Biofeedback is the use of measuring instruments to show people real-time changes in their own physiology for the purpose of self-regulation. It can help people learn to relax, or to be better focused and more alert. It can help you learn how to reduce anxiety, panic, PTSD, chronic pain, migraine or tension headaches, mood disorders, insomnia, or deal with relationship issues with greater flexibility. It can help reduce dependence on food, nicotine, or compulsive behaviors. It can also be helpful with chronic health problems like asthma, hypertension, arthritis, hypertension. And it can help people perform optimally in school, business, sports and creative endeavors. How can one modality help so many problems? Simple – biofeedback isn’t just one modality. Different types of biofeedback are useful for different disorders. Heart-rate variability biofeedback – using your breathing rate to change the pattern of ups and downs of your heart rate – helps anxiety, asthma, depression, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, syncope (sudden episodes of low blood pressure sometimes leading to fainting) – because it stimulates the vagus nerve and regulates the parasympathetic nervous system. Thermal biofeedback – learning how to warm your hands through relaxation, imagery, and sensitive biofeedback devices that can measure minute changes in fingertip temperature – can help you learn to be more calm, and to manage Raynaud’s Disease (the “patriotic disease” that turns people’s fingers red, white and blue with cold); it has also been used, together with neurofeedback and visualization/imagery, to teach people to reduce alcoholic cravings. EEG-variability biofeedback helps with stress management and optimal performance. I am a New York State-licensed mental health counselor certified in biofeedback, Zengar NeurOptimal EEG signal-variability biofeedback, and Emotional Freedom Techniques. Accept Aetna, Cigna, Multiplan, 1199SEIU. See websitewww.biofeedbacklearning.com.
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