The Science of Self-Regulation: Integrating Psychophysiology and Biofeedback into Mental Health Care

 3 CECs offered by NASW-CT at The Connecticut Women's Consortium, 2321 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, CT from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Click here for more information or to register.

This 3- hour continuing education workshop utilizing didactics, case presentation and hands-on demonstrations on psychophysiological tools offers mental health clinicians at every career stage a rigorous, clinically grounded foundation in the science of self-regulation--the physiological mechanisms by which the body and brain generate, sustain , and recover from psychological distress, and the evidence based tools we can use to directly influence those mechanisms in treatment. 

Beginning with the foundational principals of psychophysiology- the scientific study of mind-body relationships- the workshop traces a clear clinical arc: from understanding how the autonomic nervous system (ANS) produces measurable physiological signatures of anxiety, trauma, depression, and emotional dysregulation, to mastering specific biofeedback modalities that train clients  to regulate those signatures from the inside out. 

Clinicians will gain practical working knowledge of the five core biofeedback modalities: heart activity rate variability (HRV) biofeedback, electromyography (EMG), skin temperature, electrodermal activity (EDA/GSR) and respiratory biofeedback- including capnometry-assisted respiratory training (CART) for panic disorders. The workshop then advances to quantitative EEG (qEEG) brain mapping as a objective neuro-metric assessment tool, and to swLORETA (standardized weighted Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography) neurofeedback as a source- localized, individualized treatment for affect dysregulation.

A defining thread throughout is clinical integration: these neurophysiological tools presented not as stand-alone technologies but evidence-based complements to psychotherapy. The workshop closes with four de-identified clinical case examples- each with pre- and post-treatment brain mapping and swLORETA source imaging data- and live demonstrations of biofeedback and neurofeedback equipment.

Participants will leave with a practical framework for incorporating psychophysiological assessment and intervention into their existing clinical work, informed by referral criteria, scope-of-practice considerations, and credentialing pathways.

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