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Navigating the Nervous System A Polyvagal Theory Approach to Clinical Work

A Polyvagal Theory Approach to Clinical Work

In-Person
3 CE Hours
Clinical

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Dates and Times

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    In-Person

Location

Description

Join Dr. Stephen Porges and Deb Dana, LCSW for an exploration of the scientific foundations of Polyvagal Theory and integration of these organizing principles in clinical practice. Explore the unique art and science of Polyvagal Theory with a journey into understanding the principles that have revolutionized our understanding of how we are human and experimenting with the practices that bring theory into clinical application.

 

Stephen Porges will set the stage for the workshop presenting the scientific basis and constructs of his ground-breaking Polyvagal Theory. Deb Dana will then translate the science using her own unique framework and explain the tools and techniques she has developed to integrate the theory into clinical work.

 

In the second half of the workshop Deb will conduct a live session illustrating the elements of polyvagal guided clinical work. Following the demo, Stephen and Deb will deconstruct the experience with the client and the audience to delve into the principles and show the practical and universal applications of using a polyvagal lens in clinical work.

Target Audience
  • • Counselors
  • • Addiction Counselors
  • • Social Workers
  • • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists
  • • Psychologists
Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Explain Polyvagal Theory.

  • Describe at least 2 ways trauma impacts the nervous system.

  • Identify 2 adaptive qualities of survival responses.

  • Describe how Polyvagal Theory explains clinical symptoms related to mental health diagnosis.

  • Identify 2 ways neuroception impacts a client's behaviors and cognitions.

  • Describe the pathways of the social engagement system and face-heart connection.

  • Identify and describe 2 ways to help clients engage the regulating capacities of the autonomic nervous system to create an environment of safety.

References

  • Bailey, R., Dugard, J., Smith, S. F., & Porges, S. W. (2023). Appeasement: replacing Stockholm syndrome as a definition of a survival strategy. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 14(1), 2161038.

  • Geller, S. M., & Porges, S. W. (2014). Therapeutic presence: Neurophysiological mechanisms mediating feeling safe in therapeutic relationships. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 24(3), 178–192. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037511

  • Dale, L. P., Cuffe, S. P., Kolacz, J., Leon, K. G., Bossemeyer Biernacki, N., Bhullar, A., ... & Porges, S. W. (2022). Increased autonomic reactivity and mental health difficulties in COVID-19 survivors: Implications for medical providers. Frontiers in psychiatry, 886.

  • Jokić, B., Purić, D., Grassmann, H., Walling, C. G., Nix, E. J., Porges, S. W., & Kolacz, J. (2022). Association of childhood maltreatment with adult body awareness and autonomic reactivity: The moderating effect of practicing body psychotherapy. Psychotherapy.

  • Kolacz, J., Dale, L. P., Nix, E. J., Roath, O. K., Lewis, G. F., & Porges, S. W. (2020). Adversity History Predicts Self-Reported Autonomic Reactivity and Mental Health in US Residents During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 577728. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.577728

  • Kolacz, J., daSilva, E. B., Lewis, G. F., Bertenthal, B. I., & Porges, S. W. (2022). Associations between acoustic features of maternal speech and infants’ emotion regulation following a social stressor. Infancy, 27(1), 135-158.

  • Kolacz, J., Hu, Y., Gesselman, A. N., Garcia, J. R., Lewis, G. F., & Porges, S. W. (2020). Sexual function in adults with a history of childhood maltreatment: Mediating effects of self-reported autonomic reactivity. Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy, 12(3), 281.

  • Morton, L., Cogan, N., Kolacz, J., Calderwood, C., Nikolic, M., Bacon, T., ... & Porges, S. W. (2022). A new measure of feeling safe: Developing psychometric properties of the Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS). Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy.

  • O’Connor, K. E., Tomlinson, C. A., McDonald, S. E., Brown, S., Applebaum, J. W., Murphy, J. L., ... & Porges, S. W. (2023). Childhood Adversity Moderates Change in Latent Patterns of Psychological Adjustment during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a Survey of US Adults. Social Sciences, 12(3), 185.

