Course Concept and Description:

This introductory level CE course is the equivalent of a three credit post-licensure course and provides 50 hours of CE credit. The course is targeted to teachers, coaches and licensed / certified clinicians such as psychologists, counselors, physical therapists, social workers, nurses, and physicians as well as to graduate students. Students learn by watching audiovisual lectures, reading assignments both from materials provided on the course web site and standard texts, watching movies which demonstrate equipment & key techniques, and interacting with their instructor via e-mail. They answer short essay questions after each lecture rather than taking exams. Previous students have found that this course takes between 65 and 95 hours of work to perform. Students start the course whenever they wish to within six months of the date of purchase and proceed at their convenience but the course must be completed in one year.

The course provides sufficient material so participants will (a) know the psychophysiological bases for performing the recordings (b) what the common assessments and interventions are as well as how they work, (c) what the common associated interventions are, (d) how the recording devices work in a clinical setting, (d) how to perform an effective recording, and (e) how to perform effective psychophysiological assessments and interventions.  The course meets all of the requirements for the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America’s biofeedback certification course and is approved by them for this purpose. Please note that clinicians interested in being certified in biofeedback by the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America would have to be mentored in treating patients with biofeedback before they could take the certification exam.

Learning objectives: The course objective is to provide the depth of knowledge in psychophysiology, biofeedback equipment, and training techniques which clinicians require to perform psychophysiologically oriented assessments and biofeedback based interventions. This information is crucial to effectively adding these techniques to a clinician’s practice.

This course is designed to help you (the student):

1. Summarize the psychophysiological processes underlying each condition covered in the course.
2. Use psychophysiological recording and biofeedback devices to record and display psychophysiological information.
3. Control the biofeedback display to optimize learning
4. Use psychophysiological recording equipment to assess patients with specific conditions
5. Use biofeedback equipment to apply specific interventions tailored to each condition covered in the course.

DISCLAIMER:Completion of this continuing education course is strictly for educational / informational purposes and does not imply competency, proficiency, and/or experience. The course completion certificate is not a clinical certification nor a license to practice. 

Format:

Home study supported by e-mail chats after each unit is completed. The lecture portion of the course is presented through a series of audiovisual lectures profusely illustrated by power-point slides and movies. The course is accessed from the course web site. The audiovisual lectures are on power point slides. You will hear the instructor’s voice while viewing the power point sides. The lectures are between 1 ½ and 2 ½ hours in length. Reading assignments parallel the lectures. After watching the lecture and reading the assigned supporting files, you will answer a brief series of short essay review questions (which are in the review questions file on the course web site). The answered questions are then e-mailed to the instructor. You and the instructor will discuss each unit via e-mail chat after your answers are assessed. There is no need to complete the discussion with the instructor before proceeding to the succeeding lecture & chapters. It is expected that all review questions will be answered correctly and completely by the student. Any questions answered incorrectly or incompletely must be discussed and/or corrected. You will have at least one real-time meeting with the instructor via a web based program such as “go to meeting” during which you will interact around your new skills.

How you learn:

Our students learn by attending both pre-recorded lectures and live – real time – classes with instructors during which students and instructors can see and hear each other. It’s almost like being there in person. They also read texts and articles.

This is what a live class looks like:

The “screen shot” to the right shows an instructor and three students interacting in real time while looking at discussion material on their screens.

To see what a “prerecorded” lecture looks like, follow this link:  http://youtu.be/9xpEpAZOHtI

Accessibility:

Hearing impaired people can view the slides only as virtually all of the material presented in the lectures is typed onto the slides. Visually impaired people can concentrate on the verbal lectures as the slide material is repeated in the lecture accompanying each slide.

Accessing course materials:

Course materials will be sent to your email address through either “transfer large files” or “Dropbox” after your payment for the course is processed. This may take several days. No CDs are sent to you.

Computer and Computer Knowledge Requirements:

Anybody with a modern computer and a bit of basic understanding of computer operation (at the level of being able to send e-mails) can play this course with minimal problems. You must have a computer (a) capable of connecting to the internet and running a typical internet program, (b) containing/running a modern word processor such as Microsoft word or Word Perfect, (c) the capability to play sounds such as music (has speakers and appropriate software which normally come with any modern computer), and (d) a slide viewing program such as Power Point (you can probably get a slide viewing program free off the internet if you don’t have one). Any modern (e.g., built within the last ten years), IBM style computer running Windows 98 and more recent platforms (e.g., XP or Windows 8) should be able to do this. Speed, hard disk size, and RAM are not factors for computers in the above category.

Dozens of students have used recent Apple products (MACs etc.) for the course however they frequently have more difficulty playing the course materials than PC users do.

If you are using a MAC type of computer, you must have a current version of “quicktime”. If you do not have it, you can download it for free from the web.

Prerequisites & professional training requirements:

The course is far easier for people who have taken undergraduate courses in general biology and general psychology. If you haven’t had them, contact us before registering. You will do much better in the course if you have already taken our “Anatomy and Physiology for Behavioral Clinicians” course.

This course is intended for licensed / certified clinicians, teachers and coaches. None of the instructional material offered will provide you with the clinical skills needed to apply the psychophysiological assessment and interventional techniques you will learn in the clinical environment unless you are already a trained clinician.

