PRESENTATIONS
Scientific Presentations about Clinical Floatation Research
2022
Our shot at the stars: Launching the Float Research Collective
In the summer of 2022, the Float Research Collective (FRC) was officially formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its mission is to establish worldwide acceptance for Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) as a treatment to naturally relieve pain, stress, anxiety and other related conditions. In this 2022 Float Conference presentation, the FRC President and Director, Dr. Justin Feinstein, unveils how the FRC will achieve this moonshot mission of getting floating accepted as a medical treatment, including a groundbreaking set of studies directly comparing Floatation-REST to the gold standard medical treatments for the rapid reduction of anxiety and pain, namely benzodiazepines and opioids.
Highly addictive drugs like Xanax (a benzo) and OxyContin (an opioid) have killed over 1 million Americans since the turn of the millennium due to drug overdoses.
Millions more are physiologically addicted to these prescription medications and unable to stop taking them without severe and often life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. In essence, our medical system has tried to medicate away society’s most ubiquitous forms of suffering using what has proven to be the most addictive substances on Earth. The FRC is challenging this whole backwards mentality that the only way to quickly relieve suffering is by popping a pill. The scientific research documenting floating’s rapid relief of both anxiety and pain provides a strong initial evidence base for pursuing these head-to-head clinical trials.
2020
The Amazing Thing That Happens When You Disconnect
In this TED talk, Dr. Justin Feinstein
shares how float therapy can help disconnect the nervous system from life's constant stream of stimulation, and in the process help individuals reconnect to themselves, especially those who suffer from stress and anxiety. Dr. Feinstein is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Director of the Float Clinic and Research Center at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. His laboratory investigates the effects of Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) on both the body and the brain, while also exploring its potential as a therapeutic treatment for promoting mental health and healing in patients who suffer from anxiety and stress-related disorders.
The Brain at REST, Dr. Justin Feinstein | 2020 Float Conference
Dr. Feinstein presents new float-fMRI analyses showing how floating alters resting state functional connectivity within the brain.
The data presented has been published in a peer-reviewed journal and can be found in the publications section of the site.
2019
Establishing a science of Floatation-REST
Dr. Feinstein is Director of the Float Clinic and Research Center (FCRC) at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. The FCRC’s mission is to investigate the effects of Floatation-REST on both body and brain, as well as explore its potential as a therapeutic treatment for promoting mental health and healing in patients who suffer from anxiety.
In this 2019 Float Conference presentation, Dr. Feinstein shares his perspective on how to best establish an evidence base for the clinical benefits of floating.
Floating to Victory: Flotation-REST for Athletic Recovery
Dr. Matt Driller travelled all the way to Denver, CO for the 2019 Float Conference from the University of Waikato in New Zealand. In this presentation, he shares data from not one, but two studies of Flotation-REST used for recovery of athletes.
The data presented has been published in a peer-reviewed journal and can be found in the publications
section of the site.
Float Research and Applications for Athletes & Military
Dr. Josh Hagen from the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University where he researches benefits and applications of Float Therapy for a variety of populations. His talk at the 2019 Float Conference focuses on military and athletes as they incorporate Float Therapy into their recovery and optimization programs.
Development of Data-Collecting Tools for Float Research
The Research and Development of a Hand Dynamometer in a Novel Research Environment William Schoenhals was the first engineering intern to join the Float Clinic & Research Center (FCRC), where he helped to design and develop novel ways of collecting biometric data on research subjects while they float.
2018
Float Away Anxiety
Dr. Justin Feinstein, director of the Float Clinic & Research Center (FCRC) at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR).
In this presentation from the 2018 Float Conference, Dr. Feinstein discusses how floating can desensitize the anxious nervous system, including in patients with PTSD, Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Social Phobia, and Generalized Anxiety.
The data presented has recently been published in several peer-reviewed journals and can be found in the publications
section of the site.
Floating and the Immune System
M.C.Flux is a researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder, he has been studying the mechanisms involved in the immune system. In this talk from the 2018 Float Conference, Flux breaks down the biochemical process that happens as we enter the fight or flight stage and how it triggers an immune response. He also presents some of the first data showing how floating might have an impact on this process.
