping & illness, (c) 8 hours of psychophysiological recording information, (d) 8 hours of
SEMG applications, (e) 8 hours of ANS applications, (f) 4 hours of EEG applications, (g) 8
hours of introduction to standard adjunctive techniques, and (h) 4 hours of professional
conduct/ethics.

Administrative introduction (View slide set 1.) - no questions

1. Basic concepts and Credibility (View slide sets 2 and 3 then read the text files BFB

psychophysiological recording, BFB Rehabilitation Chapter; BFB Rules for establishing
credibility and either listen to or read the slides from the “BFBV intro to BFB” lecture.)
(About 2 hours including interaction with the instructor.)

2. Stress and disease (View slide set 4 then read the text files BFB psychophysiology of stress
responses, BFB Heart & Stress.)