COURSE INFORMATION
In this self-paced, online CE course, students will explore the dynamic interconnectedness of the body and mind and the ways in which physical, emotional, and psychological health influence one another. Using The Secret Language of the Body by Jennifer Mann & Karden Rabin and The Anxious Mind by Dr. Elenga, MD, as primary texts, this course provides an in-depth examination of anxiety, stress, and trauma, and how chronic activation of the nervous system leads to dysregulation as an adaptive survival response.
Students will study the spectrum of anxiety-related disorders and gain an overview of evidence-based behavioral therapies—including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and key elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) such as emotion regulation and mindfulness. Emphasis is placed on Polyvagal Theory and the application of the AIR Method (Awareness–Interruption–Redesign) as frameworks for restoring nervous system balance and cultivating resilience.
Through integrative learning and self-reflection, students will discover how to incorporate holistic practices—such as relaxation techniques, self-care strategies, and lifestyle modifications—into both personal wellness and professional practice, fostering greater alignment between body, mind, and spirit.
Course Code: HN 500. Contract hours of education: 50 hours.
Instructor/Course Author: Renee Diane Parisi, PMHNP-BC, DNP
Link to Resume: access here
TIME FRAME: You are allotted two years from the date of enrollment, to complete all of the courses in the Holistic & Integrative health care practice program. There are no set time-frames, other than the two year allotted time. If you do not complete the courses within the two-year time-frame, you will be removed from the course and an “incomplete” will be recorded for you in our records. Also, if you would like to complete the courses after this two-year expiration time, you would need to register and pay the course tuition fee again.
TEXTBOOKS: There are two (2) required textbooks for this course.
The Secret Language of the Body: Regulate Your Nervous System, Heal Your Body, Free Your Mind Paperback by Jennifer Mann, Karden Rabin
Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here
The Anxious Mind: A Holistic Approach to Overcoming Fear and Worry Paperback by Gift Elenga MD.
- ISBN-13: 979-8991256612
Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here
GRADING: You must achieve a passing score of at least 70% to complete this course and receive the 50 hours of awarded continuing education credit. There are no letter grades assigned. You will receive notice of your total % score. Those who score below the minimum of 70% will be contacted by the and options for completing additional course work to achieve a passing score, will be presented.
BOARD APPROVALS: AIHCP is an approved provider of continuing education by the Florida Board of Nursing and the District of Columbia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975. Access information
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals (The Provider) is approved by the California Board of Registered Nurses, Provider number # CEP 15595 for 50 Contact Hours.
This course, which is approved by the Florida State Board Of Nursing (CE Provider # 50-11975) also has the following Board of Nursing Approvals, for 50 contact hours of CE
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Arkansas Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Georgia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Professional Registered Nurses. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the New Mexico Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
Course Refund & AIHCP Policies: access here
ONLINE CLASSROOM RESOURCES AND TOOLS
* Examination Access: there is link to take you right to the online examination program where you can print out your examination and work with it. All examinations are formatted as “open book” tests. When you are ready, you can access the exam program at anytime and click in your responses to the questions. Full information is provided in the online classrooms.
* Student Resource Center: there is a link for access to a web page “Student Resource Center.” The Resource Center provides for easy access to all of our policies/procedures and additional information regarding applying for certification. We also have many links to many outside reference sites, such as online libraries that you may freely access.
* Online Evaluation: there is a link in the classroom where you may access the course evaluation. All students completing a course, must, without exception, complete the course evaluation.
* Faculty Access Information: you will have access to your instructor’s online resume/biography, as well as your instructor’s specific contact information.
* Additional Learning Materials: some faculty have prepared additional “readings” and /or brief lecture notes to enhance your experience. All of these are available in the online classrooms.
Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Define Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and OCD.
- Identify common symptom clusters associated with panic attacks and chronic anxiety.
- Describe the prevalence of anxiety disorders and their impact on functioning.
- Explain how chronic stress precedes symptom development.
- Recognize cognitive distortions associated with anxiety disorders.
- Identify CBT as the most researched treatment modality for GAD.
- Describe the role of ERP in the treatment of OCD.
- Explain exposure therapy principles for anxiety disorders.
- Recognize DBT concepts relevant to anxiety and emotional regulation.
- Describe the foundational premise of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP).
- Identify mindfulness-based strategies for anxiety reduction.
- Describe relaxation techniques used for immediate anxiety relief.
- Identify long-term self-care strategies for mental health maintenance.
- Explain the role of nutrition and physical activity in holistic mental health.
- Differentiate between short-term regulation tools and long-term maintenance practices.
- Describe the structure and function of the autonomic nervous system.
- Identify the vagus nerve as the tenth cranial nerve.
- Explain afferent vs efferent nervous system communication.
- Describe sympathetic, ventral vagal, and dorsal vagal states.
- Identify physiological markers of sympathetic activation.
- Recognize symptoms of dorsal vagal shutdown.
- Explain neuroception and the nervous system’s binary safety assessment.
