| About Us
Thomas Cobb , M.F.T
Marriage and Family Therapist
Biofeedback Therapist
Through my professional education and life experiences, I have had an
opportunity to blend two strains of knowledge and training. Both
have their origin for me in the early 1970's and both are approaches
which teach self regulation and empowerment through awareness
and re-patterning of the body's responses. The first was T'ai
Chi Chuan and Qigong where I had the unique opportunity to study
with a knowledgeable teacher willing to teach this ancient art
of body awareness. The practice of T'ai Chi and Qigong has given
me an experiential window into my own physiology and a profound
respect for the body's ability, even necessity, to be "patterned" for
good or ill. Secondly, in the late 1970's I was a counselor and
psychological assistant administering psychological testing for
a pain clinic in Santa Rosa, California. I was part of a multidisciplinary
team which assessed the needs of chronic pain sufferers.
The team consisted of myself for psychological testing, a psychiatrist
for medication and therapy, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist
and Ray Lambert, a biofeedback therapist. I mention Ray by name because
he became my mentor for biofeedback therapy.
Ray had designed and sold biofeedback equipment in the 1970's and had
the opportunity to both train and learn from various researchers who were
on the cutting edge of biofeedback therapy throughout the United States.
As part of the clinical team at this pain clinic, I was impressed by Ray's
knowledge and expertise as well as his contribution to the improvement
of our patients. After working together for a year, Ray invited me to
join him in a private outpatient pain clinic he was forming and he offered
to teach me biofeedback. I jumped at the chance since I was very interested
in the mind/body connection.
We worked together successfully doing biofeedback for six years during
which time we spearheaded the formation of a multidisciplinary
outpatient pain clinic. But the heart of our work had always
been biofeedback–using
sensitive electrical monitoring equipment to teach people how
to become aware of their physiological responses, relax and reverse
the sometimes very negative effects of stress and muscle tension.
In my own work I was able to incorporate insights from Chinese
medicine, particularly the stretching and internal awareness
aspects. We were well accepted by the medical community and were
frequently referred patients who had not responded to any other
form of treatment for their chronic, debilitating conditions.
Our success rate with these patients who had not responded
to years of medical treatment was impressive. We saw people
with a variety of conditions: headaches, neck pain, whiplash,
low-back pain, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, panic attacks,
chronic anxiety, premature ventricular contractions, irritable
bladder syndrome,irritable bladder syndrome, insomnia, incontinence
and nonspecific abdominal pain.
As our knowledge and expertise grew so did our interests expand and change.
In 1986, Ray went on to form
an incontinence clinic with a local gastroenterologist, and I
took a four year training program in in-depth body oriented psychotherapy
while continuing my T'ai Chi studies. I continued to see people
for biofeedback as well as for psychotherapy, but I have been
drawn principally to biofeedback. I am constantly amazed at how
effective this work is for empowering people to be in charge
of their bodies and for reversing debilitating chronic conditions.
Ray and I had always wanted to publish our methods and results,
but in a busy clinical practice there was no time. In today's
world, where the cost of health care is an issue, the techniques
Ray taught and the ancient methods of physical development
in T'ai Chi are even more important. Based on over 25 years
of clinical experience, I know it is possible to effectively
teach people how to be in charge of their bodies and reverse
the debilitating cycle of chronic disorders with our online
classes and biofeedback equipment, easily and in a short period
of time.
That is why we created LifeMatters. We want to share these techniques
with as many people as possible, empower them to take charge
of their health and discover new, effective ways to resolve chronic
conditions which respond best to education and re-patterning
of behavior. – Tom
Cobb |
