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Dr. Al Barrios, Director of Self-Programmed Control Center, inventor of the Stress Control Card and author of Towards Greater Freedom & Happiness

Here is a simple but highly effective biofeedback approach to stress control and positive change.

I have developed an inexpensive, multifaceted approach to stress control called the STRESS TEST, which some of you might recognize by name. When it was first introduced in the mid 80′s, it rose to #2 on the Times best selling books list. It is made up of two main items: (1) The Stress Control Biofeedback Card and (2) The Do-It-Yourself Stress Control Handbook.

The biofeedback card (the size of a credit card with a small rectangular temperature sensitve liquid crystal piece in the center that changes color on fingertip touch) provides a most inexpensive way of using biofeedback to control stress. Thermal biofeedback studies have shown that if you can consistently get your fingertip temperature to 95 degrees Fahrenheit or higher (that’s when the card is set to turn blue), you can get rid of most stress-related problems.

The “fight or flight response” tells us that when a person is in a real or perceived state of danger (when a person is stressed or anxious), the blood goes inward to the muscles (to help fight or run) among other things. As a result, the hands and feet go cold. Now you know where the expression “cold feet” comes from to describe someone who’s nervous.

The card actually works as an excellent training tool to help condition an automatic relaxation response in times of stress. Here’s how it works: Whenever you are feeling a bit stressed, you first test yourself. You hold the liquid crystal part between forefinger and thumb to see what your initial color response is. If it shows an initial color other than blue, it means that you are stressed. Black means most stressed and green means some stress. Then you go through one or more of the four relaxation techniques on the back. When you retest yourself now, you might be surprised to find that the color has changed in the direction of blue.

This immediate feedback (seeing the card color change right before your very eyes) is what makes the card so powerful. That’s why biofeedback is such a popular way of gaining control over your body responses – because of the immediate feedback.

When you see immediate positive results, your belief level goes up. Belief in what? The belief that you CAN have control over your bodily responses. Belief is a very powerful force for giving one greater control through the power of the mind. I define belief as concentration on a thought to the exclusion of anything that would contradict that thought.

Two of the relaxation techniques on the back involve the breathing response. They emphasize the natural relaxation response that normally occurs when you are exhaling. One of the techniques involves imagining warmth coming into the hands. this takes advantage of the power of thoughts to control blood flow to the hands. The combination of both can prove to be very effective in getting the blood back into the hands and turning the card blue.

The Do-It-Yourself Stress Control Handbook provides the remaining pieces of the how-to-control-stress puzzle. In addition to time management techniques, it shows how to develop a set of four positive mental attitudes that help you roll with the punches of life. This includes:

(1) Attitude Towards Self. According to Meyer Fiedman MD in his book, Treating Type A Behavior and Your Heart, low self-esteem is probably the biggest single factor underlying the Type A (highly stressed) personality. To counter this effect, develop the habit of focusing on your good points and previous successes, especially when you start having self doubts. Realize that everyone makes mistakes. Learn from them what you can, then forget them. Think of failure as a stepping stone to success (nothing ventured, nothing gained).

(2) Attitude Towards Others. If you expect the best from people and start focusing more on their good points and successes, you are more likely to bring the best out. You know what the converse will do – bring out the worst and make you that much more stressed. In chapter four of my book Towards Greater Freedom and Happiness (which presents my entire SPC program) I actually cover nine such positive mental attitudes.

The most important part of the handbook is when I introduce you to the Self-Programmed Control (SPC) techniques which play a key role in my SPC program for helping people to re-program themselves. The biggest problem with most people is that it is very hard for them to change. You can give people all the best advice in the world – whether it has to do with stress, bad habits or whatever, but it usually goes in one ear and out the other. Most of our current behaviors have been deeply programmed in and, as a result, they are so automatic they are out of volitional control.

This is where the SPC techniques come in. They are stepwise techniques for developing a very strong belief in the power of thoughts to control automatic behavior. As with biofeedback, the key to heightening the belief factor is immediate feedback, immediate positive results and that’s what the SPC techniques provide. The key to facilitating re-programming is to first place yourself in a state of heightened belief which is a highly focused state of mind. This highly focused state is what facilitates re-programming – no interference from contradicting negative thoughts or previous negative programs (see again my definition of belief above). You can then more readily visualize whatever goals you wish to program in. They will then become automatic.

Dr. Al Barrios, a clinical psychologist (BS Caltech, Ph.D. UCLA), is a recognized authority on the power of the word and its effect on human behavior. He is the inventor of the Stress Control Card and author of the book, Towards Greater Freedom & Happiness .

You can find out more about the stress card and the SPC program by going to Al’s website.

www.SPCCenter.com