Of course, you can learn highly effective Neurofeedback with us. But above all, it is our lecturers who make our courses so special. Reason for that is, you won’t learn Neurofeedback from trained sales personnel in one day with us, but from enthusiastic Neurofeedback practitioners. All of them are experts in their subject and have been working successfully with Neurofeedback in their own practice or clinic for years, with a lot of empathy and sensitivity. So we sat down with some of the lecturers on our team and simply asked them why they love teaching and what makes our courses so special. 

"You can somehow do Neurofeedback, or you can do it really well" 

When we enter the online meeting, Meike Wiedemann, Doris Engels and Horst Schneider are already in the middle of the conversation. Just yesterday, a very successful course in Switzerland came to an end and the three of them are having a lively exchange about it. The feedback from the participants was very good and Meike and Doris also enjoyed the course. We ask the three of them, representatives for the many others of our lecturers, why they actually like teaching so much. Meike doesn't ponder long and says: "With our courses we want to reach people who are in clinical work, people who do Neurofeedback all day. And we want them to do Neurofeedback well with our courses. Because you can do Neurofeedback somehow, or you can do it really well." Meike PhD, PD in Neurobiology & clinician in private practice says about herself that she was infected with the Neurofeedback virus more than 20 years ago. In the course of her scientific career she came across Neurofeedback, was fascinated by the effects, educated herself, attended courses worldwide, worked with all methods, landed at ILF Neurofeedback and finally stuck with it, "Simply because it is best".

With every sentence said Meike, Doris and Horst carried over the message of how great enthusiasm and passion everyone puts into teaching. "After our courses, we want our specialist colleagues to go out and be well prepared to practice. And simply, the more therapists work with Neurofeedback, the more people will have access to Neurofeedback. That's what drives us." says Doris, an occupational therapist, design therapist, and systemic therapist, as well as the owner of several practices.

"I understand what people are saying about your courses now."

The motivation is genuine. You can sense that in the interview and the participants in the courses also notice that. "We often get feedback that there is such a pleasant atmosphere in our courses. Afterwards people often say, “I understand what people are saying about your courses now”, Doris continues. When asked where this special atmosphere comes from, all three immediately agree: there is simply a friendly relationship among the team and the collaboration is characterized by mutual appreciation. Horst, who holds a degree in biology and a doctorate in neurophysiology, adds happily: "The harmony in the teaching teams radiates to course participants and simply creates a feel-good atmosphere. And, of course, we all bring professionalism and a lot of experience to the table. You just notice that." 

Neurofeedback expertise from various disciplines

The lecturers cover numerous disciplines from occupational therapy to psychotherapy, (pediatric and adolescent) medicine and psychiatry, (sports) psychology, neurobiology, neuropsychology and more - all are professionals with a healthcare, therapeutic and/or scientific background. Meike adds "Especially the different orientations and professions we have in the team makes the teaching so exciting and we complement each other perfectly." The diversity of teaching can also be seen in the wide range of courses offered. In addition to the basic course and symposium, there are numerous indication-specific courses in which guest lecturers also provide new, up-to-date, specialist input. Doris adds, "We are always up to date in the industry and informed about changes. In addition, we also benefit from this close exchange in our daily work. As part of this network, I can always develop myself as an experienced therapist."

The importance of self-awareness in Neurofeedback

The focus of each basic course is on self-experience with Neurofeedback. Especially through practical training and working in different roles should enable all participants of the course to quickly feel confident in using Neurofeedback.
"We know that our participants learn a lot in the few days of training. Because of self-awareness, the basic course is very intensive. But our participants leave the course feeling good about themselves, so they are ready for practice," says Meike. 
During the internship, participants are closely supervised - whether in face-to-face courses or online. The internship usually takes place in groups of two, closely supervised by the lecturers. Experiences and results are discussed in small groups in order to jointly work out the next steps for the following sessions.
In addition, there is of course always the possibility to set focal points in the courses and all participants can bring in their concerns, ranging from therapy of complex traumatization over ADHD up to Neurofeedback in the area of peak performance. It's also important to the instructors to keep an open mind and think outside the box. "We teach ILF Neurofeedback, but our roots are in other approaches as well. Therefore, we are always open to learn more about other Neurofeedback methods as well," says Horst Schneider.