Faculty:

The course is given by Dr. Richard Sherman, Ph.D.  He is certified by BCIA, approved by BCIA to teach the general biofeedback certification course, and currently teaches A&P, Pelvic floor disorders, pain, and other courses. He is a professional psychophysiologist with extensive training (his Ph.D. is in biology & psychology), has nearly 30 years of experience in the field, and has published over 130 books, chapters, and articles (mostly in peer reviewed journals). Dr. Sherman is Director of the psychophysiology doctoral specialization at Saybrook University and has held many positions within the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback including president. Full CV available upon request and on the course web site.

Strongly Recommended Texts:

The cost of the recommended texts is not included in the course fee. No text is absolutely required for the course because most of the text of the following Pain Assessment book is on the course web site. Students are strongly urged to purchase one of the recommended texts. Your instructor can help you make the choice.

a. Pain Assessment and Intervention from a Psychophysiological Perspective by Richard A. Sherman, published by AAPB 2012. An electronic version of the book is on the course web site.  If you want a combined print/CD version, you can order from AAPB’s bookstore (800 477-8892).

b. Biofeedback: A Practitioner’s guide. Edited by Mark Schwartz and Frank Andrasik. Guilford Press of New York, 2003.  Discounted purchase available through AAPB’s bookstore (800 477-8892). The 4^th edition is due out in Nov 15.

Optional Texts:

(Especially for people intending to take the BCIA exam):

a. Introduction to Surface Electromyography by Jeffrey R. Cram and Glenn S. Kasman with Jonathan Holtz. Aspen, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 1998.

b. Clinical Applications in Surface Electromyography – Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain by Glenn S. Kasman, Jeffrey R. Cram, and Steven L. Wolf. Aspen, Gaithersburg, Maryland 1998.

Very optional text only for those who intend to do brain wave (EEG) biofeedback:

Getting Started with Neurofeedback by John N. Demos. WW Norton & Company, NY, 2005.  Discounted purchase available through AAPB’s bookstore (800 477-8892).

NOTE: I urge you to take the Foundation’s EEG Biofeedback / Neurofeedback course before actually doing neurofeedback.

Course Contents / Order of Lectures and Readings:

(Note that there are 28 required lectures)

After listening to each lecture, do the assigned reading, watch the assigned movies, and follow along in the pain text.

The numbered items include review questions students must answer to receive credit for the   course.

Note that in accordance with BCIA requirements, this course includes at least the following number of hours of education in the following topics scattered through all of the lectures: (a) 4 hours of introduction to / history of applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, (b) 4 hours of stress, coping & illness, (c) 8 hours of psychophysiological recording information, (d) 8 hours of SEMG applications, (e) 8 hours of ANS applications, (f) 4 hours of EEG applications, (g) 8 hours of introduction to standard adjunctive techniques, and (h) 4 hours of professional conduct/ethics.

Schedule:

There is one year to complete the course. Just contact us at admin@behavmedfoundation.org or 1.800.530.6658 to get started.

Duration of course validity:

There is one year to complete the course. Courses not completed by that time are void and must be repurchased if still available. No refunds are provided for courses not completed within one year of purchase.

CE Credit:

These are continuing education, not university accredited, courses. The Behavioral Medicine R&T Foundation is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Behavioral Medicine R&T Foundation maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

BCIA:

This course is accepted by the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance for both certification and recertification.

Payment, Refund, Scholarship, and cancellation policies:  

Full payment for each course is required before access to the course is provided. Payment is by credit card though our web site’s secure ordering section or by check in US dollars made out to the Foundation and sent to the address below. Full refund will be made until students are given access to the course material. After getting access to the course material, there is no refund at all as the Foundation has committed its resources to you and you have access to all of the course materials. A course would only be cancelled due to an extreme emergency on the part of the course instructor or the Foundation. In the highly unlikely event a course is cancelled, you would receive a full refund.

Scholarships: 

The Foundation give scholarships consisting of 25% off the cost of the course(s) to (a) students and professionals (e.g. clinicians, coaches, teachers) from emerging nations and (b) full time graduate students in developed nations.

Course updates:

Updates to all courses are placed on the course web site as they are made. Students are informed when updates are available. 

Questions / further information?

Contact Dr. Richard Sherman (director of the psychophysiology CE and doctoral programs) at admin@behavmedfoundation.org or 1.800.530.6658.

Administrative Information

Conflict of Interest: Neither the Behavioral Medicine Research & Training Foundation, its staff, nor the course instructor have any conflict of interest involving materials presented in this course.

Student comments about the courses and instructors:

Students who wish to comment about the courses and instructors other than through the “end of course” evaluations may wish to use the Foundation’s account at the anonymous comment submission site Incogneato (www.incognea.to). When a student submits a comment to our account (https://ansr.me/VWv70) on the site, there is no way for us to know who sent the comment unless the student provides an email. Students are always welcome to submit comments to this site. We take them very seriously.

Students who wish to make a formal complaint about a course or instructor can do so by following the Foundation’s grievance process which is detailed in the document by that name. Students can request the document from the program’s administrator by emailing admin@behavmedfourndation.org.