Through proper breathing and relaxation training, clients can observe how to calm themselves, reduce heart rate, and learn how to reduce symptoms of anxiety and panic, as well as other psychosomatic symptoms.

5. Respiratory (Breathing):To achieve proper breathing, we should breathe diaphragmatically, in a slow, deep, even and continuous manner.  By breathing properly throughout the day, we may achieve a relaxed mind and body and maintain a state of good health and balance.  Too often, we breathe improperly through chest breathing, uneven breathing, anxious hyperventilation, shallow breathing, or depressed and labored breathing (the deep sigh).  Improper breathing can lead to increased anxiety and autonomic activity, increased muscle tension, and a tense and overactive bodily system.  Biofeedback monitors breathing patterns through the use of a dual string-gage with placements on both the chest and abdomen.  Through coaching, improper breathing can be monitored and correct breathing can be learned and practiced. 

Procedures Biofeedback measures changes that are often subtle, sometimes too subtle to be brought to awareness without biofeedback, or without great deal of training in self-awareness skills.  For example, a GSR response can occur in small amounts, such that the palms don’t feel sweaty.  Slight muscle tension can occur without any obvious symptoms.  Peripheral temperature can change without one’s awareness, until the hands and feet begin to feel increasingly cold.  How often are we aware of improper breathing and irregular heart rate throughout the busy day?  On the other hand, such changes can be extreme, leading to the familiar and intense feelings of anxiety that are often associated with experiences of unpleasantness.  Biofeedback allows for observation of all changes, from the very subtle to the extreme, with the objective of enhancing self-awareness skills to be transferable to the world outside of the clinical office.

Preparation:  A client can become increasingly knowledgeable of the biofeedback process throughout each session, and learn to become his or her own therapist.  The first step is the hooking-up procedures, which involve applying rubbing alcohol for cleaning the surface of the skin and eliminating dirt and material that can interfere with signals being measured.  Sensors are wires with mechanical receptors which are placed on the skin to receive electrical impulses and thermal temperature emissions, and receive direct feedback related to a stress response.  The sights of placement include several fingers, the wrists, and various locations on the body where EMG feedback is effective (forehead, trapezius muscle of the neck, etc.).   When connections are made, it is important for the client to remain still, as movement can interfere with signals and prevent accurate feedback.

           
Biofeedback data can be received in both visual and audio form, and provide moment-to-moment feedback on display demonstrating how rapidly physiology changes in response to thought and behavior.  At the end of the session, the therapist can generate a report of the entire procedure to demonstrate how changes occurred throughout the session.  What occurs on the screen in the therapist’s office represents a snapshot of the reactivity of a client’s physiological system, which may be an ongoing typical pattern.   Audio feedback offers different choices of sounds and pitches, which can be set to increase or decrease relative to the level and type of physiological activity occurring and being monitored. 

Some common biofeedback indicators of unhealthy stress patterns may include rapid changes of physiological data on the screen in response to stress, diminished ability to recover from a stress response, multiple dominant modes involved in response to stress, and chronic negative thoughts and images that increase a stress response.  A lack of response may demonstrate the possibility of defensiveness and detachment from the therapeutic process, a desire to over-control the therapeutic situation, or feeling helpless.

           
The biofeedback system offers a threshold, which serves as a client’s baseline reference point on each biofeedback modality.  All positive and negative physiological changes in the session can be compared against the initial threshold to monitor a client’s level of progress or lack of progress in reducing stress-related bodily functions during the session.  As a client improves in reducing the stress response beyond threshold, the therapist may alter the level of threshold to increase the challenge and help the client further improve skills.  The key is to learn how to recover and return to baseline rapidly.  After all, it is often not stress that harms, but lack of recovery from stress.

           
Some important points may help you be more effective in your biofeedback treatment program.  First, always relax your jaw when it is not in use.  A tense jaw is very commonly a contributor to disorders of muscle tension in areas of the head, face and neck.   The jaw also begins  the digestive track, and is intimately connected with digestive and elimination functions.   Be aware of your breathing, and understand its role in mental and bodily stress.  Breathing is often the most critical part of a successful biofeedback program.  Also, if you can make a symptom worse in biofeedback, you can also make it better.  The key is to understand how you make your body change.