Concept and Objectives:

Course Overview:

This course provides a basic understanding of urological, gastrointestinal, and pelvic floor structures, functions, and dysfunctions.   It includes the common disorders associated with pelvic floor dysfunction. It provides basic information on the assessment and treatment of these disorders. 

 This home study program satisfies the didactic education requirements for The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance for board certification and recertification in Biofeedback for Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction. Eligibility for PMDB certification is limited to persons who are appropriately licensed/credentialed at the state or national level to practice in a healthcare field such as medicine, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and physician’s assistant. 

Course Objectives:

• Provide clinicians with an understanding of pelvic floor anatomy and function.
• Introduce common pelvic floor disorders, including elimination disorders and pelvic pain syndromes.
• Understand methods of assessment of urologic, bowel related, and pelvic pain symptoms
• Identify behavioral treatment interventions for pelvic floor disorders.
• Understand the principles of applied psychophysiology and biofeedback as applied to the pelvic floor.
• Cover the application of surface EMG biofeedback for assessment and treatment of the pelvic floor.
• Review the ethical considerations in performing behavioral assessments and interventions of pelvic floor disorders. Upon completion, participants will be able to:
• Explain the functions and dysfunctions of the pelvic floor.
• Identify the types of urinary incontinence, bowel dysfunctions, and pelvic pain syndromes as well as the behavioral treatment options.
• Understand the application of sEMG biofeedback in the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction.
• Develop a treatment plan and goals.
• Perform an assessment of the pelvic floor and other relevant muscles using biofeedback equipment.

Required Textbooks:
Therapeutic Management of Incontinence and Pelvic Pain, Second Edition (2008).  Edited by Jeanette Haslam and Jo Laycock
Biofeedback, A Practitioner’s Guide, Fourth Edition (2016).  Edited by Mark S. Schwartz and Frank Andrasik

It’s No Accident:  Breakthrough Solutions to Your Child’s Wetting, Constipation, UTIs, and Other Potty Problems (2012).  By Steve J. Hodges, MD.
Other Required Readings (Included with the course):
The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance Professional Standards and Ethical Principles of Biofeedback
Rao, S. S., Bharucha, A. E., Chiarioni, G., Felt-Bersma, R., Knowles, C., Malcolm, A., & Wald, A. (2016). Anorectal disorders. Gastroenterology, 150(6), 1430-1442.
sEMG Electrode Sites Diagrams (Thought Technology Ltd)

DISCLAIMER:Completion of this continuing education course is strictly for educational / informational purposes and does not imply competency, proficiency, and/or experience. The course completion certificate is not a clinical certification nor a license to practice.
Additional hands-on experience is recommended.  You may wish to contact the Foundation or the BCIA for information about hands-on training.

Administrative Information

Format:
Self-paced home study through a series of audiovisual lectures.  Reading assignments accompany each lecture. Following each lecture, you will answer the review questions and submit the answers to the instructor via email.  Feedback will be provided. Additional questions can be directed to the instructor via email or phone.

Schedule:
The course is self-paced, but must be completed within one year of purchase.

Duration of course validity:

You must begin the course within six months of the purchase date and complete it within one year of the purchase date. Courses not completed by that time are void and must be repurchased if still available. No refunds are provided for courses not completed within one year of purchase.

Payment, refund, scholarship, and cancellation policies:

Full payment for each course is required before access to the course is provided. Payment is by credit card through our secure ordering section or by check in US dollars made out to the Foundation and sent to the address below.  A full refund can be provided prior to receiving the course materials. No refunds are available after getting access to the course materials.

Scholarships:
The Foundation gives scholarships consisting of 25% off the cost of a course to (a) students and professionals from emerging nations and (b) full time graduate students in developed nations.

