Skills Not Pills: Integrative Biofeedback for Pain, Anxiety, and Well-Being
Erik Peper, PhD
1-day workshop
Date: March 25, 2026
Workshop Title
Skills Not Pills: Integrative Biofeedback for Pain, Anxiety, and Well-Being
Workshop Description
Learn pragmatic, evidence-informed biofeedback-based techniques to reduce anxiety, pain, dysmenorrhea, neck and shoulder tension, headaches, acne, hypertnsion, and gastrointestinal distress as well as improving mental clarity, focus, and a subjective sense of energy and vitality.
This experiential workshop integrates somatic awareness practices with breathing retraining, EMG and posture biofeedback, cognitive reframing, and guided imagery rehearsal. Participants will also explore simple yet powerful dietary and lifestyle strategies that support optimal physiological regulation and emotional balance. Drawing on more than four decades of research and teaching, these approaches have been successfully taught to thousands of students and clients, many of whom report significant reductions in symptoms and improved well-being.
The interactive format emphasizes self-exploration and hands-on practice. Participants will gain direct experience using these methods and receive practical guidance on how to apply and adapt them in both personal and professional settings — including clinical practice, coaching, education, and wellness programs. By the end of the workshop, attendees will have a deeper understanding of the mind-body connection and a set of immediately applicable tools for reducing stress and enhancing resilience in daily life.
Learning Objectives
1) Apply biofeedback and self-regulation techniques such asg electromyographic (EMG), postural, and respiratory feedback methods o reduce anxiety, pain, muscle tension, hyperstion, dysmenorrhea, headaches, and gastrointestinal distress.
2) Apply cognitive reframing and guided imagery methodologies to enhance attentional control, emotional regulation, and perceived energy and vitality.
3) Integrate dietary and lifestyle strategies that support optimal physiological regulation, stress resilience, and mental clarity.
4) Adapt biofeedback-based mind-body interventions for implementation in personal self-care, clinical, coaching, educational, and wellness settings, ensuring evidence-based and contextually appropriate practice.
About Erik Peper
Erik Peper is an internationally known expert on holistic health, stress management, and biofeedback. He is a professor at San Francisco State University, where he was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, the first holistic health program at a public university in the U.S. He is president of the Biofeedback Federation of Europe (BFE), former president of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology (AAPB), and has a biofeedback practice in Berkeley, CA at BiofeedbackHealth. He is an author of numerous scientific articles and books such as Make Health Happen, Fighting Cancer-A Nontoxic Approach to Treatment, and Biofeedback Mastery. He publishes the blog, the peper perspective-ideas on illness, health and well-being (www.peperperspective.com). His research interests focus on self-healing strategies to optimize health, illness prevention, optimizing respiration and posture, and self-mastery with biofeedback.
