Since Stephen Porges first proposed the Polyvagal Theory in 1994, its basic idea-that the level of safety we feel impacts our health and happiness-has radically shifted how researchers and clinicians approach trauma interventions and therapeutic interactions. Yet despite its wide acceptance, most of the writing on the topic has been obscured behind clinical texts and scientific jargon.

Here, for the first time, is a layperson's explanation of polyvagal theory, an approach to mental health and well-being that has taken the clinical world by storm. A polyvagal approach to life is based on the knowledge that the autonomic nervous system is shaped by early experience and reshaped with ongoing experience. This short book will offer an overview for nonspecialists and provide a series of exercises and meditations (practices) that will allow listeners to tune into their nervous systems, providing calming prompts to build and strengthen ventral vagal connections.

Polyvagal Theory, developed by researcher and scientist Dr. Stephen Porges and popularized by therapist Deb Dana, has impacted countless lives. It has changed the way therapists work with their clients and provided a pathway toward healing for those who have experienced hardship or trauma. In Polyvagal Prompts, Deb Dana and Courtney Rolfe invite listeners to explore their nervous systems through Polyvagal Theory with engaging questions and exercises.

At its heart, polyvagal theory describes how the brain's unconscious sense of safety or danger impacts our emotions and behaviors. In this powerful book, pediatrician and neonatologist Marilyn R. Sanders and child psychiatrist George S. Thompson offer both a meditation on caregiving and a call to action. By attending to the lessons of polyvagal theory—that adult caregivers must be aware of children's unconscious processing of sensory information—the authors show how professionals can play a critical role in establishing a sense of safety even in the face of dangerous situations.

Our overwhelmingly divisive socio-political climate is among the greatest challenges of our time. Not only in America but also internationally, it seems that almost every issue raises incredibly vocal oppositional views. Not least of all, the arising of vast networks of disinformation is a testament to our deepening rifts. With so much hostility, antagonism, cynicism, and discord, how can we mend the ruptures in our society?

In this work from Polyvagal Theory pioneer Dr. Stephen Porges, you’ll find not only the origin and best practices of a groundbreaking new listening therapy—the Safe and Sound Protocol—but also real-life stories of transformation and healing on topics including addiction, COVID recovery, living with Parkinson’s disease, neurodivergence, and more.

Over the past two decades, Internal Family Systems (IFS) has transformed the practice of psychotherapy. With Introduction to Internal Family Systems, the creator of IFS presents the ideal layperson’s guide for understanding this empowering, effective, and non-pathologizing approach to self-discovery and healing. Here, Dr. Schwartz shares evidence, case studies, and self-care tools.

Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery bridges the path of healing between the psyche and the body by walking you through the sacred practice of yoga so you can release the burdens of trauma from your body and mind. Grounded within the principles of polyvagal theory, affective neuroscience, and trauma-informed care, this book will help you gain a better understanding of how our brains and bodies respond to stress and trauma and offer a self-led healing journey toward feeling more empowered, grounded, clearheaded, inspired, and at ease.

Clinicians who have dedicated their work to bringing the benefits of the Polyvagal Theory to a range of clients have come together to present Polyvagal Theory in a creative and personal way. Chapters on a range of topics from compassionate medical care to optimized therapeutic relationships to clinician's experiences as parents extract from the theory the powerful influence and importance of cases and feelings of safety in the clinical setting.

Known for his magnetic and radiant personality, Frank spends his time training thousands of clinicians around the world on how to help clients with complex trauma make sense of their suffering. But underneath this charismatic exterior are his dark family secrets, including the marks of child abuse from his father and the invisible scars of shame.

Psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Lindsay C. Gibson draws on more than thirty years of clinical experience as a psychotherapist and outlines a unique approach to treating a common syndrome that shapes the lives of so many people seeking therapy. Gibson shares her perspectives on the goals of therapy, and what therapists need to know in order to provide the most effective interventions.

The vagus nerve is the great communicator between most systems in your body, including the major organs of the brain, digestive system, and heart. With the guidance of your seven chakras, the vagus nerve can be a psychological and spiritual powerhouse for healing. Trauma therapist C. J. Llewelyn shows you how to harness this power to heal your past and clear your body of intense reactions that no longer serve you, allowing you to access the compassionate energy of your inner light.

Drawing on cutting-edge research on adult attachment—and providing an innovative roadmap for clinical practice—Susan M. Johnson argues that psychotherapy is most effective when it focuses on the healing power of emotional connection.

