Biofeedback

What is biofeedback?

As a process that enables you to change physical activity to improve certain aspects of your life, biofeedback offers a variety of benefits. Biofeedback takes an in-depth look at certain aspects of your body’s functions such as your your heart rate, allowing you to change them for the betterment of your psychological health. By strengthening your mind and body connections, biofeedback therapy speeds up the process of healing. Biofeedback treatment is an opportunity to create a roadmap of a particular mental state, such as addiction, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, depression, mental fog, and difficulty relating to others.

By implementing non-invasive sensors, doctors can interpret data that shows how you are performing moment to moment. Through this data collection, you will learn what kind of activity is related to the states that you are looking to change, while gaining a better sense about what you can adjust to receive immediate feedback, empowering you to take control of your own emotions.

At PCA, we offer a variety of biofeedback therapy options including heart-rate variability (HRV) biofeedback and neurofeedback. Combined with counseling, biofeedback can be extremely powerful in not only healing you, but enhancing your relationships with others as well.

What is HRV biofeedback?

HRV biofeedback reads your heart rate, showing you how to adjust both psychological and emotional states to improve your overall well-being. HRV biofeedback uses the heart as an access point to your nervous system, in order to train you to use breathing as a way to strengthen your nervous system, allowing you to relax and more consciously determine your reaction to certain stress factors. It can be helpful to improve asthma, fibromyalgia, PTSD, depression, and hypertension, and is an excellent way to help individuals with self-regulation and awareness for a number of other conditions related to stress. (Wheat & Larkin, 2010).

When you visit PCA, you will meet with your doctors and be asked a series of questions to gain insight into your physical and psychological history, along with what you are looking to gain through this process. Once your session begins, you can expect a small pulse sensor to be attached to either your ear or your finger that tracks your heart rate on the computer. Your doctor will coach you on your breathing, showing you how to improve your heart rate by what you think and imagine. Together, you and your doctor will interpret information displayed on the computer screen and you will be provided with a list of suggestions on how to maximize your results in between sessions.

How long will it take? 

As an exercise for your brain, each session will depend on the severity of your symptoms and your willingness to practice between each session. After each session, you typically will see small steps of improvement; you should reach your goals between 10 and 40 sessions. Throughout your sessions, your doctors will work with you to monitor your progress and adjust your training to ensure you have met your personal goals.

What is neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback reads your brainwaves to help you determine how to regulate and reduce certain symptoms in different parts of your brain. Many kinds of psychological diagnoses are associated with certain brain wave patterns which can be trained using neurofeedback.

Our neurofeedback training is guided by a QEEG (quantitative electroencephalogram) or “brain map,” combined with measurements of your brain wave patterns. It can be useful when working with conditions such as addictions, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, cognitive function/memory enhancement, depression, headaches and migraines, insomnia, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and optimal performance for sports, academics, and performing arts (Hammond, 2011).

When you come in to PCA, you will be asked a series of questions to gain insight on your physical and psychological history, as well as what you are looking to achieve through treatment. This non-invasive process begins with you putting on a sensor cap that can read your brain activity, which is then recorded on a computer. During the training stage, you might watch a display of graphics which changes based on your brain wave data. Through the information gathered, we can effectively create a plan on how to approach your treatment and provide you with the best results, in addition to teaching you how to maintain the changes that we notice.

How long will it take?

As an exercise for your brain, each session will depend on the severity of your symptoms and your willingness to practice between each session. After each session, you typically will see small steps of improvement; you should reach your goals between 10 and 40 sessions. Throughout your sessions, your doctors will work with you to monitor your progress and adjust your training to ensure you have met your personal goals.

Do I have to stop taking medication?

You don’t have to stop taking any medications, although many people have said that they notice better results when they lower the dosage or amount of medications they are taking. If you’re looking at biofeedback as a way to stop taking medications, you will need to notify your prescribing doctor of your plans.

What are the risks?

There are minimal risks when it comes to neurofeedback training. Because this treatment is non-invasive, sides effects are generally mild such as a brief headache, tiredness, or irritability. If your side effects last longer than a few days, you should consult your doctor to make an adjustment in your treatment options (Hammond, 2011).

A video by Mind Media