November 2014
|
AAPB Newsletter
President's Letter
Dear Fellow AAPB Members, Hope this message finds you all well and healthy. For the Canadians in the society, I hope you didn't eat too much turkey for Thanksgiving. I see the American Thanksgiving is coming up in late November. Typical the Americans always following us Canadians. These last few months have been incredibly busy for the board and staff as a number of projects/happenings have occurred. The Foundation for Education and Research in Biofeedback and Related Sciences (FERB) has launched a new "Honor a Mentor program" recently. This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize those people who have given time and energy to better the field and its practitioners, while supporting the next generation with research scholarship funding.
AAPB was approached by the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) to nominate a representative from AAPB to be recognized through their In Canada, under the direction of Dr. Atholl Malcolm, a group of psychologists have got together to form a sub-section of the Canadian Psychological Association. This sub-section is known as the Quantitative Electroencephalogy Section. Congratulations to all involved. AAPB has offered continued support to this endeavor. As you may be aware the State of Nevada tried to restrict the "practice" of biofeedback to just psychologists. This movement has been negated by some of the State's representatives and hopefully will remain so. AAPB was one of the active contributors to this issue arguing against the restriction. AAPB now has new brochures; one brochure is designed for the public, the second brochure is designed for the professional. This latter brochure is designed to be given to other professionals to provide them with information about biofeedback. These brochures are available in .PDF format to be downloaded for free for any member of AAPB. AAPB chapters are busy, busy, busy. The Biofeedback Society of Texas had a great meeting in late September, the Midwest Society for Behavioral Medicine & Biofeedback (MSBMB) held their meeting on Nov 1-2. The Northeastern Regional Biofeedback Society (NRBS) and Biofeedback Society of California (BSC) held their annual meetings last weekend. I am glad to see the chapters using the AAPB student scholarship funding to get students out to their local conferences. North East region has five students taking advantage of this program. On a personal note, I would like to thank the board and central office staff for all their efforts for the last two months. I was seriously ill starting September 5 winding up in the hospital for eight days and at home receiving intravenous antibiotics for 41 days. November 3 was my first day back to work. All of the above activities continued without interruption. I want to thank those that sent their best wishes. Finally, be safe and take care. Great speakers and activities planned for the AAPB Annual Scientific Meeting in Austin in March 11-14, 2015. See you there. Remember BIOFEEDBACK; A DRUG FREE SOLUTION. Get the word out.
Thank you,
REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 2014! The Association for Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback (AAPB), the pioneering professional society devoted to education and research in this field, will be hosting their 46th Annual Scientific Meeting in Austin, Texas on March 11-14, 2015 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel. Exciting news for this year is that AAPB's 46th Annual Scientific Meeting is during SXSW Interactive 2015! South by Southwest Interactive has earned a reputation as an incubator of new ideas and creative technologies. Come for the Annual Scientific Meeting and stay to be inspired by Austin and SXSW Interactive 2015. The goal of this conference is to bring clinicians, physicians, researchers and professionals involved with Biofeedback and Applied Psychophysiology together to exchange information, ideas, scientific data and to share experiences. You won't want to miss the opportunity to attend practical workshops, hear from leading clinicians and researchers, and check out the latest equipment. Stay tuned for more details as the program takes shape.
Make Your Hotel Reservations TODAY! Interested in displaying a poster at AAPB's 46th Annual Meeting? We want to hear from you! All poster abstracts must be submitted online no later than 11:59 p.m. ET, Monday, November 17, 2014. Each submitted abstract will be blind reviewed by biofeedback professionals. The AAPB Program Planning Committee will accept or reject abstracts based on the reviews. Notifications will be emailed in December on the status of your submission. Please contact AAPB with any questions at (800) 477-8892 or info@aapb.org. Poster abstracts will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
Click here to access the 2015 Poster Guidelines. Click here to submit a poster abstract today!
Free Downloadable Brochures - MEMBERS ONLY!
Educating and informing others about the importance of biofeedback training is not always as easy. To better explain and market our profession, AAPB offers its members brochures that can be downloaded and printed without charge. These brochures are ideal for:
AAPB provides downloadable brochures as a member benefit in the hope that members will distribute them to inform their communities of the unique and beneficial work provided by our field. Visit the AAPB website to download your brochures TODAY! (Accessible to AAPB members ONLY!)
The Biofeedback Influencers Project You are invited to participate in the collection of data on the development of biofeedback. Founding members of AAPB have a passion for the history and development of the biofeedback field. Many publications captured the background and history, but they want to approach this from a different perspective - to trace the roots through the teachers. Welcome to the "The Biofeedback Influencers Project." Help us trace our development by sharing who or what led you to a career where biofeedback is a major part of your work. There are a few simple questions. Click here to take the Influencers Survey. Survey closes November 30, 2014. Thanks for your help! Dr. Francine Butler will be sharing the results at the 46th Annual Scientific Meeting - March 11-14, 2015.
