Cardiac Intervention Program

    CEPD Psychological Services provides individual, group, family, child and couples therapy for cardiac patients whose stress, job, family and marital conficts interfere with medical treatment. Our health psychology program helps patients to realize the importance of the mind-body connection and how personal problems can exacerbate cardiac problems.

Program Elements for Cardiac Patients

1. Learning about the mind-body connection and the stress response
• Learn how stress response can affect physical and mental state
• Learn how high, uncontrolled stress can exacerbate physical and mental problems and weaken your immunological system
2. Learning the relaxation response
• Deep breathing, respiratory training
• Calm scene
• Meditation
• Deep muscle relaxation
3. Learning to transfer relaxation resonse to real life situations
• Learning mini-relaxation exercises
• Taking short relaxation breaks throughout the day
4. Identifying and learning to manage states of over arousal through traditional and EEG biofeedback
• Learning to reduce sympathetic over arousal through the use of biofeedback hard warming techniques
• Learning to reduce muscle tension and tightness through use of electromyography biofeedback
• Learning to increase alpha brainwave activity using EEG biofeedback
5. Identifying individual stressors
• Home
• Work
• Family
6. Developing strategies to cope with stressors
• Involving family members when necessary
• Learning thinking and coping strategies to reduce effects of stress
7. Helping patients to comply with dietary and exercise requirements as prescribed by cardiologist