>"Hi Dr. Rick

> Can you tell me a little something about Bio feedback? What

> happens if you undergo this treatment?  Does it help people?"  

  Thanks for writing.  You are raising a fascinating subject, which is whether technology exists that can help people change psychologically.

First, about biofeedback, which consists of machines that give people a signal (feedback) when they make a usually unconscious change.  For example, your brain does not otherwise let you know when you move from more activated brain waves (beta waves) to more relaxed brain waves (alpha usually, though theta waves can be trained).  By giving you immediate knowledge of a certain state, you can learn to produce it by choice.  It can be useful when a person is wanting precisely the change they are using the machine for, and I cannot imagine how it could be harmful if used as directed.  So, alpha brain wave training is a valid relaxation method.

The question is whether it is worth the expense and trouble.  For instance, there are other forms of relaxation that are very effective also.  So, if you find that, for whatever reason, you are either more motivated or more able to learn relaxation from the biofeedback machine, then it could be better for you specifically.   Other effective methods include meditation, muscle  relaxation, self-hypnosis, ritualized prayer, guided imagery, or some combination of these.

The second, more worrisome, limitation of biofeedback is whether you can expect it to generalize to other areas.  Advertising aside, the training may not affect anything other than the exact behavior being trained.   As an illustration, I once knew a biofeedback practitioner who could raise the temperature of his fingers at will, cooler finger temperature being a classic symptom of anxiety. Nevertheless, the man appeared otherwise anxious to me, and he had high blood pressure. The problem is that stress changes how we function, so that our ability to modify our mood and thinking during a relaxed period does not automatically help us when we most need it. But, as long as you recognize this, there's no harm, so you may enjoy it and you might even be one of those who finds it useful to your overall functioning as well.

As long as you raise the question of technology, there is a machine that people report as helpful for another condition.   Strong light machines, if at least 10,000 "lux" (candle-power) and safely shielded from UV rays, have been used to help people who have Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.  This is the winter blues.  I saw several studies on this when it came out.   Although I have not reviewed any research on this in recent years, the last I checked it was listed as an approved treatment for SAD in the protocols of the American Psychiatric Association.

The most fascinating technology for change does not come in the form of a machine, however.  There consist of techniques we can learn to alter chronic distress feelings, to interrupt self-defeating thought sequences, and  to reliably redirect our behavior.  The key is to identify strategies to alter cognitive (mental) rigidity.  That, to me, is the most  exciting frontier in change technology.