HRVB Mentoring

HRVB Mentoring

The mentor and candidate must have a minimum of 10 contact hours together.  At least two of the contact hours must involve direct observation.  Please carefully review the HRVB Mentoring Guidelines.

You are required to spend 10 contact hours with a BCIA-approved mentor or mentors learning to apply hands-on HRV Biofeedback skills through the review of the following:

•     10 sessions of personal HRV biofeedback training, demonstrating self-regulation, (You are the patient or the client to be seen by your mentor or can even hook up yourself and send printouts of the sessions to the mentor for review and discussion.)
•     20 sessions of patient/client treatment using HRV biofeedback, including BVP or ECG training and respirometer (respiratory biofeedback) training. 
•     5 Case Studies which are full detailed patient/client stories from intake and protocol selection/adjustment, through discharge.  These cases may be presented to you by your mentor or they may be a client you have seen previously, but not yet reviewed with your mentor.  This is the only mentoring that can easily be done in an online group setting.

Each session is to be a minimum of 20 minutes.  More than 1 mentor  may be used.

Mentoring can begin when the candidate can demonstrate some basic competence with equipment and is only the time spent reviewing the actual work as outlined by BCIA.  Primarily working on equipment issues or technical support is not mentoring and should not be included.  BCIA does not stipulate when this mentoring can begin and in fact one may have completed the process prior to applying for certification.

Remember - if you are unlicensed and have no current clients nor equipment, it may actually be that you are requesting an internship which is very different than merely learning the application of practical skills inside your own work place environment.

Should you file your application prior to completion of this requirement, your mentor may use this statement to document the training.

Essential Skills List - This is a checklist to be completed by your mentor and submitted along with documentation of the 10 contact hours as described above.

Lists of BCIA-certified providers who may serve as mentors are available through Find a Practitioner.  While you can specifically use the "Mentor" search criteria, please know that anybody with a valid BCIA cerification may be able to mentor, so long as they can verify their background, training, and experience using HRV Biofeedback. If you click on a name, you will see their email and you may see information about the disorders they treat.  To locate a mentor, you may wish to send them an email telling them of your background and your need to find an appropriate mentor.

Each qualified mentor must file a Mentor Application.  The requirements for a mentor are that one should carry a current BCIA certification and must be able to document a minimum of two years of active clinical practice using HRV Biofeedback. 

You and your mentor may wish to use the sample Mentor Agreement Letter and Essential Skills List as tools to develop a good training plan.  Please keep track of the time you spent with your mentor as you complete the requirements using this Mentoring Log Sheet.