Welcome to HRV Biofeedback Tutor!

This multimedia tutorial covers the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance's 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 the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance's Recommended Readings for its HRV Biofeedback Certification exam.

Optional Units and Exams

Neither BCIA nor the Veterans Administration require you to complete the following units and their corresponding exams.

CORE (Psychophysiology, Stress, and Relaxation)
ANATOMY (CNS)
HARDWARE (Artifacting)
MEASUREMENT (Nonlinear).

Ethics

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

Recognition

Shawn, one of my finest Lab Managers, is a tenured professor of I/O Psychology at Appalachian State. His university has recognized Shawn's distinguished leadership and the productivity of his graduate/undergraduate research program.

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.

In 2008, he received the Doris and Walker Allen Fellowship for Academic Excellence. In 2013, he received Truman's Outstanding Research Mentor of the Year award. In 2018, he received the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback's (AAPB) Distinguished Scientist award.

John Foley, a Truman State University graduate and software engineer, redesigned the code for HRV Biofeedback Tutor. He moved our product distribution to the cloud to ensure that you have the latest version. John is brilliant, generous, and focused on providing the best possible user experience.

Max McDermott (Neuroscience PhD) started modeling for HRV Biofeedback Tutor in his freshman year. He was one of my brightest and most personable undergraduates. I value his friendship immensely.

Christopher Zerr (Cognitive Neuroscience PhD) and former Assistant Director of the Truman Center for Applied Psychophysiology, has made countless contributions to the refinement of this product, from curating the studies reviewed in these units to supervising the research cited in its applied sections. He was the finest undergraduate I've mentored in 50 years of teaching.

Zachary Meehan (Clinical Psychology PhD), former Assistant Director and Senior Mentor of the Truman Center for Applied Psychophysiology, has served as my skilled copy editor. He was another stellar undergraduate. I greatly value his keen perception, dedication, and generosity of spirit.

Dedication

This product is dedicated to Judy Crawford, Executive Director Emerita of the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA). Judy has been a passionate advocate for certificants and the field for several decades. She supervisesd BCIA's day-to-day operations, provided extraordinary care for its applicants and certificants, and kept it focused on serving the needs of its stakeholders in the biofeedback and neurofeedback communities.

In September 2011, ISNR gave Judy the Joel F. Lubar award to recognize her long service to ISNR and the advancement of the field. In March 2013, AAPB recognized her contributions to the field with a Presidential award. In September 2016, ISNR presented her with its prestigious Lifetime Membership award. March 2019, AAPB, BCIA and ISNR presented her with their first Lifetime Achievement Award. Judy is the reason that BCIA's certificants are "More than qualified – BCIA Board Certified!"

Appreciation

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 BCIA 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).

Richard Gevirtz and Paul Lehrer, PhD, BCB have inspired me through their gifted teaching, dedicated mentorship, gracious support for their colleagues, and seminal scholarship.

Richard has an uncommon gift for communicating complex concepts to his audience. His research has shown the diverse applications of heart rate variability biofeedback. He has always made time to visit with Truman students and share his knowledge and excitement.

Paul is the Editor of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, has published seminal articles in HRV biofeedback and landmark books like Principles and Practice of Stress Management (4th ed.). In collaboration with Evgeny and Bronya Vaschillo, his research has helped establish the scientific foundation of heart rate variability biofeedback.

Richard and Paul's workshops, writing, and clinical outcome research have been largely responsible for the international growth of heart rate variability biofeedback. I am proud to call them my friends. They and the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback have generously contributed video segments from their 2021 BCIA HRV Biofeedback didactic workshop.

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 (pre-pandemic photo) are my inspiration and joy.

Visit the BioSource Software Website

BioSource Software offers Human Physiology, which satisfies BCIA's Human Anatomy and Physiology requirement, and HRV Biofeedback100, which provides extensive multiple-choice testing over the Biofeedback Blueprint.

Moss and Shaffer's (2019) Physiological Recording Technology and Applications in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback, Schwartz and Andrasik's (2016) Biofeedback: A Practitioner's Guide (4th ed.), and Khazan, Shaffer, Moss, Lyle, and Rosenthal's (2023) Evidence-Based Practice in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback (4th ed.) deserve a place on every practitioner's bookshelf.

Khazan's (2019) Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Lagos' (2020) Heart breath Mind, and Lehrer and Woolfolk's Principles and Practice of Stress Management (4th ed.) provide valuable insights for clinicians and their clients.

Navigation

You can navigate through HRV Biofeedback Tutor's 22 units by clicking on a topic from the menu at the top of this page. You can take a 10-question multiple-choice test to check your mastery of its content at the end of each unit.

Audio Lectures

We feature full-length audio lectures covering each unit's major topics. Click on the podcast icon near the top of the page to hear them.

You may click on the three circles at the right of the podcast controls to reveal Download or Playback speed options.

Click on Download to play the lecture on your smartphone or pad.

About BioSource Software LLC

BioSource is owned by Fredric Shaffer, PhD, BCB, BCB-HRV. 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.

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.

Please e-mail BioSource Software using the SEND icon if you have any questions or comments about this product. Check out our website, www.biosourcesoftware.com, for a detailed description of our other products.