Applied Clinical/Private Practice

Terms

Psychophysiological Symptoms and Disorders
Physical symptoms and disorders caused by or affected by interaction of ones biology, psychological and stress reactions. Examples include many persons with: Bruxism (teeth grinding/clenching, sleep onset insomnia, tension and migraine headaches, muscular bracing pain, several gastrointestinal symptoms and disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and psychogenic nausea/vomiting.

Psychological Factors Affecting General Medical Conditions
Psychological and stress-related factors can affect the development or worsening of, or delayed recovery from medical conditions. Examples include many persons with: Tinnitus, Essential Tremor, Hypertension, Chronic Pain. Headaches, Cardiac conditions.

Applied Psychophysiology (AP)
AP includes a group of noninvasive interventions that focus on helping persons achieve healthier psychophysiological functioning. AP involves helping people better understand the relationships between thinking, behaviors, and physiological functioning. These interventions include all forms of biofeedback, all relaxation/meditative techniques, cognitive behavior therapies, patient/client education, 

Biofeedback
Biofeedback is a process that enables an individual to learn how to change physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance. Precise instruments measure physiological activity such as brainwaves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature. These instruments rapidly and accurately "feed back" information to the user. The presentation of this information – often in conjunction with changes in thinking, emotions, and behaviors -- support desired physiological changes. Over time, these changes can endure without continued use of an instrument.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
A type of psychotherapy that focuses on understanding how our current ineffective thoughts affect our behaviors and emotions, and how our changing thinking content and patterns can influence our mood and behavior. One learns to change our thoughts, attitudes, and expectations about other people, situations, events, and ourselves. I refer to CBT as an enlightenment for our thinking. There are various types of CBT. 

Relaxation Therapies
Several types of relaxation therapies/techniques are useful for reducing and managing many symptoms. These involve various methods for reducing physiological arousal and tension. The common types are relaxed breathing, releasing muscle tension, relaxing thoughts and images, and tensing or stretching before releasing muscle tension. 

Behavior Therapy (BT)
Therapies and techniques that are based on learning principles and research and that include reinforcement and learning/conditioning methods. Examples include exposure techniques, such as systematic desensitization, for phobias.

Stress 
One definition of stress is when the demands of life we face exceed our personal psychological and biological resources and adaptive capabilities. The term is complex and there is no single agreed upon definition. 

Time Use Management (TUM)
Misuse of time contributes to many symptoms and disorders including anxiety, insomnia, depression, psychophysiological symptoms, and interferes with achieving our more important life and work goals. Misuse of time also interferes with compliance with treatment recommendations. TUM involves setting realistic goals, priorities, getting organized, reducing time wasters, reducing interruptions, managing procrastination and perfectionism. 

Bibliotherapy/Patient Education
This often involves reading short booklets, short books, short documents, and content of internet websites with the goal of better understanding and managing one’s symptoms and their treatments.

Stress Management (SM) method include:

• Time Management
• Relaxation therapies
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapies:
• Laughter/Humor
• Dietary changes (e.g. caffeine, alcohol)
• Yoga
• Biofeedback-assisted therapies/training
• Meditation
• Imagery
• Mindfulness (& Savoring)
• Music
• Talking: family, friends, counseling
• Change: Situational, environmental, job
• Writing/Self-Expression/Journaling
• Exercise
• Problem solving
• Psychotherapy
• Medical Interventions
• Family, Marital, Sexual, Child management
• Substances & Dependency Tx
• Psychopharmacology
• Assertiveness
• Values Acquisition and Clarification
• Spirituality including Forgiveness
• Financial management
• Social Support/Relationships and Improved Communications
• Environmental
• Bibliotherapy