From my earliest memories, my father called a me a ‘nervous child’. I’ve always had a nervous system that is very reactive to stress. So, I became very interested in the mind/body connection and particularly how it relates to stress. Along with studying psychology and biology in college, I also began my life long study of T’ai Chi. It teaches how to stay relaxed under stressful conditions and to consciously program the body to create new patterns in the autonomic and motor nervous system.
While working as a psychotherapist, I had the good fortune to train with a research pioneer in Biofeedback, Ray Lambert. You can imagine how excited I was to discover a scientific method to monitor the stress response directly. Because biofeedback equipment reveals unconscious physiological activity and makes it conscious, re-programming of unconscious patterns becomes possible. Working with Ray at an outpatient pain clinic was a life changing experience. I learned effective headache management using biofeedback and behavioral training instead of medication.
This was all before the days of managed healthcare and I expected these effective behavioral techniques would become widely available to the medical community. Unfortunately, the opposite happened. Insurance companies refused to cover Biofeedback therapy and doctors could no longer refer. It’s our mission to make these effective techniques available so anyone suffering with debilitating headaches can find relief. – Thomas Cobb, MA, MFT
I had a career in graphic designer, until 11 year old daughter was diagnosed with a seizuredisorder. As I was unwilling to give her the conventional drugs for epilepsy, my mission became a search for an alternative treatment. I found a research program that was using EEG (electroencephalogram) Biofeedback to treat seizures without medication, unheard of for this disorder. My experience was profound. I returned to school to become a psychotherapist and work in the program.
Because of my interest and my daughter’s recovery, I had the opportunity to study underTom, the therapist who introduced me to biofeedback for stress related disorders such as anxiety, headaches, irritable bowel, insomnia and chronic pain. By now I was hooked on the possibilities of Biofeedback. It’s a powerful way to change habit patterns and dramatically reduce and then eliminate symptoms.
When I was looking for an alternative to drugs in the treatment of my daughter’s epilepsy, no one offered any alternative approach. In fact, I was told I was endangering mydaughter’s health. Well, at 50, she is not only healthy, seizure-free and has never taken powerful drugs that can inhibit brain functioning. Tom and I went out on our own and continued to perfect the approach we use to teach people how to eliminate their headaches. Freedom from Headaches is an outgrowth of that work and a commitment to assist other people in obtaining the information they need to make informed choices about their health and well-being. – Phyllis Grannis, MA, MFT