Conventional trauma treatments (talk therapy and medication) simply don't work for many trauma survivors, and now we know why. Researchers have identified the core symptom that drives most other symptoms—neurological dysregulation. It's an injury to your nervous system triggered by abuse and neglect in childhood, and it can profoundly impact your physical health, damage your ability to learn and focus, and hold you back from forming caring relationships. The good news is that healing is possible, and in Re-Regulated, author Anna Runkle (aka the Crappy Childhood Fairy) shows you how.

Hope and light are on the horizon to help clients overcome the challenges of healing and releasing the pain of relational trauma. The highly acclaimed Transcending Trauma explores a unique, compassionate, and evidence-based approach to resolving complex and dissociative trauma. In this transformative audiobook, Frank Anderson, MD, masterfully details an IFS path to therapy that allows clients to access their inherent capacity for healing — called self-energy — while also helping them welcome, as opposed to manage, the extreme emotions frequently associated with trauma.

Since Stephen Porges first proposed the Polyvagal Theory in 1994, its basic idea-that the level of safety we feel impacts our health and happiness-has radically shifted how researchers and clinicians approach trauma interventions and therapeutic interactions. Yet despite its wide acceptance, most of the writing on the topic has been obscured behind clinical texts and scientific jargon.

This book compiles, for the first time, Stephen W. Porges's decades of research. A leading expert in developmental psychophysiology and developmental behavioral neuroscience, Porges is the mind behind the groundbreaking Polyvagal Theory, which has startling implications for the treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma, and autism. Adopted by clinicians around the world, the Polyvagal Theory has provided exciting new insights into the way our autonomic nervous system unconsciously mediates social engagement, trust, and intimacy.

When The Polyvagal Theory was published in 2011, it took the therapeutic world by storm, bringing Stephen Porges's insights about the autonomic nervous system to a clinical audience interested in understanding trauma, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. The book made accessible to clinicians and other professionals a polyvagal perspective that provided new concepts and insights for understanding human behavior. The perspective placed an emphasis on the important link between psychological experiences and physical manifestations in the body.

Ever since publication of The Polyvagal Theory in 2011, demand for information about this innovative perspective has been constant. Here Stephen W. Porges brings together his most important writings since the publication of that seminal work. At its heart, polyvagal theory is about safety. It provides an understanding that feeling safe is dependent on autonomic states, and that our cognitive evaluations of risk in the environment, including identifying potentially dangerous relationships, play a secondary role to our visceral reactions to people and places.

At its heart, polyvagal theory describes how the brain's unconscious sense of safety or danger impacts our emotions and behaviors. In this powerful book, pediatrician and neonatologist Marilyn R. Sanders and child psychiatrist George S. Thompson offer both a meditation on caregiving and a call to action. By attending to the lessons of polyvagal theory—that adult caregivers must be aware of children's unconscious processing of sensory information—the authors show how professionals can play a critical role in establishing a sense of safety even in the face of dangerous situations.

By presenting the autism diagnosis through the lens of a disordered nervous system-that is, by applying Polyvagal Theory-this book opens new avenues for intervention and treatment, while challenging age-old assumptions of what autism means and how it presents itself.

Here, for the first time, is a layperson's explanation of polyvagal theory, an approach to mental health and well-being that has taken the clinical world by storm. A polyvagal approach to life is based on the knowledge that the autonomic nervous system is shaped by early experience and reshaped with ongoing experience. This short book will offer an overview for nonspecialists and provide a series of exercises and meditations (practices) that will allow listeners to tune into their nervous systems, providing calming prompts to build and strengthen ventral vagal connections.

Deb Dana is the foremost translator of polyvagal theory into clinical practice. Here, in her third book on this groundbreaking theory, she provides therapists with a grab-bag of polyvagal-informed exercises for their clients, to use both within and between sessions. These exercises offer readily understandable explanations of the ways the autonomic nervous system directs daily living.

An innovative collection of research and theory from leading voices in the fields of trauma and somatic therapies, Somatic-Oriented Therapies represents a significant consolidation of innovative research and clinical approaches aimed at addressing trauma through various somatic modalities. In the past six decades, a multitude of therapeutic methods have emerged globally, revolutionizing trauma treatment and existential distress management. However, these approaches have often diverged, hindering the development of a cohesive, distinct field independent of traditional paradigms.

Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery bridges the path of healing between the psyche and the body by walking you through the sacred practice of yoga so you can release the burdens of trauma from your body and mind. Grounded within the principles of polyvagal theory, affective neuroscience, and trauma-informed care, this book will help you gain a better understanding of how our brains and bodies respond to stress and trauma and offer a self-led healing journey toward feeling more empowered, grounded, clearheaded, inspired, and at ease.