- Describe the role of the ventral vagal state in social engagement.
- Identify fight, flight, and freeze responses.
- Explain Polyvagal Theory’s relevance to DSM diagnoses.
- Describe the purpose of social engagement exercises in regulation.
- Define the AIR model: Awareness, Interruption, Redesign.
- Describe AIR practices for the Mind (Listening, Switching, Distancing).
- Describe AIR practices for the Body (Translating, Modifying, Settling).
- Describe AIR practices for Humanness (Attuning, Tending, Bonding).
- Identify the Observing Self as a mechanism of change.
- Differentiate regulation from the pursuit of constant calm.
- Identify the components of the BASE method (Breath, Actions, Sensations, Emotions).
- Describe what awareness of each BASE component reveals.
- Differentiate BASE-M, BASE-B, and BASE-H.
- Apply BASE awareness to nervous system regulation.
- Integrate BASE practices with AIR principles.
- Define Nervous System Modifiers (NSMs).
- Explain the role of neuroplasticity in habit and nervous system change.
- Identify regulation practices for ventral vagal activation.
- Identify practices to downregulate sympathetic activation.
- Identify practices to upregulate dorsal vagal states.
- Explain repetition, intensity, and time in nervous system healing.
- Define Attachment Theory and Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs).
- Explain the importance of bonding and co-regulation in early development.
- Describe Internal Working Models (IWMs).
- Identify how triggers activate past nervous system states.
- Recognize attachment styles and associated coping behaviors.
- Identify developmental needs and attachment wounds.
- Identify contact as an essential human need.
- Explain the role of non-verbal communication in emotional connection.
- Describe modelling as a primary nervous system programming mechanism.
- Explain how positive relationships can contradict maladaptive IWMs.
- Identify anchoring as a tool for rapid state regulation.
COURSE CONTENT
- Definition and core features of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Prevalence of anxiety disorders in adults
- Panic attacks: physiological, cognitive, and emotional symptom clusters
- Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia): presentation and treatment
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP)
- Cognitive distortions and cognitive disconnections
- Stress as a precursor to symptom development
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Exposure therapy principles for anxiety disorders
- Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP): language, cognition, and behavioral change
- Integration of behavioral therapies with nervous system regulation
- Mindfulness-based anxiety reduction strategies
- Body scan meditation and interoceptive awareness
- Progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and visualization
- Grounding techniques for acute anxiety relief
- Long-term self-care strategies for mental health maintenance
- Lifestyle interventions: nutrition and physical activity
- Structure and function of the autonomic nervous system
- Vagus nerve anatomy and physiology
- Afferent vs efferent nervous system signaling
- The parasympathetic nervous system and vagal branches
- Neuroception of safety vs threat
- Fight, flight, and dorsal vagal shutdown responses
- Physiological markers of sympathetic activation
- Dorsal vagal state symptoms and fainting response
- Ventral vagal state and social engagement system
- Sympathetic and dorsal vagal survival states
- Polyvagal interpretation of DSM diagnoses
- Social Engagement Theory and Polyvagal Therapy
- Regulation goals vs the pursuit of constant calm
- AIR Method: Awareness, Interruption, and Redesign
- AIR practices for the Mind/Body/Humanness
- Breath: awareness of depth, speed, location, qualities
- Actions: posture, shape, movement potential, energy
- Sensations: descriptors, location, qualities
- Emotions: labels, intensity, location, qualities
- BASE-M: Mind / Thoughts
- BASE-B: Body / Survival State
- BASE-H: Human / Attachment
- Purpose and function of Nervous System Modifiers (NSMs)
- Returning the nervous system to adaptability and flexibility
- Repetition, intensity, and time in nervous system healing
- Neuroplasticity and habit change
- Regulating the Ventral vagus nerve
- Downregulating the Sympathetic Nervous System
- Vagus nerve upregulation
- Negativity bias definition
- Amplification during survival states and unhealed trauma
- Impact of chronic dysregulation on perception and behavior
- Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs)
- Attachment Theory fundamentals
- Importance of early bonding for survival
- Attuned vs mis-attuned caregiving
- Co-regulation and emotional development
- Internal Working Models (IWMs)
- Temporary coalitions of synapses
- Being triggered as a return to the past
- Secure attachment: internal working models
- Anxious attachment: emotional responses and beliefs
- Avoidant attachment: distancing and withdrawal behaviors
- Disorganized attachment: erratic and contradictory behaviors
- Core Developmental Needs & Wounds
- Associated Coping Patterns
- Human Connection & Communication
- Contact as a core human need
- Non-verbal communication percentages
- Tone of voice, body language, and emotional meaning
- Modelling as primary nervous system programming
- Lifelong impact of modelling on relationships and self-perception
- Bonding as consistent attuned attachment over time
- Positive relationships as corrective experiences
- Creating new Internal Working Models
- Role of repetition, intensity, and time
- Anchoring as a regulation tool
- Sensory stimulus and state association
- Anchors as shortcuts to nervous system regulation