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2013-08-17, Portland, OR1

The Swedish Floatation AssociationAnu EnokMember of the boardCatharina JakobssonDirector of the SFA

Hi everybody! This year we are with you, without being with you. Greetings from the tiny little country far up in the north where its mostly cold and dark. But right now I believe we have as much sun and warmth as you have in Portland. Its wonderful.The following is a short report about the main work we are doing right now as an association. For those of you who werent at the conference last year, well start with a short summary. 1was founded in Stockholm on January 27, 20082013-08-17, Portland, OR2

The Swedish Floatation AssociationThe Swedish Floatation Association was founded in Stockholm on January 27, 2008.2Our final goal2013-08-17, Portland, OR3 To integrate floatation therapy into the national health care system

From the very beginning we all agreed on our final goal to try to integrate floatation therapy into the national health care system! Its a tough goal. But, knowing the potential of floating, its well worth all our effort.3Three main steps 2013-08-17, Portland, OR4The National Board of Health and WelfareGovernment Commission for Medical EvaluationCounty Councils

We have to pass at least three obstacles. One of them is already accomplished The national Board of Health and Welfare have authorized Floatation REST as a method of medical treatment. The next obstacle to overcome is the government commission for medical evaluation. Very simply put,you can say that this commission works with comparing different methods in curing special diseases. It works like this: we ask them to compare ordinary treatment for lumbago for example with treatment with floatation REST. If they find this request interesting, they will do their own research and hopefully the result will be favorable for floatation. In that case, this information will be widely spread among doctors, all kinds of health centers, hospitals you name it.If we can accomplish this, we have reached our goal!!!BUT - To succeed with that, we need to be educated and certificated. Therefore we have started the worlds first educational program for tank centers. Education is definitely our priority. Its the key that will unlock a lot of doors for the future. 4The online course 2013-08-17, Portland, OR5The first in the worldFundamental knowledge about human influenceSupplementary trainingThe influence of the brain and bodyCertification

The online course is the first floatation course in the world that will lead to a personal certification. The producers of the course are professor Trevor Archer of Gothenburg university, and subject teacher Anders Hedn of the Linnuniversity of Kalmar. Professor Archer has more than 25 years of experience in researching (among other things) reasons for ill-health, rehabilitation, and motor and psychological achievements. Subject teacher Anders Hedn holds a diploma as mental trainer. He has been working for 30 years with mental influence- and the learning processes. Together they have been working for seven years on the effects of different influences on our health and behaviour. Weve made the course web based, so you can study from home whenever you have the time and energy, and it will cover everything from history to current knowledge, including:1 Fundamental knowledge about human influence 2 Supplementary training 3 The influence of the brain and body 4 Certification We are still working on the program, as we have had a lot of both technical hurdles and discussions about the academic level of the course. Anyhow, were now past the main difficulties, and the project is starting to speed up. We have also discussed whether we should make this course available in English. We decided to take a survey from you to see if there is enough interest for us to pursue this. You will find a form on the Float Conference website that you can fill out if youre interested in seeing this course translated into English.5Support for the researchers2013-08-17, Portland, OR6A new study will start later this year in Karlstad Trying to contribute publication of an articleContact info for float researchers: Anette.Kjellgren@kau.se

We also have some exciting news: our researchers have been granted a significant amount of money from the County Council in Vrmland for new float tank research. Enough money for a PhD-candidate to work for four years. The studies will be about GAD, generalized anxiety disorder, together with the non-institutional care and other county council clinics. The treatments will hopefully start in october as soon as the sanction of ethics is granted. Our researchers have also established collaboration with Hannover medical school in Germany and the faculty of medicine in Wien, Austria.They might also create studies with longer float sessions, and also look into finding special groups of patients that will get extra benefits from floating. The Swedish Floatation Association will be working with the researchers on this. We are also working on sharing one of the float tank studies from the Karlstad University with all of you.And we have a special message to share from Anette Kjellgren, one of our researchers here. She is very interested in co-operating with other float researchers around the world, and would be happy to be contacted. Her contact info is here, and will also be on the float conference web site. Anette.Kjellgren@kau.se Of course we will also continue our work with marketing, with our website and all of our other projects, but we consider our work with education and research to be the most important. 6

The End We are sorry we couldnt be with you this year

2013-08-17, Portland, OR7

We are sorry we couldnt be with you this year. We had a great time in Portland last year. We wish you a wonderful stay, enjoying life and the inspiring feeling you get while together with so many great floating people, not to mention the local beer!! :-)7