Faculty:

 Richard A. Sherman received his doctorate in psychobiology from New York University in 1973. He has accrued over fifty years of experience teaching and performing research and clinical work in behavioral medicine and related fields. Much of this work was accomplished during his 22 years in the US Army from which he retired as a lieutenant colonel in the medical department. Dr. Sherman is recognized as a superb teacher and has given courses at virtually all levels of adult education including numerous undergraduate, medical resident, and graduate school courses as well as continuing education courses for clinical professionals in both on-site and distance based formats.  Dr. Sherman is best known for his work elucidating mechanisms and treatments for phantom limb pain, temporal relationships between changes in muscle tension and pain, and environmental studies on mechanisms of and behavioral treatments for headaches, low back pain, and urinary incontinence. This work has resulted in over 150 articles (mostly in peer reviewed journals) and several books for both professionals and patients. His research has been supported by numerous private foundations, for-profit organizations, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the National Institutes of Health. He has been president of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback twice. He founded the Behavioral Medicine Research and Training Foundation in 2000 and is currently its director. He developed the psychophysiology doctoral program in 2000 and moved it to Saybrook University where he is currently full time faculty in the Department of Psychophysiology. His most recent book “Applied Psychophysiological Research” was published in 2022.L

Prerequisites & professional training requirements:

You should have had undergraduate courses in general biology and general psychology prior to taking this course. If you haven’t had them, contact us before registering. You will do much better in the course if you have already taken our “introduction to psychophysiology” and “Anatomy and Physiology for Behavioral Clinicians” courses. This course is intended for licensed / certified clinicians. None of the instructional material offered will provide you with the clinical skills needed to apply the psychophysiological assessment and interventional techniques you will learn in the clinical environment unless you are already a trained clinician.

Schedule:

There is one year to complete the course. Just contact us at admin@behavmedfoundation.org to get started.

Duration of course validity:

There is one year to complete the course. Courses not completed by that time are void and must be repurchased if still available. No refunds are provided for courses not completed within one year of purchase.

CE Credit:

These are continuing education, not university accredited, courses. The Behavioral Medicine R&T Foundation is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Behavioral Medicine R&T Foundation maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

BCIA:

This home study program satisfies the didactic education requirements for The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance for board certification and recertification in Biofeedback for Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction.   

Payment, Refund, Scholarship, and cancellation policies:  

Full payment for each course is required before access to the course is provided. Payment is by credit card though our web site’s secure ordering section or by check in US dollars made out to the Foundation and sent to the address below. Full refund will be made until students are given access to the course materials. After getting access to the course materials there is no refund at all as the Foundation has committed its resources to you and you have access to all of the course materials. A course would only be cancelled due to an extreme emergency on the part of the course instructor or the Foundation. In the highly unlikely event a course is cancelled, you would receive a full refund.

Scholarships: 

The Foundation gives scholarships consisting of 25% off the cost of the course(s) to (a) students and professionals (e.g. clinicians, coaches, teachers) from emerging nations and (b) full time graduate students in developed nations.

Course updates:

Updates to all courses are placed on the course web site as they are made. Students are informed when updates are available. 

Questions / further information?

Contact Dr. Richard Sherman (director of the psychophysiology CE and doctoral programs) at admin@behavmedfoundation.org or 1.800.530.6658.

Administrative Information

Conflict of Interest: Neither the Behavioral Medicine Research & Training Foundation, its staff, nor the course instructor have any conflict of interest involving materials presented in this course.

Student comments about the courses and instructors:

Students who wish to comment about the courses and instructors other than through the “end of course” evaluations may wish to use the Foundation’s account at the anonymous comment submission site Incogneato (www.incognea.to). When a student submits a comment to our account (https://ansr.me/VWv70) on the site, there is no way for us to know who sent the comment unless the student provides an email. Students are always welcome to submit comments to this site. We take them very seriously.

Students who wish to make a formal complaint about a course or instructor can do so by following the Foundation’s grievance process which is detailed in the document by that name. Students can request the document from the program’s administrator by emailing admin@behavmedfourndation.org.