Instructor

At home learning format based on audiovisual lectures, readings, and both live and email interactions with the instructor. You can start anytime up to three months after purchasing the course and can work with the instructor for up to one year after the purchase date when the course expires. This course meets the requirements for BCIA’s certificate in heart rate variability (HRV). It emphasizes methods for evaluation and modification of autonomic quieting through heart rate variability training. Topics covered include (1) Cardiac anatomy and physiology, (2) Respiratory anatomy and physiology, (3) Autonomic nervous system anatomy and physiology, and (4) Heart rate variability psychophysiology, instrumentation, measurement, biofeedback strategies and applications.

You will learn by watching audiovisual lectures provided on the course web, reading assignments both from materials provided, watching a movie, and interacting extensively with the instructor via e-mail. You will answer short essay questions rather than taking exams. Previous students have required between 20 and 35 hours of work to complete this course. There are no prerequisites for this course but having previously taken a course in anatomy and physiology makes the material in this course easier to understand and relate to the rest of the body’s functions.

Have knowledge of each topic (listed below) required to earn the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance’s (BCIA’s) certificate in Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback.

Understand how basic cardiac anatomy and physiology (A&P) relate to HRV.

Be able to determine your own resonance frequency and calculate it for others.

Have sufficient knowledge of respiratory A&P to relate it to HEV.

Understand how the autonomic nervous system’s A&P cause changes in organ system functioning.

Be able to use standard biofeedback instruments to measure, assess, and feedback HRV.

Be able to train people to change their HRV through biofeedback.

Review Syllabus: View Now

To take this course you must have access to a biofeedback system capable of measuring respiration and HR simultaneously, with an on-line spectral analysis display of some sort. Acceptable systems include J&J, Thought Technology, Nexus, and Biocomp. If you have a different system, contact the instructor prior to purchasing the course. The HeartMath and Stress Eraser devices are not sufficient, nor are various smart phone applications, although all of these can be used clinically.

To take this course you must have access to a biofeedback system capable of measuring respiration and HR simultaneously, with an on-line spectral analysis display of some sort. Acceptable systems include J&J, Thought Technology, Nexus, and Biocomp. If you have a different system, contact the instructor prior to purchasing the course. The HeartMath and Stress Eraser devices are not sufficient, nor are various smart phone applications, although all of these can be used clinically.

50 CE credits.

The Behavioral Medicine Research and Training Foundation is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Behavioral Medicine R&T Foundation maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

There is one year to complete the course. You must begin the course within six months of the purchase date and complete it within one year of the purchase date. Courses not completed by that time are void and must be repurchased if still available.

No refunds are provided for courses not completed within one year of purchase.