Holistic Counseling for Anxiety & Trauma
Therapy for Adults in the Floyd, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Roanoke, VA area
Polyvagal-Informed Therapy
Understanding and befriending our nervous system
The science behind the Polyvagal Theory (PVT) can seem a little intimidating, especially for those of us who don’t have degrees in physiology or biology, but learning how our nervous system impacts our daily lives and relationships can be quite empowering. It provides a sense of relief in some ways because once we know what our nervous system is doing and why, the shame and frustration related to some of our survival behaviors are reduced and we discover that we have more options.
The Polyvagal Theory was identified and developed by Dr. Steven Porges as he studied the autonomic nervous system and the specific changes to the vagal pathways regulating the heart. Among many other things, PVT explains how we can recognize the involuntary responses of our autonomic nervous system (ANS), how we might increase awareness of self and others through understanding our ANS responses, how to accept and regulate our defense and survival responses, and how to internalize feelings of safety to build connections with others. It also reminds us that all behavior is enacted in the service of survival.
Deb Dana, the pioneer of the Polyvagal Theory in therapy, calls Polyvagal-informed learning “the science of feeling safe enough to fall in love with life and take the risks of living.” This is such a beautiful and hopeful goal, yet it may feel difficult for many of us to imagine due to experiences with unsafe others or situations in our past. But understanding some of the science of our autonomic nervous system responses is possible, and practicing how to identify and map the different states of the ANS helps us to build physiological self-awareness, reduce feelings of shame related to our ANS state responses, and increase our ability to build safe connections with others.
Communicating through our autonomic nervous system
PVT provides us with the understanding that we communicate through our nervous systems as much as through our intellects. It describes three neural circuits that support different types of behavior including social engagement behaviors in safe environments (ventral vagal responses), fight and flight behaviors in environments we perceive to be dangerous (sympathetic responses), and the behaviors of shutting down or freezing in situations of extreme danger or with feelings of life threat (dorsal vagal responses). These are all normal, automatic, involuntary responses that our nervous system uses to communicate with ourselves and with others. They can, however, become adaptive survival responses held in a survival story and, if unresolved, become habitual autonomic response patterns that can impact our ability to connect safely with others.
Healing is possible with a flexible nervous system
Our nervous system is adaptable and can learn to be more flexible over time with practice and safe support. Once we learn to identify our state responses, triggers, and patterns of response, we can also learn to increase our ability to observe without judgment, influence our state response, and decrease patterns of being hijacked by our emotions.
Some of the benefits of autonomic flexibility are reduced inflammation in the body, reduced distractions, increased immune response, and increased capacity for friendship, connection, and compassion. Some of the risks of autonomic rigidity include vigilance for angry faces, inability to discern trivial from important cues, heightened “startle” response, hypoactive pre-frontal regulation (impacts emotional regulation, memory, and stress response), distractions, depression, anxiety, social isolation, loneliness, impaired immune functioning, inflammatory disease, digestive problems, chronic fatigue, respiratory problems, and fibromyalgia. Many of these risks are experienced by people who struggle with unresolved trauma or chronic anxiety.
I am a holistic, Polyvagal-passionate counselor and I’d love to support you and your nervous system
I am a holistic therapist and a lifelong student of health and well-being. PVT is a complex theory that I continuously strive to comprehend more fully, My passion for holistic health includes learning how our physiology and biology impact our mental and emotional health and vice versa. Increasing physiological flexibility and building pathways to safety and connection improves our overall well-being so that we feel better in our bodies, in our relationships, and in our lives. We can do this together by increasing awareness about what is happening in the body, learning to accept the responses and conditions that are out of our control, and working to develop and practice new habits when things are out of balance.
If you’re ready to learn more about your nervous system's responses and increase your experiences of safety and connection, I provide an encouraging, safe environment where we can start the exploration process. Going through the day experiencing feelings of shame related to involuntary reactions is incredibly discouraging. You can learn to bear witness to and feel gratitude for your body’s survival responses that have helped to keep you safe. And you can work to build a more flexible nervous system that allows for increased feelings of safety and connections with others. To learn more about why I’m Polyvagal Passionate, you can find my blog post on the topic here.
Contact me for a free consult as the first step of your body-mind-heart-soul journey toward a life with more connection.
