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Contents
Mission Statement:
The Biofeedback Society of Florida (BSF) was founded in 1978 to facilitate the exchange of ideas, methods, research, clinical experience, and applications of biofeedback with related disciplines. Today the Society is the official Florida affiliate of the national Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, and serves a diverse professional fraternity of health care providers and academicians who share an interest in applied psychophysiology and biofeedback. BSF provides networking, continuing education, legislative action, and practice and technical consultation for its membership. BSF also functions as an information and referral source for those considering biofeedback services.
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What is Biofeedback?
Biofeedback is a method by which people are enabled to learn to influence certain physical processes in order to improve health or performance. This is accomplished through the use of precise instruments which measure physiological processes and feed information back to the person via a computer or other type of display. Having access to real time, immediate information about what is going on inside the body enables a person to make specific changes in thinking or behavior, and see the physiological results of those changes right away. Over time, a person can learn to control the physiological process voluntarily without the help of the instrument.
One example of biofeedback treatment would be the use of skin temperature training or thermography to treat vascular headaches. These types of headaches are associated with the constriction of blood vessels that results in a reduction in blood flow. In the peripheral areas of the body, this restricted blood flow causes a reduction in skin temperature that may only be detectable by a sensitive biofeedback instrument. Treatment would involve measuring these small temperature changes through a sensor placed on a fingertip, and showing the person those changes on a computer display. The person would watch the display and try to increase their temperature measure by changing thoughts and feelings. Over time they would learn to warm their skin temperature, thereby opening their blood vessels and increasing blood flow. This method ultimately increases blood flow to the head, reducing the incidence of vascular type headaches.
Biofeedback has been shown to useful in treating the following:
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• Migraine headaches
• Tension headaches
• Other types of chronic pain
• Disorders of the digestive system
• Incontinence
• High blood pressure
• Cardiac arrhythmias (abnormalities in the rhythm of the heartbeat)
• ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder)
• Epilepsy
• Paralysis, spinal cord injury and other movement disorders. |
Biofeedback is also used to improve academic and athletic performance, and its technology is being utilized in the emerging science of brain-computer interface and the development of applications in video/computer game
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Contact the Biofeedback Society of Florida:
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Mailing address:
The Biofeedback Society of Florida, Inc.
1230 So. Federal Hwy., Suite 101
Boynton Beach, FL 33435
Telephone:
(561) 742-7122; Fax: (561) 742-7452
Email: info@floridabiofeedback.ky |
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Board of Directors:
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Officers |
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Kent Peterson, M.S. |
President |
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Ron Rosenthal, Ph.D. |
Secretary |
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Aubrey K. Ewing, Ph.D. |
Treasurer |
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Frank Andrasik, Ph.D. |
Past-President |
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Directors |
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Katherine Billiot, Psy.D. |
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Bill Coslett, Ph.D. |
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Tonyia Gibbons, Ed.D., |
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Sharon Krieger, M.S., ARNP |
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Mike Rothburd, Ph.D. |
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George Rozelle, Ph.D. |
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Aubrey K. Ewing, Ph.D., Managing Director |
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Links to other biofeedback related sites:
The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB)
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AAPB is the national professional association for clinicians and academicians with an interest in applied psychophysiology and biofeedback. Information about various types of biofeedback treatment, current research, and referral information is available on their website.
For additional information contact:
10200 W. 44th Ave., Suite 304
Wheat Ridge , CO 80033-2840
(303) 422-2615
Email: aapb@resourcenter.com
Website: www.aapb.org |
Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA)
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BCIA is the source for certification in general biofeedback, EEG/Neurofeedback, and Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction Biofeedback for incontinence and pelvic pain. The BCIA website has a searchable data base of certified biofeedback practitioners across the country.
For additional information contact:
Judy Crawford, Director of Certification
10200 West 44th Avenue, Suite 310
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-2840
(303) 420-2902
Email: info@bcia.org
Website: www.bcia.org |
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