Biofeedback
and Stress Management for Young People
People don’t
get stressed all at once. It usually
happens over a period of time.
According to the Centers for Disease Control as much as 75%-90% of
doctor visits are stress related. Many
of the illnesses that are caused by stress are the results of the long-term
reactions the body has to stress. As
adults we have been dealing with stress for a long time. Most people probably have not learned
effective stress manageme...
Biofeedback
and Stress Management for Young People
People don’t
get stressed all at once. It usually
happens over a period of time.
According to the Centers for Disease Control as much as 75%-90% of
doctor visits are stress related. Many
of the illnesses that are caused by stress are the results of the long-term
reactions the body has to stress. As
adults we have been dealing with stress for a long time. Most people probably have not learned
effective stress management earlier in life.
Wouldn’t it be better if people were taught stress management as children
or young adults? This could help minimize
some of the stress related illnesses that might normally develop later in life
like hypertension, diabetes, tension headaches, digestive problems, neck pain,
back pain and more.
After more
than a year of thinking and talking about it I finally started an after-school
biofeedback program for students of my local high school – Ossining High
School. This is the school that I
graduated from in 1984. That was also
the place I originally met Adam Crane who introduced me to biofeedback. He came to the school and demonstrated
biofeedback to my class. I was instantly
interested in this amazing technology that was able to detect and give feedback
on responses the body has to what we are thinking. Along with my contact Martin McDonald at
Ossining High School we selected a group of students who were interested in
improving their grades.
We had a
meeting with the students and their parents to describe the program that I was
proposing to start. A small group decided
to be part of the initial group to go through the program. The program starts with an intake and
psychophysiological stress assessment including Surface EMG, Skin Temperature,
Skin Conductance, Respiration, and Heart Rate/Blood Volume Pulse/Heart Rate
Variability. This is followed by
peripheral biofeedback training sessions including Surface EMG, Skin
Temperature, Skin Conductance, Respiration, and Heart Rate/HRV. The next step is a series of baseline EEG
recordings from CZ, C3, and C4 (Ten-20) scalp placements and a series of SMR
EEG training sessions.
Once this is
completed we will have group meetings to discuss ongoing stress management and
attention training practice. Follow up
booster sessions will also be scheduled.
My goals are
to help the students improve their grades and as a side benefit decrease their
chances of developing stress related disorders later in life.
So far the
students are doing well with their training and are reporting that they believe
that they are able to manage stressful situations better than before.
I have been
approached by a few people who are having difficulty getting their BCIA certification
experience requirements completed. The
reasons usually are that they don’t have equipment yet and or they don’t have
any clients that they can work on. I am
opening up a few spots for opportunities to work on clients through this and
other programs for people in this situation.
I am supplying the clients, equipment, and supplies. Anyone who is interested can contact me. I look forward to reporting results from this
program. I also plan to continue and
expand the program to include a larger number of students in the future.
Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com
914-762-4646
www.biofeedbackinternational.com
Facebook:
Biofeedback Resources International
Twitter:
Biofeedbackman
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