What
is Biofeedback?
Biofeedback
can help:
-
Head Pain, Back Pain, Systemic Pain
-
High
Blood Pressure, Gastritis, IBS
-
Tension,
Stress, Anxiety, General Performance
-
Migraines,
Tinnitus
-
A.D.D./A.D.H.D.,
Rage Disorder, Depression, Sleep Problems
-
Incontinence,
Sexual Dysfunction
-
Rehabilitation
Programs
Answering
your many questions about biofeedback
The question
I'm asked most is: What IS biofeedback? The second question
is generally: Can it help (fill in the blank)?
Biofeedback
is two things. First, it should be noted that biofeedback—as
effective as it is—is only as good as the professional
with whom you are working, and it is a wonderful tool when
incorporated with other stress management strategies.
Second, biofeedback
is an electronic means of showing you how you respond to
stress. You can learn about tiny levels of muscle tension
that you usually ignore but actually maintain your feelings
of stress and give you headaches. It's also possible to
develop to awareness of your skin temperature, heart rate,
nervous system and a host of other more exotic physiologic
phenomena.
Basically,
if we can measure it, you can control it. The clinical objective
is that as you learn more about how you create and maintain
stressful sensations, you can also learn to control them.
The beauty of biofeedback is that you are learning the control
techniques at the same time you are learning to develop
your awareness of your problem.
The premise
is that you can control what you create. This means that
we have a new way of looking at ourselves. Through the eyes
of biofeedback each of us is the source of our own problems.
Rather than assuming that you have been dealt a raw deal,
try to perceive a problem as a reaction to some outside
stimulus. Actually, it's an over-reaction.
As we grow up,
a huge range of possible stimuli is established in our personalities.
Simultaneously, over-reactions were established as well—and
affected by who our parents were, and who and what we were
exposed to.
When my daughter was about five, we were playing a computer
game together. I was trying to show her how to do it and
was failing miserably. I succumbed to the moment and became
visibly frustrated at the game. The next time I saw her
playing the game by herself, I watched in horror as she
lost the game only to say, "Damn!" and throw down
the joystick. Now where could she have learned that? It
took me weeks of playing that game and others with her calmly
to reverse that particular stress response.
Biofeedback
shows us to what extent we are over-reacting to being alive.
It can get substantially more detailed, but that's essentially
it.
Many problems
may actually be over-reactions. Various headaches often
fall into this category as do insomnia and certain forms
of anxiety. High blood pressure (hypertension) frequently
has a firm basis in the stress response. Gastritis, ulcers
and sometimes colitis are recognized as being aggravated
if not caused by stress over-reactivity. Our reaction to
pain of all kinds is almost always amplified by our tendency
to be over-reactive. Biofeedback may have a place with all
of these symptoms.
The sources
of these problems can appear to be at our jobs or in our
relationships, but they're not. They're in ourselves. It's
how you see it. And you can learn to see it better and less
stressfully. That's what biofeedback does. By the way, by
observing my own behavior since playing that game five years
ago with my daughter, I have since calmed down surprisingly
myself. That too is biofeedback.
The Biofeedback
Center in Reno is one of the original facilities of this
type in the United States. The Biofeedback Center merges
state-of-the-art equipment and personal one-on-one attention
with extensive clinical and personal experience in a gentle,
effective and supportive environment.
Types
of Biofeedback
Call
for an appointment or for more information, 775-825-0334. |