Neurofeedback as a life theme

Finally, we asked what motivates the three of them to teach in addition to their daily practice. After all, courses that last several days mean additional work. Meike answers immediately: "Neurofeedback is my life theme. I am convinced that it is good and therefore I want to teach it properly and thus help it to spread. When I started back then, I had to gather so much. Of course I took courses, the ones that were available at the time (laughs), but I still had to train myself for years and go deeper and deeper so that I could use it in a meaningful way. Until I arrived in the USA at EEG Info and after that it was clear to me what I would like to build up and pass on here. Now I am convinced that you can learn Neurofeedback faster and better with our courses than in the way I had to do it". Doris associates with Meike Wiedemann's response: "When I started teaching, for sure I thought about how I would do it alongside my practice. But I felt comfortable right from the start and had a good induction here. Mistakes can be made. And I always had experienced colleagues by my side at the courses. As I said, it's teamwork. No one is left alone. And now I have quite a bit of experience. Everything I've learned I can now pass on - that's something nice!". "There's nothing to add to that" adds Horst, also with a smile on his face.

Our training team

By following this link, you will find an overview of some profiles of our lecturers, including those of Meike, Doris and Horst. All of them have passed the certification at EEG Info Europe and are constantly training according to our quality assurance. And we are happy to see our team grow! You can find more info on LinkedIn or here.

 
Linkedin: BEE Medic GmbH | LinkedIn

Biofeedback describes a method that can offer the way to a better perception and regulation of one's own body. In biofeedback, peripheral physical parameters - also called biosignals - are used. These can be muscle tone, heartbeat or breathing rate, for example. Electrodes, which are attached directly to the skin, for example, or mounted in a chest belt or finger sensor, measure peripheral physiological parameters. These signals are then reported back on a screen - either simply as curves or in animations. 
Biosignals allow conclusions to be drawn about the current stress level - being able to perceive one's own physical reaction can be an enrichment for therapeutic work, or for training relaxation or concentration. Accordingly, biofeedback is used as a therapeutic component for mental and physical illnesses as well as in performance and concentration training - the so-called peak performance - or competitive sports. 

In this blog post, we would like to discuss the central parameters and functionalities of biofeedback and also shed light on the extent to which a combination of biofeedback and neurofeedback can be usefully designed in therapy. 

Pump it up - the heart rate and heart rate variability in biofeedback 

The pulse is a biological parameter that changes according to external and internal demands. Not only a steady pulse, but also the adaptability of the heart rate to different demands - the so-called heart rate variability (HRV) - is a central parameter in biofeedback. 
Heart rate variability is the variation of the temporal distance between two heartbeats (also: beat to beat interval). This is longer in times of relaxation than in times of physical or emotional stress. A high heart rate variability speaks for a good (peripheral) self-regulation, because it indicates that the organism is able to adjust the heart rate depending on the requirements and finds the optimal frequency for the respective situation. Low heart rate variability is often related to a problem in dealing with stressful situations, memories or stress in general. 

Especially for patients with anxiety disorders, depression or chronic pain, biofeedback with heart rate variability training can be helpful. Often these patients are not aware of the connection between their emotional stress and physical reactions and the perception of their own body does not work well, because they have permanently a very high stress level. Training here to perceive, influence and synchronize central parameters such as heartbeat and breathing and thus lower the general stress level can be a key experience in therapy and make patients aware that they do have control over their physical and mental state.

Breathe deeply three times - breathing in biofeedback 

You probably know the tip that lay literature and grandmothers like to give whenever someone is stressed: take three deep breaths. Does that really help? Here's a little experiment: put your hand on your stomach. Breathe deeply into your belly, feel how the hand rises, how your belly bulges, when the belly is bulging to the maximum, hold your breath for a moment and then breathe out again slowly and evenly. Feel the air flowing first out of the belly and then out of the tops of the lungs, over both lungs and out the airway. Repeat this three times. What do you notice? How are you conducting yourself? How has your heartbeat changed? 

The HEARTBEAT?! That's right - breathing and heartbeat are closely related physiologically. In a relaxed state, heart rate and breathing rate correlate, this is also what we call "respiratory sinus arrhythmia". When breathing in, the heart rate thereby becomes higher, the sympathetic nervous system is activated, and when breathing out, the heart rate becomes lower, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated. Breathing deeply in and out three times in stressful situations can thus help not only to gain better awareness and control over one's own breathing, but subsequently also to synchronize the correlation of breathing and heartbeat. 

Sweat Baby, Sweat - the skin conductance in biofeedback

The skin conductance is usually recorded via electrodes on the finger. The texture of the skin on the palm of the hand differs from that on other parts of the body - on the palm of the hand the skin has a particularly large number of sweat glands. These sweat glands, which are innervated by the sympathetic nervous system, react quickly to stress by increasing their glandular activity.  If the palm is dry and the activity of the sweat glands is low, the skin conductance is also low. Since sweat is a salty fluid, skin conductance - measured by 2 electrodes on the fingers - increases as sweat gland activity increases.

