Workshop – Dr. Donald Moss

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback:  Foundations and Applications 

Half-day Workshop – June 12, 2016 (morning)

Instructor: Dr. Donald Moss

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a measure that provides a window into the autonomic nervous system that is readily available to the clinician and can be used by our patients to moderate illness and enhance wellness. In simple terms, HRV is the beat-to-beat variation in heart rate. If someone is in an Intensive Care Unit, the heart monitor shows the heart rate going up and down from moment to moment. This is a good thing. A healthy heart is not a metronome. When heart rate doesn’t change, our biological systems lack the resilience needed to respond to stress or to enable us to manage stress and function efficiently.  HRV is lower in depression, anxiety states, PTSD, asthma, fibromyalgia, and other illnesses.  Conversely, high HRV is a marker for aerobic fitness, optimal health, vitality, and resilience.
This workshop will define what heart rate variability is, briefly review the physiology of HRV, and introduce the potential uses for HRV training. HRV biofeedback has applications in health psychology, psychotherapy, medicine, and optimal performance.
The workshop will answer the question:  What do we train in HRV biofeedback? and provide practical approaches for HRV training.   The workshop will review current well-documented applications for HRV biofeedback, and introduce some of the innovative uses of HRV biofeedback at the cutting edge of today’s biofeedback practice.
The presenter will demonstrate inexpensive entry level HRV biofeedback equipment, including the inexpensive emWave® and Inner Balance® devices from HeartMath, and also a higher end multi-modal biofeedback system for more advanced use.  He will also demonstrate smart phone applications useful to assist patients in home practice.  The presenters will describe three cases in which HRV produced a therapeutic effect:  an adult woman with alcoholism, an adult woman with lupus, and one healthy adult male with performance anxiety about speaking in business settings.

About Donald Moss, Ph.D.

Donald Moss, Ph.D., is Dean of the College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, at Saybrook University.  Dr. Moss is president-elect of the Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH), and has been president of Division 30 (hypnosis) of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB).  He is a fellow of both APA and SCEH, and is a current delegate to APA’s Council of Representatives and the International Society for Hypnosis.
He is co-author of Pathways to Illness, Pathways to Health (Springer, 2013), chief editor of Handbook of Mind-Body Medicine for Primary Care (Sage, 2003) and Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology (Greenwood, 1998). He currently has a new book under contract for Springer with co-author Angele McGrady on Integrative Pathways:  Navigating Chronic Illness with a Mind-Body-Spirit Approach. He has published over 70 articles and book chapters on psychophysiology, spirituality, health, and integrative medicine.