Special Issue: Remembering and Honoring Thomas H. Budzynski

Abstract

The cover of this Winter 2011 issue of Biofeedback shows a photo of Thomas H. Budzynski, a pioneer in both biofeedback and neurofeedback. Tom died February 14, 2011, at the age of 77. Tom was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1933 and initially pursued a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Detroit. His early engineering career involved cutting-edge aerospace work for Honeywell, including his role in developing the inertial guidance system for the Blackbird spy plane. Fortunately for the field of biofeedback, Tom pursued new directions in the late 1960s, and brought his engineering acumen into the field of psychology. Tom earned a PhD in psychology at the University of Colorado, and the rest is biofeedback history.Tom Budzynski was a pioneer from his graduate student days onward. He produced a prototype surface electromyography biofeedback device, which served as the focus of his doctoral dissertation and his first publication with Johann Stoyva (Budzynski, 1969; Budzynski & Stoyva, 1969). In collaboration with Johann Stoyva and Charles Adler, he developed a protocol for headache treatment (Budzynski, Stoyva, & Adler, 1970). He pioneered many areas of neurofeedback as well. In this special issue, Tom's widow and several close friends and colleagues recall his personality, wit, and gift for pursuing the furthest edge in biofeedback technology and applications.This professional issues section presents an article by Fred Shaffer and Judy Crawford on “savvy marketing strategies” for Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA) certificants. The authors report increased consumer interest in biofeedback and neurofeedback services, an increase in enrollment in BCIA accredited training programs, and an increase in applications for BCIA's three certification programs. They describe a series of strategies that some BCIA certified biofeedback practitioners are following to promote both their practices and the field of biofeedback.This special issue opens with an article by Tom Budzynski's co-researcher and widow, Helen Kogan Budzynski. Helen narrates Tom's activities in biofeedback during each decade of his professional life: from the 1960s and graduate school; the 1970s during which his electromyographic biofeedback device went into commercial production and during which he introduced the twilight learning process; the 1980s when he began his work with photic and auditory stimulation; the 1990s during which he extended his research on sound and light stimulation into new applications.Next, three of Tom's closest collaborators, Johann Stoyva, Kirk Peffer, and John Picciottino, each share memories of their friendship with Tom, as well as observations of his greatest contributions to biofeedback instrumentation and biofeedback practice principles. Tom combined the gifts of an innovative engineer and inventor, with the business acumen to manufacture and market both biofeedback equipment and therapeutic audio programs, and the curiosity of a scientist intent on understanding the human brain, the human energy field, and the principles of feedback learning.Niels Bierbaumer describes his initial 1971 encounter with Tom's work through an unpublished paper by Tom Budzynski and Johann Stoyva, and the lifelong friendship and collaboration which followed. He honors Tom especially for conceptualizing a psychophysiological foundation for psychotherapy, for developing one of the first useable neurofeedback devices, and for his twilight learning protocol.Tom Allen tells the story of his friendship with Tom, and emphasizes Tom's use of storytelling as a therapeutic tool. He expresses gratitude to Tom for mentoring him in his early work developing the Windows-based Biograph™ software system for multi-modal biofeedback, and for unflagging support throughout the years of their friendship.Robert Austin narrates the two decades of his friendship and collaboration with Tom, including Tom's two years as Director of Research for Austin's company, Synchromed, LLC. He describes Tom's scientific investigation of sound and light stimulation systems, as well as his use of such devices in a clinical context. He also mentioned Tom's “Hemifield” project, and his development of subliminal audio techniques.Richard Williams relates his own experiences with a “guy named Tom.” Williams honors Tom especially for his work on aging and regeneration in the Ponce de Leon Project, and his “brain brightening project.”This issue also includes an essay written by Tom Budzynski, Twilight Learning Revisited, in which he reviews the scientific background from which he developed the twilight learning protocol. He discusses the protocol and compares it to Eugene Peniston's protocol, which was developed for the neurofeedback treatment of substance abuse. This essay is published here with the permission of FutureHealth, which originally included this essay in an e-book. (Our thanks to Rob Kall of FutureHealth.)We also provide a bibliography of the published works of Tom Budzynski. This bibliography is based on Tom's own records, with edits by Helen Budzynski and Donald Moss.