The Canadian Psychological Association and EEG Biofeedback
Atholl Malcolm, PhD, R.Psych, BCN, BCB, QEEG Diplomate Last year's Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Convention was unique in that there were presentations on EEG biofeedback (neurofeedback) research conducted at Western University in Ontario. The presenters were psychologist Dr. Paul Frewen and graduate student Teddy Chow. They are part of a team that includes psychiatrist Dr. Ruth Lanius. Also, Dr. Lanius's brother, Ulrich Lanius, a psychologist in Vancouver, presented on the LENS system. These presentations prompted further contact with the Canadian Psychological Association with a view to forming a new Section within the CPA. We received enthusiastic support, and very quickly had the 25 CPA members required to create the Section. I was greatly assisted by Dr. John Davis of Grimsby Ontario, a previous International Board Member of the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR). With his help, it took less than a month to get the Section up and running. Thus, the CPA now has this new Section entitled "Quantitative Electrophysiology. As stated in our mission statement, the primary aim of our Section is to bring together psychologists with interests in research and therapy pertaining to neuroplasticity. We see such processes as including, but not limited to, quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG), peripheral biofeedback, EEG biofeedback (neurofeedback using both surface or scalp training, and training using Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography-LORETA), hemoencephalography, and evoked potentials. In addition, Heart Rate Variability training is gaining significant interest and is included in the mission statement, as is pulsed electromagnetic field stimulation. Related topics, such as the comparative studies between EEG neurofeedback and real-time fMRI neurofeedback are also of significant interest. Already we have been approached by others within the CPA and expect to cooperate with the Sports and Exercise Section with future joint presentations. Neurofeedback, in fact, is being used already by Canadian athletes. Dr. Leslie Sherlin chaired a panel at ISNR that included two Canadian Athletes: freestyle Olympic skier and X-Games champion Kaya Turski, and professional golfer, Dan Buchner. One of our aims with this initiative is to promote Canadian university-based research within this field and we are very grateful for the initiatives of Western University. We must keep up with our medical colleagues who are making great strides with research involving real-time fMRI neurofeedback. Among other encouraging applications, recent research in the United States reported success related to the treatment of major depressive disorder (Yuan et al., 2014) Both real-time fMRI biofeedback and EEG biofeedback are based on the brain's capacity to learn and make durable changes in function (neuroplasticity). However, real-time fMRI is accessible only in costly research contexts (e.g., it requires a three million dollar fifty-ton magnet and $40,000 per month in liquid helium, as well as expensive staff), whereas EEG neurofeedback is portable and requires equipment costing less than $5000. Therefore, EEG neurofeedback provides the opportunity not only to study basic brain function and neuroplasticity, but also the possibility of an accessible clinical tool that can change brain function that underlies disorders clinical psychologists commonly treat. We encourage our US colleagues to form a similar Section within the American Psychological Association, and other disciplines to do likewise within their own associations. Meanwhile we are very grateful for the support of the Canadian Psychological Association, and the great work of our colleagues at the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research, the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance, the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, the EEG and Clinical Neuroscience Society, and others in this field.
Honor a Mentor Through the Foundation for Education and Research in Biofeedback
This program is designed to recognize faculty, teachers, mentors and advisors who have made significant contributions to the field or to the careers of practitioners and researchers in the field. Funds from contributions (in the amount of $250 per nomination) are used to support student scholarships and presentations at the annual AAPB meeting as well as grants for student research. Your nomination shows your recognition and commitment to the future of AAPB. Click here to honor your mentor! The Foundation (FERB) was formed in 1985 by then AAPB president Neal Miller to support research and clinical applications of research in our broadening field. The primary purpose has been to fund student scholarships leading to further demonstration of the applicability and efficacy of biofeedback techniques. FERB supports scientific/technical meetings on psychophysiological research, scholarship programs that allows students to attend and present at the annual meeting of AAPB, award programs that recognize deserving individuals, seminars and lectures and a grant program for emerging research and studies on innovative healthcare treatment. 2014 Mentor Tributes Dr. Paul Lehrer in honor of Dr. David Shapiro, Professor Emeritus, UCLA School of Medicine "David Shapiro is one of the first biofeedback researchers. At a time when most psychologists thought that autonomic activity could only be controlled by classical conditioning, he demonstrated operant control in a series of elegant experiments, and published some of the first papers on clinical applications. Since then, his prolific research has laid the groundwork for the entire field of applied psychophysiology. He also has been a beloved mentor to several generations of psychophysiology researchers and clinicians through his teaching at Harvard and UCLA, and has mentored the work of several leaders in our field. His manner has always been unassuming, but his standards have always been uncompromising. He always demonstrated a supportive belief in his students and their abilities, and encouraged them to follow their own paths, while providing needed help and guidance. All who have worked with him, who have been mentored by him, and who have been inspired by his pioneering research owe him a great debt of gratitude." - Dr. Paul Lehrer, in honor of his mentor, Dr. David Shapiro Now Accepting Research Grant and Travel Scholarship Applications In the forthcoming year, the Foundation for Education and Research in Biofeedback (FERB) plans to offer travel scholarships of $300 to all students who present at the AAPB meeting in Austin, pending formal application to AAPB by the student. FERB also pays all student meeting registration fees. In addition, FERB will offer research grants to student projects of $1,500. Unlike travel scholarships, research support will not be given to all applicants proposing biofeedback research. Each student must complete an application form, in which they provide details about their proposal (research question, measures, subject recruitment, hypotheses, statistics, etc.). Research support will be limited, based on the quality of the submissions. We strongly encourage you to ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS to apply for the FERB student travel scholarship or research grant, and to attend the 2015 AAPB Annual Scientific Meeting. Please click here for more information, and to apply today! The deadline for receipt of all materials is December 15, 2014.
