What is Biofeedback?

Biofeedback, or biofeedback therapy, falls under the umbrella of mind-body medicine. Biofeedback helps to uncover a patient’s neurbiological adaptive responses to stress. These are usually behaviors that have taken years to acquire. Biofeedback uses observational and analytical techniques to identify what triggers dysregulation in the nervous system. Once the neurobiological adaptive responses and what triggers them are identified, biofeedback provides tools and techniques to help modify and retrain physiologic responses to better cope with stresses. Practicing these techniques helps to restore the balance between the sympathetic (“fight or flight”) and parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) nervous system responses and builds resilience in the face of stress. Restoring this balance can help increase heart-rate variability (HRA), which research has shown reduces all-cause mortality and aid in stress management.