Full Course Description

Harnessing the Healing Potential of the Autonomic Nervous System

At its most basic level, human communication is one nervous system responding to another, searching for signals that it’s safe to connect and flooding us with distress responses when it’s not. Polyvagal Theory has revolutionized our understanding of the complex, unconscious forces at play in therapeutic interactions, offering a road map to help us navigate and engage this deeply embodied system. Learn how to use the five pathways of the Social Engagement System to regulate your own states and enter into fuller autonomic attunement with your clients. You’ll explore how to: 

  • Use your own autonomic nervous system to create an environment of safety for your clients 
  • Develop the expressive range of your eyes, voice, breath, and body to enrich your nonverbal attunement skills 
  • Help your clients listen to their internal state and let go of their problem stories 
  • Reliably guide your clients from state to state and enhance their capacity for self-regulation 

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Employ exercises designed to engage the neural circuits of your client’s Social Engagement System to improve clinical outcomes. 
  2. Evaluate and track moments of autonomic disconnection to optimize repair in sessions. 
  3. Create an environment of autonomic safety using the “inside, outside, and between” guide. 
  4. Use your own Social Engagement System to effectively coregulate with clients.  

Outline

  • Employ exercises designed to engage the neural circuits of your client’s Social Engagement System to improve clinical outcomes. 
    • Present the architecture of the Social Engagement System with an overview of the function of cranial nerves V, VII, IX, X, XI describing the impact on relationships and autonomic regulation  
    • Teach specific exercises to activate each cranial nerve and ways to track the response 
    • Identify actions of the Social Engagement System in specific clinical issues and ways to engage the system to shape specific clinical outcomes  
  • Identify and track moments of autonomic disconnection and find the right repair in sessions. 
    • Present ways to map clinician autonomic response patterns  
    • Learn what constitutes an autonomic rupture and an effective autonomic repair  
    • Present ways to track levels of attunement and provide guided exercises to practice the repair process 
  • Create an environment of autonomic safety using the “inside, outside, and between” guide. 
    • Teach the organizing principle of neuroception 
    • Present ways to track visceral, environmental, and relational cues of safety and danger within the autonomic response system  
    • Practice ways to reduce cues of danger and create cues of safety using the autonomic experience of neuroception 
  • Use your own Social Engagement System to effectively coregulate with clients.  
    • Present a live demo to illustrate application of skills in a clinical session 
    • Offer guided dyadic practice   
    • Create personalized ways to use the five elements of the Social Engagement System as co-regulating resources 

Target Audience

  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Psychotherapists
  • Therapists
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Addiction Counselors
  • Case Managers
  • Physicians
  • Nurses
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 03/18/2021

Racial Trauma and the Polyvagal Response: Mind-Body Healing for African American Clients

Not only were African Americans disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 due to rampant socioeconomic disparities, but other brutal reminders of systemic racism continue to erupt across the country and in the news. Daily microtraumas and a feeling of not being physically safe or valued in our society lead to a state of stress, anger, hypervigilance, mistrust, shame, and fear. This recording explores how neuroceptions and the Polyvagal pathways shape the adaptive reactions of African Americas to race-based stress and trauma—and what clinicians can do to address them and the related emotional burdens we all carry. Discover how to: 

  • Create a safe, healing space for African American clients 
  • Identify triggers and symptoms of racial trauma, as well as how it’s processed in the brain 
  • Use mind-body techniques to deregulate the stress response and promote feelings of empowerment and safety 
  • Explore how therapy is affected by the emotional reactivity of both Black and non-Black clinicians when treating Black clients 

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Evaluate the role the Polyvagal pathway plays in the African American client’s reaction to violence, police brutality, acts of racism, and discrimination.  
  2. Investigate how microtrauma impacts the psychosocial development of African Americans from a historical perspective. 
  3. Demonstrate how to identify and treat reactive symptoms and behaviors associated with the microtrauma of racisms, such as defensiveness and excessive worrying about safety and death. 
  4. Assess how the therapeutic process can be affected by the emotional reactivity of both African American and non-African American clinicians when treating African American clients.  
  5. Employ mind-body techniques in conjunction with Internal Family System theory to effectively deregulate the stress response and promote feelings of empowerment and safety.  
  6. Analyze activated trauma memories involving violence and acts of racism.

