Biofeedback

Getting aligned

Heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback is a powerful practice that helps users understand how stress impacts their body and provides a concrete tool to gain control of the body’s response to challenging experiences.

Some people struggle to integrate techniques like mindfulness and meditation into their lives or understand their impact. With biofeedback, the therapist and client can see directly what happens to the body in response to stress (via an assessment) as well as practice specific techniques to alleviate undesired responses. In short, for some people biofeedback is easier to integrate as a practice than breath work alone because we can see immediatly the impact these techniques are having on our bodies as the biofeedback device provides a visual representation of what is happening with the heart making adjustments needed to relaxation easier to navigate.

What to expect

Biofeedback utilizes a small device that attaches to the ear that provides a live snapshot of what’s happening with our heart rate. Stress can cause heart rate dysregulation that in some circumstances can support our functioning and in other situations, especially in a prolongued manner, can hurt our functioning. In therapy, an initial assessment will determinate how your specific body responds to stress. After the initial assessment, we will create a plan that will help you integrate biofeedback into your life in a way that makes sense for you. Using biofeedback regularly helps increase awareness of when we are stressed and helps strengthen how quickly we can reregulate ourselves and control our body response. This ultimately helps us increase control we have over our body and life.

Where can i learn more

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback: How and Why Does It Work