Biofeedback is a a technique intended to teach patients self-regulation of certain physiologic processes considered normally not to be under voluntary control. The technique involves giving feedback of different kinds of information not normally available to the patient, followed efforts on the part of the patient to use this feedback to help alter and control the physicological process in some specific way. Biofeedback training is done either in individual or group sessions, alone, or in conjunction with other behavioral therapies designed to teach relaxation. Subjects are instructed to use different techniques to affect the physiologic variable monitored, and feedback is provided for successful monitoring of that physiologic process. There are different variables of feedback which will be explained to you by your practitioner.
Biofeedback treatments begin with a training phase in which the patient recieves feedback from the monitoring device. After the patient has achieved success in controlling the physiologic variable and/or clinical symptoms, a long term maintenance phase begins. During maintenance, it is intended that the patient will learn to control the condition without feedback.