2017
Floating with Anxiety/PTSD/ Depression
Dr. Justin Feinstein, director of the Float Clinic & Research Center (FCRC) at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR). The FCRC’s mission is to investigate the effects of Floatation-REST on both body and brain, as well as explore its potential as a therapeutic treatment for promoting mental health and healing.
Float Conference 2017
(released in 2018)
Effects of floating on people with anorexia nervosa
Sahib Khalsa
presents his findings from a safety study conducted in their lab testing the effects of floating on people with anorexia nervosa.
Lydia Caldwell - Enhancing human performance and recovery research.
Lydia Caldwell is a researcher for Ohio State University, and has worked with the Air Force Research Lab in collaboration with their STRONG program, a program focused on enhancing human performance and recovery, conducted through the 711th Human Performance Wing.
They have recently started to incorporate float tanks into their research, and Lydia speaks at the 2017 Float Conference to discuss the program and the results it has shown so far.
2016
Results from the first fMRI study ever done on floatation.
Justin Feinstein
is the head researcher of the Float Clinic and Research Center, a state of the art floatation research facility housed in the Laureate Institute for Brain Research.
Floating's effect on increasing interoception.
Sahib Khalsa
presents new data showing floating's effect on increasing interoception, the brain's sense of the internal body. He also shows some early information from a study on floating and anorexia that is currently underway at LIBR
The Float Clinic and Research Center design at LIBR
In 2013 Colin Stanwell-Smith
was asked to make custom float tanks for the Float Clinic and Research Center, a state of the art float research facility that is part of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. Colin presents on the custom requirements the research center needed for their tanks, and some of the ways he went about developing them.
Devices and sensors LIBR use to take physiological measurements while people are floating
Colleen Wohlrab is the lab manager at Justin Feinstein's
Float Clinic and Research Center, LIBR. Colleen discusses the different devices and sensors they use to take physiological measurements while people are floating, and presents some of the initial data they've gathered from them.
Wireless and waterproof EEG sensors used at LIBR
Ricardo Gil-da-Costa is the founder of Neuroverse, a company that makes a wireless and waterproof EEG sensor that is being used for float research at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research.
Ricardo speaks on experiments they've done with EEG brainwaves in the past, and reveals the first EEG data collected from someone floating at the float research facility in the Laureate Institute.
The Float Research Panel
The top researchers in floatation got together at the 2016 Float Conference for a research panel.
2014
FLOAT CLINIC Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR)
Dr. Justin Feinstein
speaks at the 2014 Float Conference about his new float research lab in Tulsa Oklahoma, the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR).
Tom Fine explaining his past research and what he hopes for in the future of REST research.
Tom Fine is one of the original float researchers, spending many years studying REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy).
Tom, along with his colleague John Turner, is responsible for the data we have on floating's effect on Cortisol levels in the body.
2013
The potential of float tanks in combating anxiety
Justin Feinstein, a clinical neuropsychologist and researcher at California Institute of Technology, discusses the potential of float tanks in combating anxiety. In this interesting talk, he delves into the mentality of anxiety: its causes, its presence in modern society, and its unfortunate effects. With his experience treating patients, and his experiences of floating.
Dr. Borrie discusses his views on the potential clinical applications of floatation-REST
Rod Borrie is one of original researchers of floatation tanks and REST, even coining the very term REST itself.
Dr. Borrie discusses his views on the potential clinical applications of floatation, and the future it can have as a potent tool in the field of medical care.
Arreed Barabasz. Researcher in Floatation-REST for several decades, discusses his work.
Arreed Barabasz is one of the foremost float tank researchers. He's been doing research with REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy) for several decades, and is responsible for a large body of float research that exists today.
He is also a past president of IRIS, the old REST research association, and a significant contributor to the world of hypnosis research.
He was at the 2013 Float Conference speaking on his original REST research, his work in Antarctica, and his experiments with dry floatation.
