HRV Biofeedback Tutor Overview

Welcome! HRV Biofeedback Tutor is a self-paced, BCIA-accredited online course that prepares you for your Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback certification exam.

This multimedia tutorial covers the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance's (BCIA) Blueprint of Knowledge for its Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Certification and is BCIA-accredited as an online training course. HRV Biofeedback Tutor is one of BCIA's Recommended Readings for its HRV Biofeedback Certification exam.

Whether you are a graduate student learning the science of autonomic regulation, a clinician expanding your treatment toolkit, or a researcher exploring the mechanisms of HRV biofeedback, this tutorial will guide you through the essential knowledge and practical skills you need. Each unit features full-length audio lectures, embedded videos from leading experts, comprehension questions, and opportunities to deepen your understanding through a personal AI coach.

These Units and Exams Are Optional

Neither BCIA nor the Veterans Administration requires you to complete the following units and their corresponding exams: Core (Psychophysiology, Stress, and Relaxation), Anatomy (CNS), Hardware (Artifacting), and Measurement (Nonlinear).

Ethics

The Ethics unit satisfies the Professional Standards and Ethical Principles requirement for the Certificate of Completion and Certification.

Navigation and Timetable

Navigate through HRV Biofeedback Tutor's 22 units by clicking on a topic from the menu at the top of this page. You decide your studying order and pace. We guarantee your access to this product for a minimum of 2 years. After that time, your access will continue as long as we can support it on our platform.

Mentor GPT: Your Personal Coach

Have a question while you study? Mentor GPT is your personal AI coach, available anytime. We have extensively trained it on this tutorial, the peer-reviewed scientific literature, and our deeply researched posts, so it can explain concepts, answer questions, and help you prepare for your exams.

Resources

Audio Lectures

Each unit includes a full-length audio lecture covering its major topics. Click the podcast icon near the top of a unit page to listen.

Once the player appears, click the three dots at the right for Download or Playback speed options. Download lets you listen on your smartphone or tablet.

ClassMarker Exams

After each Glossary, you will find a link to the ClassMarker website and Quizlet. Enter the username and password from your welcome email, and you can take any of Neurofeedback Tutor's exams as many times as you want.

Quizlet

Click on the Quizlet logo to review our chapter flashcards.

How to Earn Your Certificate of Completion

When you pass each ClassMarker exam with a score of 70% or higher, email us and we will send your certificate of completion.

Dedication

We dedicate this tutorial to Dr. Paul Lehrer and Dr. Richard Gevirtz, dear friends and two of the central architects of modern HRV biofeedback.

Paul M. Lehrer, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he built a long career integrating psychophysiology, psychiatry, and behavioral medicine.

Richard Gevirtz, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, San Diego, where he has trained generations of clinicians in applied psychophysiology and biofeedback.

Dr. Lehrer’s work established much of the modern scientific foundation for resonance-frequency HRV biofeedback, showing that breathing at an individual resonance frequency enhances baroreflex function, improves autonomic balance, and can ameliorate conditions such as asthma and stress-related disorders.

Dr. Gevirtz has been equally influential on the clinical side, applying HRV biofeedback to chronic pain, fibromyalgia, functional gastrointestinal disorders, cardiac rehabilitation, and anxiety, and clarifying how it can be integrated into evidence-based treatment.

Both have combined academic leadership, clinical practice, and sustained research programs focused on autonomic regulation and cardiorespiratory physiology. Together, Lehrer and Gevirtz co-authored core theoretical and review papers explaining how and why HRV biofeedback works, linking baroreflex physiology, breathing patterns, and vagal regulation to emotional and physical health outcomes. Their combined contributions include foundational laboratory research, influential clinical trials, comprehensive reviews, and key chapters in the practitioner handbooks that many clinicians rely on daily.

Dedicating HRV Biofeedback Tutor to Drs. Paul Lehrer and Richard Gevirtz acknowledges their seminal roles in creating, validating, and disseminating the very methods, concepts, and protocols that the Tutor seeks to teach.

Appreciation

Drs. Don Moss, Inna Khazan, and Erik Peper have played notable roles in HRV Biofeedback Tutor's development as consultants, collaborators, and generous friends. This multimedia tutorial has evolved because of my colleagues' insightful contributions.

Don Moss is a gifted co-author and co-instructor in AAPB, BCIA, and Biofeedback Foundation of Europe (BFE) workshops. Don has generously allowed me to feature his excellent case and ethics presentations in this tutorial.

Inna Khazan is the gifted author of The Clinical Handbook of Biofeedback and Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life. She has been a remarkable co-instructor in AAPB and BFE workshops. Inna has also generously allowed me to include several of her case presentations and overview of mindfulness.

Erik Peper's instructive photographs and screenshots appear throughout this product. Erik has been a catalyst for many of Truman's undergraduate research team's early studies and organized two incredible workshops in Hong Kong in 2008 and 2010.

Evgeny Vaschillo, Bronya Vaschillo, and Paul Lehrer brought HRV biofeedback to the United States from the former Soviet Union. They provided the scientific foundation for HRV protocols widely used in clinical and performance practice today. “We stand on the shoulders of giants” (Isaac Newton, 1675).

Special thanks to my colleague Dr. Saul Rosenthal for his illuminating discussion of lessons we can learn from treatment failures.

Truman State University students who staff the Truman Center for Applied Psychophysiology are my inspiration and joy.

The BioSource Team

Fred Shaffer, PhD, BCB, BCB-HRV, is the author of this tutorial. He is a Biological Psychologist and Professor of Psychology, and former Department Chair at Truman State University, where he has taught since 1975 and has served as Director of Truman's Center for Applied Psychophysiology since 1977. Fred will serve as your instructor.

John Foley, our server and software engineer, wrote the code for our tutorials and registration application, and set up and maintains our servers. John is the reason we deliver industry-leading reliability.

About BioSource Software LLC

BioSource is owned by Fred Shaffer, PhD, BCB-P, BCB-HRV-P. BioSource has developed educational resources for biofeedback, heart rate variability biofeedback, pelvic muscle dysfunction biofeedback, and neurofeedback professionals since 1978. We are a trusted government vendor listed with Dun & Bradstreet and the System for Award Management (SAM).

We teach the science of biofeedback and neurofeedback independent of equipment brands, software solutions, normative databases, or personal perspectives.

Contact

Please e-mail BioSource Software by clicking on the icon below if you have any questions or comments about this product. We will reply within one working day.

Copyright

Reproduction of the copyrighted images in this product is strictly prohibited, as it violates their publishers' copyright. Reproduction of all images and video segments featured in this product on a website is also expressly forbidden. BioSource Software will permit non-commercial educational use of its images and video segments if you credit HRV Biofeedback Tutor as the source.