Biofeedback Volume 39: Issue 3

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FROM THE EDITORS

Special Issue: New Horizons for Optimal Performance

PhD, BCB, BCN and

MSW, LCSW, BCN

Editors' Introduction

The cover of this Fall 2011 issue of Biofeedback shows a biofeedback session for a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where Dr. Troy Todd applies biofeedback and neurofeedback to alleviate athletes' problems and enable higher-level athletic performance.

From the beginning, the biofeedback movement has had a close relationship with the concepts and practices of the peak performance field. Biofeedback and neurofeedback have been applied for athletes, stage performers, and artists to address two goals: (a) to treat their psychophysiological maladies, from performance anxiety to repetitive strain, and (b) to enable athletes and others to

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PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

BCIA Meets the Challenges of Growth in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback

PhD, BCB and

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.01

The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) certifies individuals who meet education and training standards in biofeedback and progressively recertifies those who advance their knowledge through continuing education. Increased national and international interest in our field has been accompanied by closer scrutiny of clinical efficacy and professional conduct. BCIA has expanded its international outreach in order to raise the standards of biofeedback and neurofeedback education and practice throughout the world. This article answers frequent questions about the growth of international certification, continuing education, ethics, and marketing your practice.

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Annual Report for the Foundation for Education and Research in Biofeedback and Related Sciences (FERB, The Foundation)

PhD,

IOM, CAE, and

PhD (non-voting)

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.06

This last year fund raising efforts were very successful. Several lines of raising funds were utilized. As in the past, individuals gave to The Foundation when they renewed their memberships, and as in the past, members were very generous. The foundation also received a sizable contribution from a state society that dissolved its incorporation.

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SPECIAL ISSUE: INNOVATIONS IN THE APPLICATION OF BIOFEEDBACK AND NEUROFEEDBACK FOR OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE

Managing the Stress Response: The Use of Biofeedback and Neurofeedback with Olympic Athletes

MA, BCB and

PhD

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.02

Excessive stress and tension are major threats to optimal athletic performance. The goal of this project was to help the athletes optimize the management of their stress response through self-awareness and self-regulation of the activation levels of their autonomic and central nervous systems. Fifteen elite athletes preparing for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics underwent an EEG and psychophysiological stress assessment, as well as a bio–neurofeedback (BNFK) training intervention. Both athletes and coaches reported that the bio–neurofeedback intervention helped the athletes in managing the stress of training and competition and was a factor in producing better performances.

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Biofeedback and Neurofeedback in Sports

MA,

EdD, and

PhD

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.10

There is great promise in the technology of biofeedback for the field of sport psychology. However, very little empirical research has been conducted that speaks to the efficacy of psychophysiological intervention in sport. The general aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of different training protocols designed to teach cognitive and emotional self-regulation and improve athlete performance on sport-specific tasks. Results of these experiments demonstrated athlete mastery of self-regulation skills and improvement in sport performance.

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Biofeedback Training: Enhancing Athletic Performance

PhD and

PhD

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.07

During the last three decades, mental skills training of athletes has become widely accepted as an important factor in sport and a vital component of successful performance of top athletes. Biofeedback training (BFT) is a key element/tool of a complex multifaceted treatment/training program aimed at enhancing athletic performance. The main purpose of this conceptual paper is to illustrate the successful integration of the Wingate 5-Step Approach to training programs that are based on a periodization principle. This integration is targeted at the development of both physical and mental skills to optimize and enhance the effectiveness of the mental training process. Examples derived from our experiences are illustrated and discussed.

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Brain Change for Optimal Leadership

EdD and

MDiv, LPC, LMFT

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.1.12

When top executives enter therapy, they are typically looking for remediation of a problem, but almost inevitably they are also seeking ways to enhance the effectiveness of their leadership skills and the performance of their businesses. The authors' approach, Brain Change Therapy, addresses these goals through neural and emotional state change using three modalities: deep state work with alpha/theta training, informal hypnotic conversation, and conventional therapeutic interventions. Of the three, deep state work has been found to be particularly effective in resolving trauma and releasing painful memories without intense abreaction. It involves a state of consciousness highly conducive to creative insight. This article describes an executive training program that uses all three means with particular emphasis on deep state work.

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Improving Optimal Performance—And Life—For Young Athletes

PhD, BCN

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.08

A composite case study illustrates how a multidisciplinary approach can be used to improve athletic performance and overall life functioning. The use of heart rate/respiration biofeedback and QEEG-guided neurofeedback are built on a foundation of cognitive therapy. The elements in the article are taken from several successful cases over the course of several years. The athletes represented in this article range from 18 to 24 years old, are from a variety of sports, and are from higher levels of achievement.

