Behav Med Foundation – Heart-Rate Variability Home Study Course

Concept:

The at-home learning format is based on audiovisual lectures and readings. There are also live and email communications with the instructor. You can begin the course anytime within three months of purchasing it. The instructor can continue to assist you for up to one-year after the expiration date. This course meets the requirements for BCIA’s certificate in heart rate variability (HRV). This course focuses on methods to modify and evaluate autonomic quieting by heart rate variability training. The topics covered are (1) Cardiac anatomy, (2) Respiratory anatomy, (3) Autonomic nervous systems anatomy, physiology and (4) Heart beat variability psychophysiology and instrumentation, measurement and biofeedback strategies and their applications.

The course web provides audiovisual lectures, assignments and reading materials. You can interact with the instructor via email.-Mail or phone, if desired. Short essay questions will be answered, not exams. This course required approximately 20 to 35 hours of work from previous students. 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.

Specific Course You should be able:     

1. Have knowledge of each topic (listed below) required to earn the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance’s (BCIA’s) certificate in Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback.
2.  Understand how basic cardiac anatomy and physiology (A&P) relate to HRV.
3. Learn how to calculate the resonance frequency of your own body and for others.
4. Have sufficient knowledge of respiratory A&P to relate it to HEV.
5. Understand how the autonomic nervous system’s A&P cause changes in organ system functioning.
6. You will be able to use standard biofeedback tools to assess, measure, and provide feedback on HRV.
7. You will be able to teach people how to improve their HRV using biofeedback.

Format:

Home Study supported by e-Each unit will be followed up with a mail chat. Each unit is based on an organ system. As you progress through each unit, you will first watch an audiovisual lecture about an organ system on the course site. Then, you will need to read one or two chapters in the required text file, book or course web site, and if possible, one or more optional books. After viewing the lecture, and having read the assigned material you will answer a short series of questions found in the review question folder on the course website. Answered questions will then be emailed.-You will be mailed to the instructor. The instructor and you will discuss each unit via email.-Once your answers have been evaluated, you can contact us by mail or telephone. You do not have to wait for the discussion to proceed to the succeeding lecture & chapters. You are welcome to talk with the instructor about topics related to biofeedback and the course. The course fee does not include the cost of the text materials.

Accessibility: People with hearing impairments can only view the slides because virtually all the material in the lectures has been typed onto them. People with visual impairments can focus on the verbal lectures, as each slide’s slide material is repeated in the accompanying lecture.

Equipment required

You will need to have access a biofeedback system that can simultaneously measure respiration and HR.-Some type of line spectral display is possible.  Acceptable systems include J&J, Thought Technology, Nexus, and Biocomp. Before purchasing the course, please contact the instructor if your system is not listed. While the HeartMath, Stress Eraser, and Stress Eraser are not sufficient, many other smart phone applications can be used clinically.

Computer and Computer Knowledge Requirements

Anyone who has a modern computer, basic computer knowledge and is able to send email (at the level of being capable of sending it).-This course can be accessed via email (emails) with little difficulty. You must have a computer (a) capable of connecting to the internet and running a typical internet program, (b) containing/running a modern word processor such as Microsoft word or Word Perfect, (c) the capability to play sounds such as music (has speakers and appropriate software which normally come with any modern computer), and (d) a slide viewing program such as Power Point (you can probably get a slide viewing program free off the internet if you don’t have one). You should be able this on any modern computer built in the last ten-years, including an IBM style computer that runs Windows 98 or a newer platform (e.g. Windows XP, Windows 8) These computers are not limited by their speed, hard drive size, RAM, or RAM.

Download Haled immediately Behav Med Foundation – Heart-Rate Variability Home Study Course

Hundreds of students have used Apple products (MACs, etc.) in recent years. You can find the Foundation’s courses. They often have greater difficulty with the course materials than PC users. You can use a MAC computer type to access the course materials. Must have the most current version “quicktime”. You can get it free of charge from the internet if you don’t have it.

Faculty:

Dr. Paul M. Lehrer (Ph.D.) will be the instructor. Dr. Paul M. Lehrer, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry in the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He has published many studies, many of them establishing the basic principles of HRV. He has been president of the field’s professional organization – The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB) – and currently chairs its sister research support organization. The course website has a full CV.

Topic Outline

I. Cardiac Anatomy & Physiology (1 hour)

A. How the ECG is generated

B. B.

C. Heart-Brain interaction

II. Respiratory Anatomy & Physiology (1 hour)

A. The functions of breathing

B. B.

C. Muscle involvement during breathing

D. The Bohr Effect

E. Functional and non-functional breathing behaviors

III. Autonomic Nervous System Anatomy & Physiology (.5 hour)

A. A.

B. B.

IV. IV. Variability (2 hours)

A. A.

B. B.

C. Factors that Influence HRV

D. Correlates for low and normal HRV

E. The benefits of higher HRV

V. HRV instrumentation (3 hours).

A. Blood volume pulse (BVP)

(1. Source, 2. Source, 2. Signal, 4. Placements, 5. Tracking test, & 6. Artifacts)

B. B.

(1. Source, 2. ECG sensor, 4. Signal, 4. Placements – 5. Tracking test, & 6. Artifacts)

C. Pneumograph

(1. Source, 2. sensor, 3. Signal, 4. Placements, 5. Tracking test, & 6. Artifacts)

VI. HRV Measurements (2 Hours)

A. Time domain measurements, their meanings, properties, and correlations

B. B.

C. Brief versus 24-Monitoring the Holter hourly

D. How to interpret the HRV measurements

VII. IV.

A. A.

B. How to measure breathing

C. How to measure the resonance frequency

D. Teaching resonance frequency breathing

E. How to organize a HRV Biofeedback Training Session

F. Emotional regulation strategies to enhance training

G. HRV Biofeedback contraindications and side effects

H. Practice assignments to encourage generalization

VIII. VIII.

A. Clinical applications

B. Applications for optimal performance

IX You aren’t quite done yet.

Complete (1) Foundation’s course evaluation form and (2) the BCIA evaluation form (MS Word file named “A&P BCIA evaluation form”Send it to [email protected]

After all requirements have been met successfully, your course completion certificate is emailed.-BCIA will receive a letter from you to confirm that you have completed the course.