If the skin conductance is constant and low at rest, this indicates a relaxed state, but if it fluctuates constantly for no apparent reason, this may indicate that even stimuli that are actually neutral are perceived as stressful. If a stressor is then presented - sometimes the mention or thought of a stressful situation is enough - the skin conductance usually rises quickly. In healthy people it returns to its initial level after 1-2 minutes. However, in patients who have problems in emotional regulation, it also happens that the skin conductance remains at a high level for a long time after the stressor. Since the skin conductance responds quickly to stressful stimuli and is easy to measure, it is particularly well suited as a psychophysiological mirror in therapy - and reflects the change between tension and relaxation. It can also be used as a support in relaxation training or in learning various relaxation techniques.

It is getting hot in here - the body temperature in biofeedback 

Temperature is usually measured by a sensor on the finger. In a relaxed state, the smooth muscles in the walls of the blood vessels usually also relax, which leads to more blood flowing to the extremities - we often recognize this by the feeling of warmth in the hands. Thus, an onset of relaxation is accompanied by an increase in temperature in the extremities. Under stress or tension, the muscles in the vascular walls contract, the vessels become narrower and less blood reaches the extremities, often resulting in a drop in body temperature. The body temperature usually reacts with some delay, from the beginning of the stress reaction to a drop in body temperature in the extremities may well take 1-2 minutes.
 
The body temperature skin conductance can be used in therapy, for example, to demonstrate the influence of thoughts and ideas on physiology, because some patients succeed in achieving a change in temperature by imagining warmth/cold, and body temperature can also play a role in relaxation training. 

The combination of bio- and neurofeedback 

In symptom-based infra low frequency (ILF) neurofeedback, the patient's symptoms and state changes are the central components. Many of these symptoms also relate to correlates of stress and relaxation. Accordingly, the addition of biofeedback parameters can be a useful complement to ILF neurofeedback. This makes it possible for patient and therapist to include the physiological correlates of state changes in the therapy. Patients who are not able to perceive or verbalize changes in their stress and relaxation state very well will get another possibility to experience changes through neurofeedback. Even changes that are partially below the threshold of perception can be made visible by measuring peripheral signals and can find their way into the therapy. In the case of skeptical or tense patients, the inclusion of biofeedback parameters in the sense of psychoeducation can also help to make the connection between psyche and physiology visible and tangible, to familiarize the patient with the setting with electrodes and to gradually reduce the possible fear of changes through therapy, in order to gently introduce the patient to neurofeedback. 
The therapist can deduce signs of stress and relaxation in the physiological parameters and optimize the therapy accordingly, for example by changing the frequency.

Modern Biofeedback with the AliveⓇ Software 

Measuring the four central parameters - heart rate variability, respiration, skin conductance and temperature - separately and reporting them back in curves or animations is no longer necessary with our combined biofeedback solution of Combisensor and AliveⓇ software. The Combisensor - a finger sensor with electrodes - is attached to the index finger, derives biosignals and reports them back to the AliveⓇ software, which uses them to generate graphs and curves that are highly informative for patients and therapists.  The Combisensor can be easily connected to the NeuroAmp and the Cygnet and Alive software packages can be operated in parallel.

The AliveⓇ software contains a variety of animations, workshops and tutorials and offers versatile applications for the four peripheral signals. The Alive feedbacks are displayed on two screens - similar to Cygnet - and the therapist can also see the actual derived biosignal. This also allows the therapist to use the software simultaneously with neurofeedback and Cygnet. However, with AliveⓇ it is also possible to use the popular Cygnet animations such as Innertube, Tropical Health or Dreamscapes for biofeedback. However, Alive also includes specific calm feedback options exclusively for biofeedback, which are particularly suitable for anxious and tense patients. Detailed reports can also be generated through the software. 

With Alive, biofeedback can be used both as a separate therapy component and in combination with neurofeedback. 

Biofeedback in theory and courses - Our teaching offer 

Since biofeedback addresses peripheral parameters, there is no need for a compulsory beginner's course, unlike neurofeedback, which works with central excitation parameters. Biofeedback can also be a useful component in other therapy or training settings, for example in peak performance or competitive sports. 

To learn how to use the finger sensor and AliveⓇ and to try it out in practice, we are regularly offering an introductory course in biofeedback theory and practice. Please check our courses for more information.
 

Literature recommendation

For those interested in more intensive study of parameters in biofeedback, we recommend chapter 2, "Peripheral Biofeedback" in the following Springer textbook: Haus KM. et al. (2020). Praxisbuch Biofeedback und Neurofeedback. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-59720-0_1 (in German)