Outline

Implement tools that address the impact of micro and macro-trauma on the psychosocial development of African American clients 

  • Introduction and application of self-soothing grounding, and deep breathing techniques as tools to de-escalate traumas.  
  • Application of the DBT describing skills to increase awareness of the present moment 
  • Review of how mindfulness can be used to increase awareness of symptoms and microtrauma reactions  
Introduce Microtrauma as a fear-based conditional response to situations that elicit terror and powerlessness.  
  • Review literature on trauma and the brain response 
Examine the role the sympathetic nervous system plays in their reactions to microtraumas.  
  • Review nervous system  
  • Discuss parasympathetic response (ventral vagal)  
  • Parasympathetic stress response immobilization  
  • Sympathetic Stress Response: Mobilization Flight/Fight Response  
Provide clinical treatment interventions that determine levels of reactivity and offer treatment modalities.  
  • Reprocessing of memories  
  • Deep breathing techniques  
  • Grounding and tapping  
  • CBT thought stopping and disputing techniques  
  • Introduction of SUDS and Body scanning techniques 
Incorporate trauma and shame reducing techniques in sessions to help African American clients access memories that keep them stuck in the narrative of victimization  
  • Recreating the shame  
  • Self-affirmations  
  • Creating a practice of self-compassion and non-judgmental stance

Target Audience

  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Psychotherapists
  • Therapists
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Addiction Counselors
  • Case Managers
  • Physicians
  • Nurses
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 02/17/2021

Treating Autism and PTSD Comorbid Through a Polyvagal-Informed Lens

What if treating autism were more like working with trauma and less like learning a foreign language like Behavioral Analysis? That the states in which a person is more or less autistic is governed by where within their window of tolerance they are. Building on the work of Stephen Porges, the developer of Polyvagal theory (PVT), view autism expert Sean Inderbitzen, APSW, MINT, an autistic social worker as he guides you through:

  • Etiology of autism through the lens of a dampened social engagement system
  • Polyvagal Informed Framework of Autism Spectrum Disorder, a hypothesized idea that autism is state specific, not lifelong and enduring
  • How this framework informs modifications for EMDR and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

Polyvagal theory gives us a basis to understand autism in a way that is modifiable with greater gains in accessing autistic clients’ window of tolerance... resulting in increased creativity, openness, curiosity, cognitive flexibility, and social engagement!

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Utilize Polyvagal Theory to inform clinical treatment of Autism and comorbid PTSD.
  2. Implement the Polyvagal-Informed Framework of Autism Spectrum Disorder to inform EMDR interventions for autistic clients with PTSD.
  3. Employ the Polyvagal Informed Framework of Autism Spectrum Disorder to inform Sensorimotor Psychotherapy interventions for autistic clients with PTSD.

Outline

  • A Polyvagal Model of Autism and PTSD Comorbid: Rethinking Autism
    • Research on the overlap
    • What is the window of tolerance and its relevance to Polyvagal theory?
    • Implications of trauma on Executive Dysfunction
    • Implications on memory storage: Adaptive Information Processing Theory
    • Case study: Autistic child with PTSD and Dissociative Amnesia
  • Polyvagal-Informed Lens to Inform:
    • EMDR Treatment of PTSD in Autism
    • Protocol walk through
    • Adaptations for social stories and tapping
    • Case study: Autistic child with PTSD receiving EMDR
    • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Treatment of PTSD in Autism
    • Modifications for mindful study of the body and mindfulness
  • Case study: Autistic child with PTSD receiving SP
  • Limitations of Research and Potential Risk

Target Audience

  • Addiction Counselors
  • Counselors
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Nurses
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Physicians
  • Psychologists
  • Speech-Language Pathologists
  • Social Workers
  • Teachers/School-Based Personnel
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 04/22/2022

Applying Polyvagal Theory to Your Play Therapy Practice for Safety, Connection & Healing

The brain-body connection inherent in trauma is often challenging for us as adults…and applying this knowledge can be overwhelming, especially in a child-friendly way! How can we as therapists more effectively help children and families find their way back to safety, connection, and healing…decreasing acting-out behaviors and withdrawal, while increasing social engagement?

In this session, Jackie Flynn, expert in child and family trauma, will dive into the creative integration and application of Play Therapy and the Polyvagal Theory.  You’ll learn practical, robust, evidence-based play therapy interventions while exploring the neuroscience of communication, emotional wellness, and social relationships.  