Call for Nominations - AAPB Board of Directors As a member of AAPB, you have the privilege of casting your vote in the Board of Directors election each year. We value your opinion and encourage you to share your recommendations on who should be leading your organization. An effective, committed Board of Directors is essential to the success of any organization. AAPB's volunteer leaders are the embodiment of the organization's intellectual diversity and are dedicated to furthering the field of applied psychophysiology and biofeedback. The AAPB Nominating Committee is seeking nominations for the following positions for the 2015-16 board:
Please click here to submit your nomination(s), and to learn more about the open positions. You will be required to provide name(s) and email address(es). Self-nomination is encouraged. Please click here to access the guidelines for candidates and the agreement statement form. Feel free to contact Dr. Richard Sherman, Past President and Nominating Committee Chair, if you have any questions. Call for Nominations - AAPB 2015 Distinguished Scientist Award
The AAPB Awards Committee invites AAPB members to submit nominations for the The Board approved the creation of the Distinguished Scientist Award to be presented annually "in recognition of an outstanding career and scientific contribution to the field of applied psychophysiology and biofeedback." This award recognizes an AAPB member who has advanced Biofeedback through a significant body of research conducted, as judged by publications, awards and peer reviews, and has made a major impact upon the field of study, both nationally and/or internationally. Nominees must hold a doctoral degree in a psychology, biomedical science, medicine, or other health-related field. Only AAPB members will be considered for this honor. Criteria for evaluation are:
The recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award will be invited to give an address at the 2015 Annual Scientific Meeting; the date, time and topic of the presentation is to be determined by the Program Committee Chair and the award recipient. Candidates for this award are reviewed, and recipients are determined, by the AAPB Awards Committee. To nominate an individual who represents the purpose of the award please complete the online nomination form.
The Distinguished Scientist Award was created in 1995. Past awardees include: Nominations must be received by December 15, 2014. Award winners will be notified in January 2015. Nominate someone you know today!
Missed an AAPB Webinar? Recordings are available! AAPB is bringing educational seminars to you - literally. Several Virtual Education webinars are currently available for purchase online. These webinars offer continuing education credits and the opportunity to gain cutting-edge knowledge from the comfort of your home or office. The credits you receive are approved by APA and satisfy the BCIA recertification requirements. Additionally, the credits may be used to maintain your license - a great value! Click here to visit the AAPB Store, and learn more about the following webinar recordings and purchase one today! New additions include:
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
Submit Your Next Paper to Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback Contact Editor-in-Chief Frank Andrasik (e-mail: fndrasik@memphis.edu) with any general inquiries about the journal and/or your suggestions for special thematic issues.
Sign up for SpringerAlerts for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance BCIA certifies individuals who meet education and training standards in biofeedback, neurofeedback, and biofeedback for pelvic muscle dysfunction, and progressively recertifies those who advance their knowledge through continuing education. For more information on certification or recertification, contact BCIA today:
Phone: (720) 502-5829 |
The Foundation for Education and Research in Biofeedback and Related Sciences (FERB) announces the Honor a Mentor program, recognizing those faculty, mentors and advisors who have helped shape the careers of students and practitioners of biofeedback and/or who have made significant contributions to the field. Recipients will be recognized at the Foundation's special event during the annual meeting of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback in Austin TX, on Saturday March 14, 2015. Any member of AAPB may nominate a recipient.