  • Porges S. W. (2021). Polyvagal Theory: A biobehavioral journey to sociality. Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology, 7, 100069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100069

  • Porges S. W. (2022). Polyvagal Theory: A Science of Safety. Frontiers in integrative neuroscience, 16, 871227. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2022.871227

  • Porges, S. W. (2022). Heart Rate Variability: A Personal Journey. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 47(4), 259-271.

  • Rahal, D., Alkon, A., Shirtcliff, E., Gonzales, N., Fuligni, A., Eskenazi, B., & Deardorff, J. (2022). Dampened autonomic nervous system responses to stress and substance use in adolescence. Stress and Health, 1– 15. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3173

  • Rajabalee, N., Kozlowska, K., Lee, S. Y., Savage, B., Hawkes, C., Siciliano, D., ... & Torbey, S. (2022). Neuromodulation Using Computer-Altered Music to Treat a Ten-Year-Old Child Unresponsive to Standard Interventions for Functional Neurological Disorder. Harvard review of psychiatry, 30(5), 303-316.

  • Teed, A.R., et al. (2022) Association of Generalized Anxiety Disorder With Autonomic Hypersensitivity and Blunted Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Activity During Peripheral Adrenergic Stimulation. JAMA Psychiatry. doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.4225.

  • Winhall, J., & Porges, S. W. (2022). Revolutionizing Addiction Treatment with The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model™. International Body Psychotherapy Journal, 21(1).

Introductory
Clinical
Counselors

TPN.health has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7267. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. TPN.health is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

 

Course meets the qualifications for hours of continuing education credit for LPCCs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. TPN.health is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LPCCs. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.

 

Trusted Provider Network, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0220.

Addiction Counselors

This course has been approved by TPN.health, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #198061, TPN.health is responsible for all aspects of the programming. Counselor Skill Group: Legal, Ethical and Professional Development.

Social Workers

TPN.health, #1766, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 03/31/2022 – 03/31/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 3 continuing education credits.

 

Course meets the qualifications for hours of continuing education credit for LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. TPN.health is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LCSWs. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.

 

Trusted Provider Network, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0654.

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists

Course meets the qualifications for hours of continuing education credit for LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. TPN.health is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.

 

Trusted Provider Network, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0097.

Psychologists

TPN.health is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE Policy
Please note that the references listed for this program include books authored by Stephen Porges, one of the instructors of the program. Participants are not required to purchase books authored by Stephen Porges. However, if participants do purchase these books, Stephen Porges will receive financial compensation for such purchases.
  • Workshop Begins
  • Workshop Ends
Stephan Porges, PhD

Stephen W. Porges, PhD is Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University, where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium. He is professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland. He has published more than 350 peer‐reviewed scientific papers. He is the creator of the Polyvagal Theory and a music-based intervention, the Safe and Sound Protocol TM, currently used by more than 200 therapists to reduce hearing sensitivities, improve language processing, and increase spontaneous social engagement. He is the author of The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation, The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe, and Polyvagal Safety, as well as co-editor of Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies, and Polyvagal Safety.

Deb Dana, LCSW

Deb Dana, LCSW is a clinician, consultant and author specializing in complex trauma. Her work is focused on using the lens of Polyvagal Theory to understand and resolve the impact of trauma and creating ways of working that honor the role of the autonomic nervous system. She is a founding member of the Polyvagal Institute, consultant to Khiron Clinics, and advisor to Unyte. Deb is the developer of the signature Rhythm of Regulation Clinical Training Series and is well known for translating Polyvagal Theory into a language and application that is both understandable and accessible for clinicians and curious people alike. Deb’s clinical work published with W.W. Norton includes The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client Centered Practices, the Polyvagal Flip Chart, and the Polyvagal Card Deck. She partners with Sounds True to bring her polyvagal perspective to a general audience through the audio program Befriending Your Nervous System: Looking Through the Lens of Polyvagal Theory and her print book Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory. Deb can be contacted via her website www.rhythmofregulation.com

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