Co-sponsored by the Federation and the Association for Applied  Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB)

On Thursday, April 21, the Federation and member society the  Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB) hosted the  long-awaited Science Forum on Mind Body Medicine. Originally scheduled for June  of 2004, we had to postpone the event because of federal closures related to  Ronald Reagan's memorial services. The Forum turned out to be well worth the  10-month delay. Five biofeedback experts from AAPB presented talks on  biofeedback access and reimbursement and on biofeedback applications, including  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), pelvic floor disorders, asthma,  and headaches, while representative from the National Center for Complementary  and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood  Institute (NHLBI) discussed the future directions of biofeedback research at the  National Institutes of Health. Our speakers were: Paul Lehrer, PhD (UMDNJ -  Robert Wood Johnson Medical School), Frank Andrasik, PhD (University of West  Florida), Bob Whitehouse, EdD (Colorado Center for Behavioral Health), Vincent  J. Monastra, PhD (FPI Attention Disorders Clinic), Olafur Palsson, PsyD  (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), Margaret A. Chesney, PhD (NCCAM,  NIH), and Peter G. Kaufmann, PhD (NHLBI, NIH). We had 45 attendees participate  in the event.
 
 On the Friday following the Science Forum, several of our speakers, along with  Dr. Francine Butler (Executive Director of AAPB and Federation Treasurer) and  Dr. Steven Baskin (Past-President of AAPB), visited Congressional offices to  address the importance of increasing insurance coverage of biofeedback and to  highlight some highly relevant applications that, if implemented properly, could  have an enormous positive impact on those who suffer from conditions such as  chronic pain and ADHD. At each office, we did a small biofeedback demonstration  on the staff with whom we met, so we think we'll be remembered!

Abstracts: Click here to view talk abstracts for this event.

Agenda: Click here to view the agenda for this event.

Speaker Bios: Click here to view speaker bios for this event.

Power Points:
-- Paul Lehrer, Overview of Biofeedback
-- Frank Andrasik, How Can Biofeedback Improve U.S. Healthcare? (Please contact us for a copy a this Powerpoint presentation.) 
-- Bob Whitehouse, Access, Insurance, Cost, and Legislation
-- Vincent J. Monastra, EEG Biofeedback Treatments for ADHD: Rationale and Empirical Foundations
-- Olafur S. Palsson, Biofeedback for Pelvic Floor Disorders and Incontinence
-- Paul Lehrer, Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback: A New Approach to Fostering Cardiorespiratory and Emotional Control and Improving Human Performance                                    
-- Frank Andrasik, New Horizons in Pain Management: Headache as a Case in Point
-- Margaret A. Chesney, NCCAM: New Directions in Brain, Body, and Behavioral Medicine Research
-- Peter G. Kaufmann, Clinical Research in Biofeedback: Benefits of Developing Evidence-Based Practice