Biofeedback in the Treatment of the Stress Response

Summary

This chapter has explored biofeedback, the creation and clinical utilization of psychophysiological feedback loops for the purpose of treating excessive stress and/or its target-organ effects. Let us review the main points:

• 1. Biofeedback gives the patient access to learning paradigms that involve physiological functions not previously accessible to conscious alteration.

• 2. Biofeedback can be used directly to modify the stress response itself, through the elicitation of the relaxation response or the alteration of target-organ activity.

• 3. EMG, temperature, EEG, and EDR biofeedback are the most commonly used forms of clinical biofeedback. The use of EEG neurofeedback has blossomed in the past decade.

• 4. The clinican’s impact on the biofeedback paradigm is so important that it can mean the difference between clinical success or failure. For this reason, the clinician should receive training in not only clinical psychophysiology but also the fundamentals of counseling or clinical psychology.

• 5. In understanding the process of therapeutic effect, one of the most important aspects of clinical biofeedback may be the creation of the perception of self-efficacy, as discussed by Bandura (1997) and supported by Rokicki and associates (1997) in the use of EMG biofeedback specifically.

• 6. For precautions that should be followed in using biofeedback, refer to Chapter 10.

• 7. Useful reviews of clinical biofeedback are found in Schwartz (1995), Shellenberger and Green(1986), and Basmajian (1989).