Diaphragmatic Breathing in Clinical Practice
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“Take a deep breath.” Most clients have heard it a hundred times. For the client with chronic pain, it’s one more instruction that doesn’t help. For the anxious client, it’s a cue to gulp air into their chest. For the client with a trauma history, being told to breathe deeply and close their eyes can feel anything but safe.
Breathing is the simplest tool we have, and one of the easiest to teach badly.
In this course, Dr Judy Lovas shows you how to teach slow diaphragmatic breathing in a way clients understand, can do on their own, and keep doing. She starts with what stress and distress actually are, and why the body isn’t built to run its stress pathways for months on end. Then she walks through the evidence for slow breathing across anxiety, mood, pain, sleep and inflammatory conditions.
From there it gets practical. Judy covers:
- her balloon approach, which needs no counting
- the words that help and the ones that don’t (slow, not deep, and never “just relax”)
- how to negotiate a daily practice clients will stick to
- how to set up your room
She also goes into paradoxical arousal in detail: who is more likely to experience it, what it looks like, and how to respond calmly when a client becomes distressed partway through.
You’ll also go through three guided sessions with Judy. They’re there for your own practice, and as models of how she brings a client in and back out, so you can start writing scripts of your own.
You’ll walk away with
- A clear way to explain stress, distress and eustress to clients, and why chronic distress matters for health
- The research behind slow diaphragmatic breathing, so you can recommend it with confidence
- Judy’s balloon method for teaching diaphragmatic breathing without counting
- How to recognise and respond to paradoxical arousal, and who it’s more likely to affect
- The contraindications and cautions to check first, including psychosis, low blood pressure, diabetes, trauma and recent surgery
- How to set up your therapy space for relaxation work
- Simple hooks and negotiated routines that help clients practise most days
- Principles for writing your own scripts: present tense, sensory words, and moving from sentences to phrases to single words
- How to bring a client slowly and safely out of a session
- Three guided sessions to use for your own practice and as models for clinical work
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CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Course Duration: 2 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
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Meet Your Instructor
Dr Judy Lovas is Australia’s expert in Relaxation Therapy and an international speaker, dedicated to teaching evidence-based relaxation skills for chronic conditions. Judy is determined to increase relaxation therapies in 21st century health care.
With up-to-date knowledge, passion and humour, Judy teaches medical and health professionals leading research in relaxation therapy to enhance mental health and physical wellbeing. Her presentations include how to practice simple relaxation skills and the clinical application of relaxation therapy to enhance your clients’ health.
Judy’s work is based on Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), the science of mind body connections. She presents the latest, cutting-edge studies that support diaphragmatic breathing, guided imagery, progress muscle relaxation and massage therapy for chronic conditions such as anxiety, depression, pain, sleep disorders, trauma and inflammation.
As Director of Art & Science of Relaxation, Judy presents for prestigious institutions including the University of Sydney, Australian Psychology Society and the Australian Association of Social Work. She is an international presenter and worked with the University of Thessaly in Greece, the Sports Group GmbH in Germany and the Hebrew University in Israel. Her work is recognised in Lifestyle and Integrative Medicine organisations.
Her Ph.D. from the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine, focused on psychological and immunological outcomes of massage therapy for spinal cord injury patients, and demonstrates her commitment to understanding the complex mind-body connections that drive healing.
Judy’s expertise in PNI-based Relaxation Therapy for chronic conditions offers measurable changes in immune function, inflammatory markers, and neurological processes to support better health. She specialises in helping practitioners understand exactly how relaxation therapies affect cellular and molecular health, why certain techniques work better than others, and how to prescribe specific relaxation interventions for different conditions and populations.
What sets Dr Lovas apart is how she translates complex science into simple concepts. Judy combines scientific rigor with practical accessibility. She doesn't just teach relaxation techniques - she shows practitioners the underlying psychoneuroimmunology mechanisms that explain why these interventions work, enabling them to make evidence-based treatment decisions. Her 18 publications and extensive teaching experience demonstrate her exceptional ability to make complex immunological and neurological concepts immediately relevant to clinical practice.
For your practice, expect to gain specific, evidence-based relaxation protocols for different conditions and frameworks for integrating PNI principles into existing treatment approaches. Judy’s approach particularly benefits healthcare professionals working with chronic conditions, those seeking non-pharmaceutical interventions, or practitioners wanting to understand the science behind mind-body healing.
Quick Win: Judy's ‘Slow Breathing’ technique helps clients quickly activate the parasympathetic nervous system while reducing inflammatory markers - often leading to measurable stress reduction while building long-term resilience through regular practice.
Qualifications
- Ph.D., Medicine, University of Sydney (dissertation: "The effects of massage therapy on secondary conditions of people with spinal cord injury: psychological and immunological outcomes")
- Master of Science Research Degree Faculty of Science Univ of Technology, Sydney, 1998
- BA, Psychology, University of New South Wales (UNSW), 1982
- Diploma, Adult Education, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), 1991
- Over 25 years experience in psychology and psychoneuroimmunology
Authored Publications
- Author and co-author of 17 publications on psychoneuroimmunology, research-based benefits of relaxation therapy, and chronic pain management
- YouTube educational content creator
- Featured on The GP Show podcast
- Regular media contributor on relaxation therapy and PNI topics
Leadership & Teaching
- Director, Art & Science of Relaxation, Sydney, 2014–present
- Lecturer, Psychology, Australian College of Physical Education, Sydney, 2019–present
- Lecturer, Cellular Health, Psychoneuroimmunology, Evidence-based Relaxation Therapy, Nature Care College, Sydney, 2016–present
- Clinical Relaxation Therapist, Cingulum Health, Sydney, 2022–present (specialising in relaxation therapy for neurological rehabilitation patients)
- Relaxation Therapy Classes Instructor, Osana Medical Centres, Cremorne & Narrabeen, Sydney, 2019–2020
Academic Experience
- Lecturer/Tutor, Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Strathfield, Sydney, 2008–2014 (Education Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Motivation and Emotion, Critical Thinking)
- Lecturer, Psychoneuroimmunology, School of Medical Science, University of Sydney
- Lecturer, Psychoneuroimmunology, Australian College of Applied Psychology
- Psychology Teacher, Methodist's Ladies College
- Lecturer, TAFE NSW, Meadowbank College of TAFE, 1989–1998 (developed Diploma in Health Science - Massage Therapy)
Clinical & Research Focus
- Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) research and application
- Evidence-based relaxation therapy protocols
- Chronic pain management through mind-body interventions
- Anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders treatment
- Trauma therapy using relaxation techniques
- Inflammation reduction and cellular health optimisation
- Mind-body connections in healing and recovery
Community & Volunteer Work
- Volunteer Coordinator, North Sydney Persistent Pain Mental Health Network, current
- Dedicated advocate for integrating relaxation therapies into healthcare systems
- Community educator on stress management and holistic health approaches
Ready to understand the science behind why relaxation therapy creates real physiological changes? Discover how evidence-based psychoneuroimmunology can help you apply specific relaxation interventions for measurable improvements in chronic conditions.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 12
- Topics 0
- Duration 2 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English