The Benefits of Biofeedback

The point is to regulate the body's stress response.

Evidence is stronger, Andrasik says, that biofeedback helps with non-stress-related conditions like chronic constipation and urinary incontinencee, where it's used to retrain the muscles involved in waste elimination. A newer technique called neurofeedback, which uses scalp sensors to measure brain waves, appears promising for helping restore normal brain wave function disrupted by head injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and severe migraines.

The biggest caveat for many people will be lack of insurance coverage. While Aetna and Kaiser Permanente cover biofeedback for certain stress-related conditions, many companies don't. The Neurotherapy Center's five-session treatment plan for stress costs about $500; Janelle's 20 sessions—typical for migraine patients—cost her $2,000 out of pocket.

If you proceed, be sure your practitioner is certified by the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America, since anyone can hang out a shingle; typically, certified practitioners are also licensed psychologists. Realize, too, that long-term success often rests, literally, in the hands of the patient. Psychologist Deborah Stokes, who practices biofeedback in Alexandria, Va., tells her patients to practice warming their hands—using a $20 home device from Bio-Medical Instruments—for 20 minutes a night between sessions. Janelle says she still occasionally practices the techniques she learned and called on them during childbirth. "It really helped me focus," she says. "I was able to give birth without an epidural."