Biofeedback – A Promising Non Pharmacological Tool of Stress – Related Disorders

Biofeedback is a therapeutic method of obtaining better awareness of physiological functions based on principles of operant conditioning and learning in general. While patient observes changes in physiological parameters in real-time (e.g. blood pressure, heart rate variability, temperature, electrodermal activity, etc.), he/she learns how to manipulate them at will. By means of this technique, individuals can improve their mental, emotional, and physical health. Clinical biofeedback training becomes popular for treating a variety of medical conditions, manage ment of disease symptoms, and improvement of overall health through training of stress management. There is no center or group to systematically deal with biofeedback methods in Slovakia, except the Slovak Institute of CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) that teaches biofeedback as a therapeutic method. However, biofeedback and its opportunities have a relatively long history of exploration and practice, which is the best precondition for positive changes in this area. The review article aims to provide an insight to biofeedback training as a non-pharmacological therapeutic tool in stress management and stress-related diseases and disorders. The article also describes biofeedback modalities and efficacy on various medical conditions.

Following Neal Miller's Footprints: Integrating Biofeedback With the Psychodynamic, Relational, and Intersubjective Approach

This article provides a brief review of Neal Miller's translation of psychoanalytic theoretical concepts into operational behavioral research and explores relevant interactions of clinical biofeedback and psychoanalytic practice, both now and in Miller's time. Presently, psychoanalytic psychotherapists are more concerned with both the analyst's and the analysand's contribution to the intersubjective field of the therapeutic endeavor than with modifying biologically based, instinctual urges, as they were in Miller's time. Current psychoanalytic theory translates directly into the biofeedback therapeutic situation via the exploration of interpersonal relationship dynamics, or the intersubjective field, which includes the patient, therapist, and biofeedback instrumentation. All figure significantly in the patient's acquisition of a biofeedback task.

Application of Electromyography and Electromyographic Biofeedback in Music Performance Research: A Review of the Literature since 1985

The diagnostic application of electromyography (EMG) and the combination of EMG and clinical biofeedback (EMG-BF) have been shown to be effective in the assessment and management of muscle tension in a wide range of activities, including sports as well as music. However, not all applications of EMG-BF have been found to be successful; indeed, some of the early reports of the benefits have been debated and disputed since the earliest applications of the technology. It is the purpose of this paper to glean a profile of research applying EMG and EMG-BF to music performance since approximately 1985--the year of my own work in this area.