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Biofeedback-Based Mental Training in the Military—The “Mental Gym™” Project

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.03

The “Mental Gym™” is a practical mental training program that helps participants to cope better with stressors and to be able to keep an emotional and physical balance in their everyday tasks. This new multidisciplinary training combines a number of methodologies: biofeedback, neurofeedback, mindfulness, stress inoculation techniques, imagery, and various problem solving and attentional training methods. This article describes the process and obstacles of implementing the Mental Gym project with military pilots and elite unit personnel. Through examples of some of the training protocols, the author also shares insights from ten years of experience in providing an effective “tool box” for enhancing psychophysiological and cognitive flexibility in the military setting.

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Comprehensive Sport Performance Program

PhD,

MS, and

PhD

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.12

Physical and mental providers' interests in working with elite performers that have been traditionally dominated by clinical presentations are increasing. This leads many practitioners to wonder how the approach to the elite performer may differ from any other client. The Athlete High Performance team assembled by Red Bull North America demonstrates a model that has a comprehensive and integrative methodology to assess and work toward a goal of allowing an athlete to perform optimally. This brief article provides an introduction to the model.

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OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE: BRIEF REPORTS

Corporate Peak Performance Project

LMSW, BCN

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.09

Sixteen partners at a financial services firm participated in an on-site neurofeedback training program. The training was provided in a group format at the work site, with three participants training simultaneously. Sixteen partners commenced training, and 15 completed the training. The EEG training protocol rewarded increases in the SMR range in order to enhance focus, and decreases in the theta and high beta (hibeta) ranges, to reduce impulsiveness and anxious thinking. A posttraining questionnaire showed significant positive results for a majority of the participating executives on several variables, including improved focus, reduced impulsiveness, reduced anxious thinking, improved sleep, and improved productivity.

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Biofeedback/Mindfulness Training for the Advanced High School Musician

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.05

The author summarizes 35 years of utilizing psychophysiological training to assist in the pursuit of optimal music performance. She integrates systematic musical instruction with self-regulation training, drawing on EEG biofeedback training, heart rate variability training, and other biofeedback modalities. This integration of musical skills training and biofeedback assisted over one hundred high school age musicians to earn “All State” status, enabled numerous wind musicians to gain national recognition, and assisted two autistic children in becoming musical prodigies.

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Sport Psychology Training Program

PhD and

PhD

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.13

This brief report describes a sport psychology training program using an evaluation based on quantitative electroencephalograph (QEEG), biofeedback stress profiling, continuous performance tests, reaction time assessment, and personality tests. The training includes heart rate variability biofeedback and neurofeedback. Graduates of the program include professional and amateur athletes in a variety of sports, including some athletes with special challenges, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or Asperger's disorder.

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Optimal Performance Field: The Exceptional Performance Training System

MD, CEEG, BCB (Senior Fellow)

DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-39.3.11

The author, an Argentine physician, describes an integrative program for optimal performance, combining multi-modal biofeedback and neurofeedback with “wisdom practices,” acupuncture, and such therapeutic activities as journaling, movement, art, and bibliographic therapy.

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Special Issue: New Horizons for Optimal Performance

Editors' Introduction

BCIA Meets the Challenges of Growth in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback

Annual Report for the Foundation for Education and Research in Biofeedback and Related Sciences (FERB, The Foundation)

Managing the Stress Response: The Use of Biofeedback and Neurofeedback with Olympic Athletes

Biofeedback and Neurofeedback in Sports

Biofeedback Training: Enhancing Athletic Performance

Brain Change for Optimal Leadership

Improving Optimal Performance—And Life—For Young Athletes

Biofeedback-Based Mental Training in the Military—The “Mental Gym™” Project

Comprehensive Sport Performance Program

Corporate Peak Performance Project

Biofeedback/Mindfulness Training for the Advanced High School Musician

Sport Psychology Training Program

Optimal Performance Field: The Exceptional Performance Training System

ABSTRACTS: Abstracts of Papers Presented at the 54th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback

ABSTRACTS: Abstracts of Posters Presented at the 54th Annual Scientific Meeting of AAPB

MEMORIAL: Eleanor Criswell-Hanna, 1938–2024

SPECIAL ISSUE: Lessons Learned: A Pilot Study on the Feasibility of Using Biofeedback Monitoring in a Remote Setting with Special Forces Veterans in Saipan

SPECIAL ISSUE: The ACT of Biofeedback—Training for Psychological Flexibility