How can the body and its natural processes be tools for treating trauma?
The Polyvagal Theory helps us answer this question by explaining how people process their environment and how the body regulates itself in the face of stress and trauma.
Watch the video below as Stephen Porges, PhD, creator of the Polyvagal Theory, shares one way to apply the Polyvagal Theory when working with the body’s responses to traumatic triggers and stressful events.
To learn more about Polyvagal Theory, check out our latest series on the Treatment of Trauma.
How can the Polyvagal Theory help you treat your patients?
I am familiar with heart rate variability and if I were still treating a number of patients I would love to have it along with the CO2 breathing, showing hyperventilation. However, now disabled and having no income I write and teach from our almost completed website, and this is a topic that will be discussed. I had begun moving away from the western medical model years ago when I could measure the vibrational “health” thru various acupuncture points and am developing a method to do this without needles. My patients have often had 800+ treatment sessions over 8-10 years for chronic pain and with this method and another I developed we could finish in 8-10 or less, with them taking responsibility rather than continuing treatment. My website is ALMOST done and am looking for pain professional experts to assist in making it diverse and based on methods such as this. I look forward to hearing more.
Hello,
I would like to bring your attention to my 30 plus years teaching people to sense their own Psoas muscle. As part of the flight, fight, freeze response learning to sense ones own Psoas offers another powerful and effective tool for reestablishing coherency so important for trauma recovery. I invite people to visit my web site at core awareness where you will find free articles and podcasts.
hi
Can you direct me to the research evidence demonstrating effectiveness of polyvagal therapy fro trauma? Much appreciated.
Yes, excellent work by Steven Porges, The Polyvegal Theory — very research-based writing and the terminology is quite medical, but it does an outstanding job of describing the biological functions that relate to trauma.
not too late … program not till this Wednesday, is it not?
You are right, the program is at 5 PM, EDT this Wednesday, June 20th. Hope you can all come.
Ruth
I am REALLY enjoying and using all this new (to me) information as fast as I can, both for myself and for my clients. This is my question: I have been asking my MD diagnosed Bipolar clients about childhood abuse, and they are reporting, “yes.” Question is, IS IT SO EASY TO DIAGNOSE BIPOLAR AND STOP THERE BECAUSE THE CRITERIA IS SO LOW? How many are we missing if the driver of the frantic attempts to regain balance is mislabeled and thereby not treated in a helpful manner?
I have a history of childhood abuse. I have sat on “both sides of the desk” as I call it. I recommend it for everyone.
Any ideas anyone?
Response to Shirley,
I worked for 19 years in a community mental health clinic setting. I also supervised a 24/7 crisis emergency setting, case management in an locked acute inpatient setting, a long-term locked residential setting, board and cares for the adult mentally ill population, forensics in the jail, and all intake assessments for the outpatient dept. This gave me the opportunity to track a client’s progress from being diagnosed in the ER, to acute, to long-term, and to out patient. I was able to see how they were Dx, read the psychosocial histories and track their progress, some for 19 years. I also worked concurrently in an outpatient private practice setting. Additionally, my father was Dx with Bipolar Disorder and my sister with Schizophrenia.
This experience brought me to the conclusion that many, if not most, of the patients that come through the community mental health center are Dx with what will meet criteria for the politics of the state, and the insurance companies. California public mental health is driven by what clients and families want. Families do not want to consider that there loved one was abused by them or by anyone else. There are many other reasons that I came to the conclusion that many people are misdiagnosed. In fact, at one point in time in California at the state hospital–many years ago–you had to be given a certain Dx to be prescribed certain medications. My sister who was Dx for many years with Schizophrenia, had to be re-diagnosed to Schizoaffective-Bipolar to change to a new medication. Yet, I believe my father truly had a correct diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. In those days there were no so many differnt Bipolar categories to choose from I also came to the conclusion that many people who were abuses in childhood, were misdiagnosed and misunderstood. Hopefully, i this decade we can change that.
Alongside and in addition to the music therapy profession, there exists a burgeoning recreational music making (RMM) industry. The music companies Yamaha and Remo are probably the largest supporters, including training, education, and research, with the entire music products industry in support of RMM activities, in schools, senior facilities and clinics. There are opportunities to learn more about this through the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). The effects of music making (actively participating, not only listening) has received growing interest in areas of science, education and therapy for the past 10-15 years. RMM does not require extensive training on a musical instrument, but rather facilitation skills more common to group therapy, and, communication skills oriented and experiential-expressive arts therapies.
Got Emil too late!
This is fascinating therapy in general. It also reminds me of the audio modality that can be used in EMDR. CDs of soothing music or nature sounds are specially mastered so that the sound alternates between right and left headphones worn by the client. It’s been understood as the audio equivalent of visual bilateral stimulation that allows memory reconsolidation etc. But now I see that the music itself is regulating the vagal system, while altering neural networks in the brain via BLS.
It’s not entirely surprising since patients have always reported feeling soothed by the music itself, while experiencing the other benefits of EMDR as well.
Now I mostly use hand pulsers (tappers) instead of headphones because they were inconvenient but headphones are right for some people. Also the tappers deliver a rhythmic pulse and so are vibrational like music, no?
I’m also wondering if the rhythmic sound of a hypnotherapist’s voice isn’t doing the same thing vagally,allowing the person to fall into trance.
The free sign up is near the bottom it is a grey drab button amongst all the bright
pay up buttons
Its explaining your opportunity to purchase all sessions so you can refer to them anytime.However there is a link below purchase links that just says ‘listen live webinars only
Can you point out the free link for the 6:30pm webinar?
There is an entire Board-Certified field called music therapy, where people get their degrees in Music Therapy and then must become certified to practice music therapy. Use of music by a non-certified practitioner is not “Music Therapy” but the therapeutic use of music. Exciting to see that what music therapists have been practicing and researching for years is being validated by the other health sciences. I am looking forward to this presentation. Thank you for this series. Great work.
I think that’s extremely interesting but how to do that technically seems beyond the average therapist. Is there music that already exists that offers that?
There is ,also, entire boardCertified field called Dance Therapy which is a very powerful modality providing multidimensional approach to the patient .
Joy: it’s free if you listen in real time. The link isn’t always obvious but it’s there!
When does this happen? I’m interested.
colorpuncture.org for information about how light (another vibration tool), can also aid in resolving trauma. [sound and light are both vibrational tools.]