Skip to content

The Relevance of Heart Rate Variability for Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy

Donald Moss

Brain Sciences March 25, 2026 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16040352 (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Review Peer reviewed
Topics Meditation Neuroplasticity
Keywords Heart rate variability Autonomic nervous system Biofeedback Hypnosis Neuromodulation Parasympathetic nervous system Psychopathology Neurofeedback Psychophysiology Psychological intervention Psychotherapist Clinical psychology Cognition Relevance law Vagal tone Rehabilitation Adaptation eye Clinical significance Psychosocial Cognitive behavioral therapy Emotional regulation Perspective graphical Prefrontal cortex
Key findings Argues that higher heart rate variability is associated with successful psychotherapy and hypnotherapy outcomes, and that therapists can enhance treatment by using interventions to increase patients' HRV.

Abstract

This review examines what constitutes heart rate variability (HRV), the relationship between HRV and the autonomic nervous system, and the physiology driving HRV. HRV is correlated with vagal nerve activity and parasympathetic nervous activation. Higher HRV is correlated with youth, active lifestyle, adaptive capacity, and good health. Next, the review examines the medical significance of HRV, especially the correlation between lower HRV and the presence of medical and psychological disorders. In general, HRV serves as a biomarker for health and disease, an index of autonomic nervous system dysregulation, an index of prefrontal cortical functionality, and a marker for psychopathology across diagnoses. Higher HRV is associated with several characteristics associated with successful psychotherapy and hypnotherapy: social engagement, compassion, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility. Given this association, somatic regulation should be regarded as integral to treatment alongside psychotherapy and hypnosis. Understanding HRV can enable the psychotherapist and hypnotherapist to optimize treatment. In effect, the therapist can harness the power of the brain and nervous system to better prepare the patient for therapy and to enhance the process of therapy. This review encourages therapists to utilize several strategies and interventions to increase patients' HRV levels prior to and during therapy. The review will be most applicable for those hypnotherapists who integrate hypnosis into counseling and psychotherapy. The review describes the process by which HRV biofeedback training guides the individual to voluntarily increase HRV. It also identifies a number of lifestyle parameters and self-care practices (including self-hypnosis) that increase HRV. Encouraging lifestyle and self-care practices to increase HRV can support a greater response to hypnotherapy and psychotherapy. With additional training, hypnotherapists can integrate HRV biofeedback into a hypnosis practice. Further, several simple interventions already within the scope of most hypnosis practitioners can be utilized to enhance HRV at the beginning of a hypnotherapy process, and again during the process of therapy.

Comparable studies

Other narrative reviews on neuroplasticity, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
A neurotrophic hypothesis of depression: role of synaptogenesis in the actions of NMDA receptor antagonists 2012 Review
Towards an understanding of psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity. Review of preclinical and clinical studies 2023 Review
Buddha's Brain: Neuroplasticity and Meditation [In the Spotlight] 2008 Review
Neuroplasticity as a convergent mechanism of ketamine and classical psychedelics 2021 Review
Psychedelics in Psychiatry: Neuroplastic, Immunomodulatory, and Neurotransmitter Mechanisms 2020 Review

Citations in the library

Cites 4

Related reading

Explore topics

Meditation Neuroplasticity