course »Understanding Polyvagal Theory: Revisioning of Our Understanding of the Autonomic Nervous System

Date: 8/29/2017, 9:00 am—4:00 pm
County: Alameda County
CEUs: Yes
Location: Oakland
Sponsor: Seneca Family of Agencies
Phone: 510-654-4004
Polyvagal Theory may well be the most important revisioning of our understanding of the autonomic nervous system that has emerged in the last 50 years.  It provides a new map of the way that the mammalian nervous system regulates social engagement and threat states, including fight/ flight and freeze states. It provides an elegant description of the range of behaviors that are available to us depending on how safe or unsafe we feel. Porges ground-breaking insights involve the recognition of a para- sympathetic nervous system with not one, but two distinct branches: one recently evolved, a social engagement nervous system that emerges in mammals and provides finetuning regulation of the heart and supports calm affective states, and one ancient, a dorsal vagal system of extreme energy conservation, that is activated as a system of last resort in perceived or actual life threat. The theory can give us insight into a broad range of client behavior, and has profound clinical implications, suggesting that we tailor our interventions to the current state of the client’s nervous system for maximum benefit. In this training we’ll examine the theory itself, what it implies about how we intervene, and how to intervene more skillfully.