Biofeedback Overview

The term "biofeedback" was coined in the late 1960s to refer to the practice of training subjects in a laboratory to change brain activity, blood pressure, heart rate, and other bodily functions that are not normally under voluntary control.

Biofeedback is a therapeutic technique that teaches people how to use conscious and subconscious signals from their own bodies to improve their health. Therapists use biofeedback to help stroke patients regain function of paralyzed muscles. Psychologists use it to help nervous and anxious people learn to relax. Experts in many fields use biofeedback to help patients cope with pain.

You may have used biofeedback before. A bathroom scale can be considered a biofeedback device for measuring weight, and a thermometer can be considered a biofeedback device for measuring body temperature. We can measure bioelectric factors of the body, such as the voltage of brain cell signals, the current of heart muscle contractions, the tension of muscles, and the resistance of skin current. We can measure fluctuations in these factors during electroencephalograms (EEGs), electrocardiograms (ECGs), electromyograms (EMGs), and electrophysiology (GPRs). The same technical theories that led to biofeedback in the 1960s also led to the development of CT (computed tomography or CT scan), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), ultrasound, and many other advanced technologies used in the healthcare system.

The information measured by the biofeedback device is “retransmitted” to the client, informing them of various physiological parameters and how their body responds to stress. This allows them to realize the need to retrain their body’s stress response, balance their body’s bioelectricity, make lifestyle changes, or learn to control their physiological responses to improve relaxation and promote health.

Perhaps the best proof of its powerful potential is that these therapeutic aspects are recognized in the “Health Canada Reference,” which defines biofeedback as “a non-pharmacological psychotherapeutic measure.”