Increasing Possibilities and Opportunities: Understanding Self-control through the EmWave

1. Increasing Possibilities and Opportunities: Understanding Self-control through the EmWave Dr. Nancy Aguinaga and Dr. Ken Callis

2. You all know these common characteristics found in children with behavior disorders… Physical and verbal aggression impulsiveness withdrawal poor coping skills abnormal mood swings Aguinaga & Callis 2011

3. Finding approaches to serve children with chronic behavior problems continue to challenge experts • Emotional and behavioral support leads to increased • self-control • self-awareness • self-esteem • social skills that ultimately will benefit the individual and society We would like to continue to work with Cottonwood and you to investigate computer-assisted biofeedback and the relationship with behavior change. Aguinaga & Callis 2011

4. The emWave PC The emWave PC technology is an easy-to-use software program with a heart rhythm monitor. The system is an innovative approach to stress relief based on learning to change the heart rhythm pattern and create physiological coherence. Aguinaga & Callis 2011

5. A Stressful Situation When you experience stressful emotions such as tension, anxiety, irritation, or anger, your heart rhythm pattern becomes irregular Your physiological systems are not working together, which negatively affects health, brain function, and performance Aguinaga & Callis 2011

6. A Stress-free Situation When you are experiencing positive emotions, such as care, happiness or love, your heart rhythm pattern becomes more ordered and coherent Aguinaga & Callis 2011

7. Computer-assisted biofeedback By observing the change on the screen and associating it with a calm, balanced internal state, you can learn how to self-regulate, manage stress and create and maintain a state of physiological coherence and balance. A person can experiment with different thoughts, feelings, and sensations and get immediate feedbackon the physical effects. Aguinaga & Callis 2011

8. The information is then interpreted and displayed on screen as a real-time graph of changing heart rhythms. You can learn how your attitude affects your heart rhythms and performance. emWave Hardware and Heart rhythms A rugged and reliable ear or finger sensor continuously monitors your pulse and sends the information to the computer .  

9. emWave PC Output Getting In Sync As you make internal shifts, you learn to stabilize your emotions and balance your nervous system. More Coherence = Less Stress & Better Performance

10. The Coherence Coach The Coherence Coach provides instruction on how to do the Quick Coherence™ Technique to improve your coherence scores with emWave PC or PSR.

11. Play the Games Three interactive games engage the students as they learn to master their own physiology and reach the zone of effective learning and performance.

12. Em-Wave can be an asset at almost any level, improving; • Focus and Attention • Emotional Stability • Impulse Control • Anger Management • Motivation to Succeed • Comprehension • Problem solving • Test Scores • (McCraty, 2001 & Friedman, 2000) Primary source: www.heartmath.org Review Sessions Part of the fun of learning is to see individual progress. In this mode, students track their progress overtime as they learn to access their higher thinking skills at the times they need them most.

13. What can we do about stress? emWave Stress System emWave Desktop Aguinaga & Callis 2011

14. Outline of Study • Therapists work with individual residents one-on-one with emWave • My Self-Control Today • All residents can choose to use emWave during free time • – a frequency count is kept Looking at daily behaviors 1) Increased supervision status- eyesight or arms reach for self harm or assault 2) Restraint/Seclusion 3) Staff imposed time away from group (Time Out) 4) Voluntary time away from group (Refocus) 5) Physically striking another person Aguinaga & Callis 2011

15. Results of Past Studies • Staff were asked to rate each individual in the areas of; self-control skills, level of physical aggression, level of verbal aggression, mood stability skills, anger management skills, and social skills. • Most residents improved in level of control for physical aggression. • A majority improved in level of control for verbal aggression. • Many residents improved in all 6 measures. Aguinaga & Callis 2011

16. Improvement in individual behavior • All residents demonstrated increased self-awareness by virtue of a higher number of “refocus” events (self-selected removal from the group as opposed to staff intervention). • Specifically, all increased self-awareness significantly during the intervention phase by 39%, 83%, 100% and 133%, and more. • A majority sustained a higher level of self- awareness as shown by post-intervention compared to pre-intervention. Aguinaga & Callis 2011

17. Project Objectives • Demonstrate the benefits of computer-assisted biofeedback. • Examine individual self-awareness of behaviors and attitudes. • Demonstrate improved individual behavior as measured by existing behavior measures (i.e., number of incidents: restraints, time-out). • Create implementation guides and strategies for staff and individuals for use in the future. Aguinaga & Callis 2011

18. The Southeast Cottonwood Project Increasing possibilities and opportunities: Understanding self-control through the emWave http://cstl.semo.edu/secp/ Aguinaga & Callis 2011

19. Residents: • complete self-report instruments pre and post EWILSP implementation. • learned to use the technology to practice and learn relaxation strategies. • Staff: • complete training in the use of materials and implementation of EWILSP. • implement materials and technology with support of Southeast Missouri State faculty. • provided feedback and collect resident’s performance measures. Aguinaga & Callis 2011

20. Data Collection • resident “locus of control” (Nowicki & Strickland, 1973) and Stress Survey • staff feedback and resident interviews 1) Increased supervision status- eyesight or arms reach for self harm or assault 2) Restraint/Seclusion 3) Staff imposed time away from group (Time Out) 4) Voluntary time away from group (Refocus) 5) Physically striking another person Aguinaga & Callis 2011

21. Project Schedule Weeks 1 - 6    August 1- Sept. 16, 2012 • Baseline routine behavioral data is collected by cottonwood staff • SEMO staff presents to Cottonwood staff and residents regarding stress, relaxation and computer assisted biofeedback. • Staff complete “pre-test” surveys regarding resident behaviors • Residents complete “pre-test” stress survey/questionnaire and Nowicki Weeks 7 - 12    Sept. 17 - Nov. 2, 2012 • Residents begin using emWave in Cottages with therapists (2-3 sessions a week/ 5-15 minutes plus self-control rating) • Cottonwood staff collects routine behavioral data required by facility and forwards to SEMO staff Weeks 13-18 – Nov. 3 - December 14 • SEMO staff meets with residents to collect “post-test” stress surveys and Nowicki plus debriefing • Residents can request emWave in Cottages - a frequency count is kept for each student • Cottonwood staff collects routine behavioral data required by facility and forwards to SEMO staff • January 2013– Begin data analysis • February- Provide findings to Cottonwood Aguinaga & Callis 2011

22. Thank You! Aguinaga & Callis 2011