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Skin ConductanceWhat is it?Skin Conductance is a measure of a person's overall stress level. It is mainly used to teach people to relax. It is also called GSR or EDR. How do you do it?An instrument is used to measure the skin conductance. Small sensors are attached to two finger tips with velcro bands. Within a few seconds the instrument will begin responding to the person's stress level and will indicate changes in stress.The person can learn to relax by geting the reading to go down, the lower the reading the more relaxed you are. The instrument is giving positive feedback that you are really relaxing. Getting the reading down can be hard at first as what is different for each person. Some people can just "think" the reading down others need to think about something relaxing. Regular practice makes it easier to do and helps reduce the stress level and keep the level down even when not practicing. It needs at least 20 min. once a day, twice a day is better It works in exactly the same way a lie detector works, a lie detector detects the stress caused by telling a lie. By learning to lower the readings a person learns to relax. This is very effective as the person can tell from the instrument if they are relaxing and any doubt that they are relaxing correctly is removed. This type of general relaxation training is used to treat general stress, phobias and is often used with EMG to treat tension headaches, teeth grinding, stuttering andsome digestive problems. Low cost instruments are available that allow you to learn this skill when and where you choose. As little as 20 min a day will help to reduce stress and if done daily will keep your stress level down What is it used for?Skin conductance training is an effective way of learning relaxation. The conductance varies rapidly with changes in stress levels and is therefore useful in identifying the cause of high stress. It is very easy to show the min-body connection, just think about something stressful while connected to the instrument and you will see a rapid increase in the measurement. It is used for treating anxiety, phobias and in conjunction with other Biofeedback techniques for Asthma, Stuttering, Bruxism and Tinitus. It can also be used in Hypnosis, see our Hypnosis page for more informationWhat equipment do I need?An instrument that measures skin conductance is required. These vary from small low cost sound only modelsthrough to one with sound and a meter and on to ones with bargraphs and to full computer based systems. The lower cost instruments provide only a relative measure. They indicate changes in skin conductance during the time they are connected but are not calibrated and do not give a change from session to session. The more expensive instruments give absolute readings so that for example last weeks results can be compared with this weeks readings. Most computer based systems allow you to save results.
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