Through an integrative framework, this recording will show you:

  • Foundational concepts of Polyvagal theory and best practices when integrating the neuroscience of Play Therapy
  • Trauma's role in the etiology of childhood dysregulation…and the importance of neurobiology in creating a felt sense of safety
  • The unique ways the autonomic nervous system impacts children's capacity to manage stress, express themselves, regulate emotional states, and navigate relationships
  • How the Therapeutic Powers of Play create a deeper knowledge of the brain-body connection
  • You’ll gain ready-to-use Play Therapy techniques and explore the power of practical and playful applications of the Polyvagal Theory!

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Analyze the neuroscience of emotions, communication, and the social engagement system, successfully integrating them with play therapy and the therapeutic powers of play.
  2. Apply 5 or more play therapy techniques as they relate to perception, interoception, and neuroception.
  3. Investigate the functions of the three states of the Autonomic Nervous System, formulating how understanding neurobiology is necessary for the treatment of children with complex trauma histories.
  4. Demonstrate 5 or more play therapy techniques to increase children's capacity to manage stress, express themselves, regulate emotional states, and navigate relationships.

Outline

Polyvagal Theory & Neuroscience of Developmental Trauma

  • Foundational Concepts of Polyvagal Theory
  • Neuroscience of emotions, communication, and the social engagement system
  • Perception, interoception, and neuroception
  • Impact of trauma and its role in the etiology in childhood dysregulation
  • Stress response patterns as survival strategies
  • The three states of the Autonomic Nervous System and its impact on a child's capacity to
    • Manage stress
    • Express themselves
    • Regulate emotional states
    • Navigate relationships
Harnessing the Power of Play Therapy
  • Foundational Concepts of Play Therapy
  • Neuroscience of Play and best practices when integrating Polyvagal Theory
  • The importance of neurobiology in creating a felt sense of safety
  • The Therapeutic  Powers of Play
    • Fostering emotional wellness
    • Facilitate communication
    • Enhance social relationships
    • Increase personal strengths
  • The brain-body connection through the Therapeutic Powers of Play
Integrating & Applying Polyvagal Play Therapy
  • Play therapy strategies, skills, and modalities for the practical application of Polyvagal theory
    • Autonomic Nervous System Mapping
    • Rigidity – Chaos Continuum
    • Accessing the social engagement system in aggressive situations
    • Increasing attunement via Mirroring Game, Mimes, Ball Toss, and more!
    • Widen the window of tolerance between parent and child through peek-a-boo, hide-and-seek, and more!
    • Strengthen connection and dual awareness with nature play therapy, movement, and more!
    • Co-regulate and increase the positive effects of social engagement through expressive arts and more!

Target Audience

  • Counselors
  • Marriage and Family Therapists
  • Mental Health Clinicians
  • Play Therapists
  • Psychologists
  • Psychiatrists
  • School Counselors
  • Social Workers

Copyright : 05/11/2022

Polyvagal Theory for Children: Practical Application to Build Safety, Create Attachment & Develop Connection

Do you know therapists who seem to have “the magic touch” when it comes to getting children to trust and connect with them?

What if there are actual behaviors that you can learn and incorporate into your way of being with children that can solicit openness, relaxation and trust?

Watch Dafna Lender, LCSW, for this compelling 3-hour workshop, as she walks you through the complexities of using polyvagal theory with your young clients. Using your own social engagement system and tuning into the child’s physiological state you’ll learn:

  • Regulating and calming techniques for more curiosity, openness & connection
  • How sending safety messages to brains of mistrusting kids will make them more open to new relational experiences
  • To use voice, rhythm, facial expressions and touch to elicit trust
  • To surprise the brain of a defensive child with novel responses to grab attention, interrupt their automatic defensiveness, and generate curiosity
  • Exercises and activities to make shut down, guarded or angry clients feel more relaxed, open and ready to connect

If you’re working with kids – you don’t want to miss this opportunity. Purchase today!

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Evaluate the foundational principles and features of the Polyvagal Theory in order to elicit trust in the young clients you work with.
  2. Apply the features of the Polyvagal Theory to inform clinical treatment interventions for children.
  3. Analyze the Social Engagement System and how the brain-face-heart connection evolved.
  4. Analyze when a child’s Social Engagement System is compromised by stress and trauma and help to reset it.
  5. Construct how a therapy session can be planned and carried out to maximize client safety, social engagement and regulation.

