In recent years there has been growing interest in exploring how psychophysiology can be used to enhance psychotherapeutic interventions, and it is becoming more common for psychotherapists to use psychophysiological approaches such as biofeedback as a part of their therapy.

Integrating Psychotherapy and Psychophysiology explores how these fields can be integrated to improve therapy outcomes, and to provide a guide to professionals in the field.

Structured in three parts, the first part focuses on theories underlying psychotherapy/psychophysiology integration with chapters on the neuroscience of mind, evolution and compassion, heart rate variability and mind/body integration, and affect and understanding the world. The second part focuses on assessment aspects of psychotherapy/ psychophysiology integration with chapters on the NIH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) approach to assessment of psychopathology from a psychophysiological perspective, personality as a central factor in stress and cardiovascular reactivity and using the RDoC framework to understand and conceptualize personality. Finally, the third part focuses on approaches to integrating psychophysiology into psychotherapy, emphasizing heart rate variability biofeedback.

The book will be valuable for all psychotherapists who are looking to improve their practice by integrating effective mind/body principles into their therapeutic approach.

Patrick Steffen, Brigham Young University,Donald Moss, Saybrook University

Patrick R. Steffen, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology at Brigham Young University where he has served as the Director of Clinical Training and as an Alcuin Fellow in the Honors Program. He received his PhD in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Miami and was a post-doctoral fellow in cardiovascular behavioral medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He is a Fellow of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback and is a past president of that organization and serves as Associate Editor for the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. His research interests are in behavioral medicine and integrating biofeedback approaches into psychotherapy.


Dr. Donald Moss is Professor and Dean, College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, at Saybrook University, Pasadena, CA. He is a clinical health psychologist, certified in biofeedback and hypnosis. Moss is the ethics chair for the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance. He is the education chair, publications chair, and president-elect for the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH). He previously served as president of SCEH, president of Division 30 (hypnosis) of the American Psychological Association, and president of AAPB.

Section One: Theory1. An Evolution and Compassion Informed Biopsychosocial Approach to the Challenge of Building an Integrated Science for Psychotherapy, Paul Gilbert2. Neuroscientific Principles Underlying Psychotherapy, Rebekkah Matheson3. 1. Heart Rate Variability in Mental Health and Psychotherapy, Julia Wendt & Julian F. Thayer4. Brain Plasticity and Prediction of Response in Psychotherapy, Sadie J. Zacharek, John D. E. Gabrieli & Stefan G. Hofmann5. Affect as a Foundation for How We Know and Understand the World: A Framework for Integrating Psychotherapy and Psychophysiology, Travis Anderson & Patrick SteffenSection Two: Assessment7. Approaching Psychopathology from a Psychophysiological Perspective: Using Dimensional Diagnostic Approaches as Frameworks to Integrate Psychotherapy and Psychophysiology, Dawson Hedges & Patrick Steffen8. The Biology of Personality and Stress: Cardiovascular Reactivity as Central to Human Coping, Brian M. Hughes, Siobhán Howard and Aisling M. Costello,9. Using the RDoC Framework to Conceptualize and Assess Personality: A Model of Personality for Psychotherapy/Psychophysiology Integration, Patrick Steffen & Joseph A. OlsonSection Three: Intervention10. Therapist Flexibility: Why a Psychophysiological Component in Psychotherapy is Important, Paul Lehrer11. Compassion as an Integrative and Integrating Therapeutic Process, Paul Gilbert12. An Interpersonal Perspective on the Physiological Stress Response: Implications for Therapeutic Interventions in Coronary Heart Disease, Timothy W. Smith & Jenny M. Cundiff,13. The Most Beautiful Man: The Integration of Hypnosis and Biofeedback, Donald Moss14. Integrating Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback into Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Richard S. Gevirtz15. Breathing, Heart Rate Variability, and their Application in Psychotherapy, Inna Khazan16. Compassionate Bodies, Compassionate Minds: Psychophysiological Concomitants of Compassion-Focused Therapy, Nicola Petrocchi & Cristina Ottaviani17. Compassion Focused Therapy and Heart Rate Variability, Chase S. Sherwell and James N. Kirby18. Ethical Principles and Practice Standards in Psychophysiological Psychotherapy, Donald Moss