Outline

Polyvagal Theory – Application for Children

  • Foundational Principles and features
  • Applying Polyvagal Theory in Clinical Practice

Harnessing your Social Engagement System

  • How to Reset when Compromised by Stress and Trauma
  • Elicit Trust - Voice, Rhythm, Racial Expressions, Touch
    • Exercises that hone in on various vocal qualities
    • Create and maintain an open facial expression with defensive children
    • Strategies to incorporate safe touch

Playfulness and Paradox to Suspend Defensiveness

  • Surprise the brain of a defensive child with novel responses to:
    • Grab attention
    • Down-regulate sympathetic activation
    • Interrupt automatic defensiveness
    • Generate curiosity

Movement and Breathing Exercises to Create Connection

  • Ventral vagal activities for open and engaged state
    • Promote attachment behavior
  • Dorsal vagal activities to pendulate between arousal and relaxation
    • Rhythmic activities for maintaining regulation
    • Counteracting shut down, guarded or angry behavior (responses)

Target Audience

  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Counselors
  • Case Managers
  • Addiction Counselors
  • Therapists
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • School Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 01/14/2021

Safe and Sound: How Your Voice Can Contribute to Healing Trauma

Can the way we use our voice actually help change a person’s nervous system? Polyvagal Theory provides a neurologically based understanding of how human vocalizations and the way we say what we say can support mental and physical health. Discover how the Safe and Sound Protocol promotes social engagement and safety in therapy.

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Investigate the nervous system’s response to auditory signals after trauma.
  2. Apply features of vocalization to enact desired responses changes in the nervous system.
  3. Extrapolate therapeutic interventions from research on trauma and the auditory circuits of the nervous system.
  4. Demonstrate 3 ways to use the auditory and vocal systems during trauma treatment.

Outline

  • How trauma “re-tunes” the auditory system in trauma survivors  
  • How to apply the specific features of vocalizations and vocal music that can help create a sense of calm and safety for clients  
  • How to utilize the voice to support the regulation of clients’ nervous systems and support healing 

Target Audience

  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Psychotherapists
  • Therapists
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Addiction Counselors
  • Case Managers
  • Physicians
  • Nurses
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 03/19/2021

IFS and Polyvagal Theory: Healing Through Compassionate Connection

Despite the diversity of content that brings clients to therapy, difficulty regulating their emotional experience is at the heart of their struggles. Clients can feel hijacked by extreme emotional states, uncomfortable in their own skin, and think or behave in ways they wish they wouldn’t. Polyvagal Theory helps us understand what’s happening on a biological level when our clients are emotionally dysregulated. And IFS therapy offers a compassionate, non-shaming approach to healing the wounded, burdened, and traumatized parts of clients’ systems and increasing internal harmony and connection. In this session, you’ll:

  • Discover how IFS therapy allows us to work in a Polyvagal-informed way to help clients heal
  • Learn IFS strategies to shift your clients’ nervous systems towards regulation and help them access their own capacity for healing
  • Explore how to help your clients develop attuned, trusting relationships with their hyperaroused and hypoaroused parts
  • Discuss real video examples of how to seamlessly integrate IFS therapy and PVT in treatment

This product is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the IFS Institute and does not qualify for IFS Institute credits or certification. 

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Develop skills to help clients foster attuned, trusting relationships with their hyperaroused and hypoaroused parts, as well as parts that strategically utilize adaptive survival responses, such as fight, flight, freezing, and numbing, for protection.
  2. Theorize how Polyvagal Theory can help therapists implement IFS more safely and effectively, especially in the systems of clients with complex trauma.
  3. Assess the impact of the therapist’s internal state on clinical work and how clinicians can use this awareness to facilitate client regulation and healing.
  4. Analyze, through observation and discussion of real video examples, how to integrate IFS and PVT in treatment.

Outline

  • How Polyvagal Theory can help therapists implement IFS more safely and effectively, especially in the systems of clients with complex trauma.
  • Helping clients develop attuned, trusting relationships with their hyperaroused and hypoaroused parts, as well as parts that strategically utilize adaptive survival responses.
  • Recognizing the impact of the therapist’s internal state on clinical work and how clinicians can use this awareness to facilitate client regulation and healing.
  • Case studies
  • Discussion

Target Audience

  • Psychologists
  • Physicians
  • Addiction Counselors
  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Nurses
  • Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 02/02/2022